A few months ago, I got a text from an unsaved number. The text had a picture of the United States Postal Service logo and it said: “Urgent Notice. Please Check Attachment.” The picture clearly did not look official. Below was a PDF attachment, which I opened. Looking back now, I probably should not have opened the attachment in case there was a virus imbedded, but I was curious. On the PDF, it said something about me needing to fill out a form to redeliver a package because there was incomplete information. I had recently sent a package, so it was plausible that USPS really needed my information. On the PDF there was a link to fill out the form. I luckily did not click on the link or fill out anything. I assume this was a scam to obtain my private information, and possibly money to pay for the package. This scam used a trusted company, USPS, to try to lure me into looking past the suspicious nature of the message. The unsaved number, bad image quality, and uncharacteristic font signaled that this message was not legitimate.
Oh my goodness, that’s terrifying! Hard to believe that there are such evil people out there. I hope you find them and defeat them in single combat.
I’m not sure if I will fight them in single combat, but you are correct it is terrifying. Luckily there are resources out there and techniques to help you avoid scams! We can’t get rid of all scams, but we can avoid them.
It’s getting pretty tricky out there to tell what is a scam and what is not.
Yes, it is. Luckily, there are websites out there that can help you identify a scam or tell you common scams to avoid. It’s important to be educated on this issue.
Wow. Thanks for the info. I will be more diligent and observant when I receive weirdo texts or emails.
Your welcome! I think it’s important that we share our scam experiences so others can avoid being scammed. We all need to work together with advanced scams!
Oh my goodness I can’t believe they even got your number! I’m glad you were able to figure out it was a scam before it was too late.
I’m also glad I was able to figure out it was a scam! In some ways, it’s a little easier to identify scams because we very aware of them now. The first principle for avoiding scams is using common sense!