Scam alert

A text, received today:

U.S. Post: You have a USPS parcel being cleared, due to the detection of an invalid zip code address, the parcel can not be cleared, the parcel is temporarily detained, please confirm the zip code address information in the link within 24 hours.

[Link deleted]

(Please reply with a Y, then exit the text message and open it again to activate the link, or copy the link into your Safari browser and open it)

Have a great day from the USPS team!

Our household has been receiving an inordinate number of scammy text messages and telephone calls. I suspect — who knows? — that the year’s end is a fruitful time for scammers, who hope to catch their victims off guard as packages fly or creep through the mails. A parcel? Could it be the fruitcake Aunt Jane was sending to me? Or the fruitcake I was sending to her? Quick — click on that link!

The text above, received today, is an old ploy, but I’d never seen it before. With a little close reading, the scamminess discloses itself.

And anyway, how would USPS have your mobile number? And why would they be calling from the Philippines? (Country code +63.)

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[Scammers, may you never learn proper punctuation. And as I now know, scamming increases around the winter holidays.]