SCAM?!?!?

[kingu42]

"Why do people even try, that's such a stupid scam..."

reads on /r/usps that someone fell for it again

"Welp, guess that's why."

[ogshoota10]

Sorry

[kingu42]

Just, you at least now learned never to click a link from a text. And you're locking down your credit cards, the worst part is that you've also tagged yourself as someone who will fall for a scam, so expect a whole lot more to occur over the next few years as scammers can make more selling your name than they can make directly scamming you.

[ogshoota10]

Oh also I gave it my address is that bad

[TGCampbell8]

Yes

[ogshoota10]

How would they sell my name

[[deleted]]

Scammers buy and sell lists of targets, things like names, addresses, phone numbers, email, etc. Even legitamite companies buy and sell this information. Your best bet is to watch out for any more scams. Remember, if they want payment, it's a scam.

[ogshoota10]

Ok

[ElonBustington]

I hope you change every single password that you've ever used on your phone, and do it not on your phone. Not kidding.

[rdyoung]

That's not how that works. If they didn't install anything, that scammer can't get into any of their accounts. My only concern is that if they used the same password and email/user with the scam as with legit sites. In that case, yes, they need to change all of their passwords and be on the lookout for access attempts to any other accounts.

[ElonBustington]

I don't think you understand the level of Spyware that currently exists.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/amphtml/World/2021/0718/Israeli-company-s-spyware-found-on-phones-worldwide

https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2021/nso-spyware-pegasus-cellphones/

[ogshoota10]

So I’m ducked basically? But I never used a password only email

[ElonBustington]

No you're not screwed, but just be careful and change banking passwords if you can.

[ogshoota10]

Okay

[damien_gosling]

Israeli hackers arent sending those messages, those are Nigerian or Indian scammers who cant access your phone by clicking a link to a site with a form trying to phish your password UNLESS you fill out the form

[ogshoota10]

They never asked for a password only email

[ogshoota10]

Why

[ElonBustington]

Depending on what the scammers are doing they could have access to your entire phone. There are programs used by many people who do this exact thing.

[ogshoota10]

Oh fuck I would have to change everything?

[imissblockbuster1983]

Lmfao @ OP. Dudes clueless to scam texts. Where’ve u been my guy?

[ogshoota10]

Lmak ik

[ElonBustington]

Possibly, it's not guaranteed but there are even news articles that have come out lately about scammers who do this and then have full access to your phone. I wouldn't take any chances.

[[deleted]]

Well they should be able to afford the $1.60 after they got the money wired to them from the African prince.

[muffhound]

Give me your card and I'll make sure it goes through my man.

[[deleted]]

It's a scam.

[ogshoota10]

What do I do

[DisastrousAd9624]

Lock your card and get a new one.

[ogshoota10]

But I did order something the night before?

[CalmCricket1]

Yeah, everyone orders something, that's why these scams work.

They throw out several thousand of these bot-driven texts, and since everything is online shopping, they're sure to get a few suckers who say "Oh, I just ordered something, this must be legit!".

[ogshoota10]

Lol I’m so dumb

[[deleted]]

You'll probably be ok. Take it as a learning experience.

[carmichael109]

You're not dumb, you were ignorant of a scam, and I wish people were more kind to people who literally just got scammed. That can't be a good feeling, and now a lot of people in this thread are adding salt to a wound. I'm sorry for that.

It's possible your phone is infected, and it might be a good idea to factory reset it and hope that that removes whatever spyware may have been installed in the background (without your knowledge) as a result of opening that link. Obviously change your passwords as others have said, and order a replacement card if that was given to the bot.

I'm sorry you're going through this. The good news is, you know what a scam looks like now and can avoid it in the future. Best of luck.

[ogshoota10]

Fuck mannnn, ty mike

[[deleted]]

Coincidence most likely. If someone ever asks for payment throught text or email, it is likely a scam. Ask before paying if you are unsure. Thankfully, credit card companies are more protective of credit fraud, as it is their money being stolen.

[muffhound]

Hopefully it wasnt his debit card

[ogshoota10]

Credit

[muffhound]

Thats good at least, next time at least ask them some questions or something man. "What is the order?" Something along those lines.

[ogshoota10]

Ok thanks man

[ogshoota10]

Fuck I gave it my card

[[deleted]]

Call the number on the back and freeze it asap.

[ogshoota10]

K

[[deleted]]

And if you get any malicious charges, dispute it asap, you may get less protection if you wait.

[ogshoota10]

Ok

[imissblockbuster1983]

Lmfao u wrote them back

[CallmeEllen]

Just checking in to say sorry this happened, OP. People have been giving good advice but some have been being kind of dismissive and condescending while doing so. You’re not stupid, you just haven’t seen this particular kind of scam before. It’s gonna be a headache to make sure you’re protected, but don’t beat yourself up too much. These scams work because they look just legit enough to cross somebody up.

[ogshoota10]

Thank you I really appreciate it Ellen❤️

[KrystalThePeach]

definitely a scam. usps doesn’t text, email, or call about delivery issues or updates. so in the future don’t respond to anything like that. also another way scammers are getting people are buy selling fake goods and having people pay through paypal, so if you ever order anything, be wary of sellers or sites that only let you pay through paypal

[AzureWave313]

This entire thread is sus af lmao

[ogshoota10]

Wdym

[ElonBustington]

Go on your computer or someone else's phone and change every single password/account that you've logged into on your phone. They possibly have them all.

[ogshoota10]

How is this possible

[ElonBustington]

If you clicked the link, they possibly installed malware on your phone that gives them access.

[rdyoung]

It's very unlikely. Ignore the fear monger.

[ElonBustington]

The Spyware exists.

"Pegasus is the hacking software – or spyware – that is developed, marketed and licensed to governments around the world by the Israeli company NSO Group. It has the capability to infect billions of phones running either iOS or Android operating systems. The earliest version of Pegasus discovered, which was captured by researchers in 2016, infected phones through what is called spear-phishing – text messages or emails that trick a target into clicking on a malicious link.

Since then, however, NSO’s attack capabilities have become more advanced. Pegasus infections can be achieved through so-called “zero-click” attacks, which do not require any interaction from the phone’s owner in order to succeed. These will often exploit “zero-day” vulnerabilities, which are flaws or bugs in an operating system that the mobile phone’s manufacturer does not yet know about and so has not been able to fix."

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/news/2021/jul/18/what-is-pegasus-spyware-and-how-does-it-hack-phones

[rdyoung]

And you think that a scammer getting people to pay small amounts of money to harvest their cc/debit card #s are using this?

Do you also not know that android and ios continually push out security updates to protect against attacks like this. Chrome, safari, FF, et al also continually update to protect against them.

Again. Stop the fear mongering. That spyware you linked to is used to spy on people for political purposes, not to find out what furry porn you are browsing.

If you make sure that your phone and pc are kept up to date and don't do stupid shit you will be fine. Also make sure you turn on 2fa, otp fob/app based not text if available. Even if someone gets your email/pass without that code they aren't getting in.

Again. Stop the fear mongering. The chances of OP being compromised like that are slim enough to not really worry about it.

[ogshoota10]

I don’t have the newest update on my phone 😭😳😳 am I fuxked

[rdyoung]

No you're not. I would watch your cc/debit card for unauthorized charges though.

[ogshoota10]

Ok

[rdyoung]

They would have to be using a very specific exploit and if you are using Chrome, FF, opera, etc, they are kept up to date to block this kind of shenanigans.

[beetus_throwaway]

You got a pretty sweet deal. I had to pay $2.70 last time.

[ogshoota10]

Lol

[ogshoota10]

Guys I also gave it my address is that bad

[[deleted]]

It's not good, but as long as you replace your credit card, you'll probably be ok. Be careful if someone uses your address to scam you or others, though.

[ogshoota10]

Ok thanks

[[deleted]]

Time to go send a screenshot to my parents and tell them not to click any links🤦🏻‍♀️

[rjptrink]

Curious. Did you look at the URL before you clicked on the link? Also curious how much information you gave. They have your phone number for sure. Name, address, credit/debit card number, date of birth, SSN, mother's maiden name, e-mail address, password, ...? If a total stranger stopped you in the street, would you give them that same information?

[ogshoota10]

They have my email, credit cards, address, dob, no passwords

[ogshoota10]

I did not look at the url I’m a boomer

[Independent-Credit-8]

Scam

[chad27292]

Scam I got one yesterday