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Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu
Url looks suss. Seems kinda sophisticated for the usual ups fishing scam. Here's the text message I got leading here.
"Wishing you a bright and sunny day!" Lol, I almost want to help this guy by explaining that UPS and American companies in general have disdain for their customers and would never wish them to have anything that would not benefit the company.
your first clue was the link in the next - no shipper is going to miss having its branding in the url. the second if that the url it redirects to its obviously random bs and if you do a whois you see its def not owned by usps.
got a few of these phishing attempts myself over thanksgiving. holiday gift shopping season has begun, the scammers want to catch the less savy among us.
You clicked a random link from an sms message?
That’s a bold move, Cotton.
PSA you can check a bitly link without clicking it by using their link checker: https://support.bitly.com/hc/en-us/p/link-checker
TIL, ty
I think there's now a generation gap between kids today and people who were routinely sent to tubgirl and goatse during the internet's formal years.
If your URL is fucky, it's a scam. If you clicked one, they'll send you more.
Our parents couldn't use computers properly, and now our kids can't use them properly either.
That being said, I learned the hard way back in the golden age many, many times.
The good old days of Azureus and Limewire
Yeah, scam. Ibthough that would be obvious, but if it's not: that is a scam, and there are many like it
This is 10000% a scam. That's not the USPS url scheme. Plus, as a government entity, they'll start correspondence through certified mail. Another question you could ask yourself is "Did I order any packages lately?" IF not, then more proof it's a scam.
That also doesn't look anything like a USPS tracking number (which, if this were real, you'd probably already have). Pro-tip: USPS has "informed delivery" where they'll send you an email every day with scans of your mail and any packages on their way to you. Which would give you another way to know that this isn't real.
How could you read that text and then click on link?
Yes, and usps is never going to text you. Be careful about what links you click. This link could have passed through tracking and flagged your number as someone who clicks their links. At the very least they know it's an active phone number, and at worst they start targeting you more frequently (or sell a list to other people to target you).
This is why you shouldn't ever respond, click on, interact with, or even read scam messages. Same goes for emails btw. Disable auto-loading images in emails since that is another way they can track active emails.
But, good job second guessing the message and asking about it. I mean it. Some scams rely on you not talking to anyone so it is good to ask others if you're unsure/uncomfortable. This is especially true if someone tries to tell you not to talk to anyone else since that is a common practice scammers use as well and should be an instant red flag
usps is never going to text you.
Yes, though they might send you emails if you sign up for Informed Delivery: https://www.usps.com/manage/informed-delivery.htm
I've never used it, but it sounds like a great way to clear this up.
usps is never going to text you.
USPS will text you, but only for packages you explicitly request SMS tracking messages for, those texts will never contain a link to a website, and they will always come from a 6-digit short code, not a full phone number
How could you not? Do you buy things so often that that happens a lot? Ignoring the grammatical error of in instead of on, are you actually expecting a package with that numberwhich is not a typical USPS tracking number
100% yeah. The browser URL doesn't have ups in it.
Ups is not usps
An official company is not going to use an URL shortener.
That's only used when you try to hide the URL, or if you think the user is going to type it out manually.
Kek you clicked that?
Look man, if you want to understand what's going on there's a really short (even for my ADHD) video right here:
The guy here explains exactly why not to do that - https://bitly.com/98K8eH
You laugh at someone clicking it then paste a URL shortener link....
The joke is always better when someone explains it.
100% chance you ordered from temu or ali express and got this message while waiting for a package right?
They sell your order info along to scammers who time these right around when you're expecting your order.
Pretty clever! Definitely a scam!
I seriously doubt USPS bought a domain like gflrml dot cyou for their business. It's 300% a scam.
Reminds me of my previous bank.
They changed some system countrywide, so I got an email that I need to update some data and go to a website to do that.
If was something like "update-[bankname]-data-now.tld".
It was sent to a unique mail address I used for them. But still though it was phishing.
Turns out: No. It was real. Whoever came up with the idea to not host that stuff on at least a subdomain of the bank really needs to get fired. and each and every manager who was part of the decision process.
Ugh. I work in the public sector and let me tell you, there are SO many companies that send the most dogiest, scammiest looking emails telling you to follow a link, only for it to turn out to be perfectly legitimate.
I honestly can see now why people end up falling for these things when even legitimate companies send emails looking just like phishing scammers
They give you the package info. Just ignore their email and input that into the USPS address manually. Kind of like the FedEx and UPS scams. You don't have to use their link to "check the status" of something. Go to the real site, enter number, see fake, ignore!
Yes
Yes.
100% scam
Why the fuck did you click a link like that in the first place? That first message is basically screaming at you that it's a phishing attempt.
Best opsec is to delete and block, ideally without opening it at all to avoid read receipts (if that's a function in your phone). If you think it might be legit, go to the website on your own and find a way to confirm independently. If that's still too much to follow through with, at the very least don't click random links sent to you unprompted.
Hey dude, you had an opportunity to educate someone and instead you belittled them. As someone who works in cyber, please don't do that. People get stigmatised against cyber and IT professionals and they stop trusting us. Users don't know what we do, so be kind to them the way you should be kind to anyone learning new things. https://xkcd.com/1053/
flip the question around: Why would you think this wasn’t a scam?
Furthermore, wtf did they GO TO THE URL FROM A TEXT MESSAGE at all?! 🤦🏽♂️
FFS, people. There's "I need help with my computer" and then there's "Some of us shouldn't have a smartphone". 🫶🏼
A tangent:
What annoys me is when legitimate companies use non-standard URLs in their hyperlinked emails. For example, if you get a message from Facebook taking you to facebookemail.com, that's actually a domain controlled by the real Facebook.
They're essentially teaching their customers to click on links in emails which use unfamiliar URLs which are superficially similar to the usual one.
Yes. Don't click on that link, it's been obscured using an URL shortener
Yes, I get them constantly.
Even if this is true - which it isn't - it's much better to let packages be sent back to the sender than to take responsibility upon yourself.
Kinda sad to see some of the comments being assholes about OP clicking a link. Like, how do y'all think phishing works? People click. Get over it and just educate people on why not to. Explain the risks and how to spot the scam. Do any of you think this person would have clicked if they knew for sure? Or if they knew the issues that can occur? It's super easy to sit in the comments and act holier than cos you knew and they didn't.
Yeah it's a scam. Most people get these quite often. Your Telecom company probably blocks these quite often. Someone else went through all the details of the scam like the fake domain, where to report etc.
Some of these links allow people to track who clicks. If you click once, they can provide data that you did and they can target you using other numbers and other scams. Might not be the case with this one, but they can also get your device details from accessing the site, using google analytics, ip data, geolocation stuff, etc. Or they ask you to allow notifications but the notifications are also scams.
General rule of thumb is don't click when you don't trust the source. If youre sceptical, just walk away for a bit. Cops, the government and postmen know where you live, and they won't miss you. It is always okay to trust your gut, be it in a call, messaging platform or on the Web.
USPS tracking numbers are never "US000000" they are only digits.
This can even be checked at https://tools.usps.com. Try to track the number or use one of the drop downs to see what different USPS service tracking numbers look like.
I have received a legit “undeliverable package” status before but it will never be sent in a text like that. It will only display on the tracking history/status on the USPS tracking website for a given parcel.
100% correct!
100% scam
Yes.
You already knew the URL was off.
Look at the URL. Of course it's a scam.
Scam. Suspicious URL, slightly off grammer. Classic phishing.
Contact seller if unsure.
Bruh, just look at the address bar. That is not a USPS domain. Obviously it's a scam.
One thing to note, aside from all the other inconsistencies, that tracking number does not follow the standard tracking number format for a USPS package. The USPS website describes their different tracking numbers for their different services in the FAQ at the bottom of their tracking page. https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction_input
Aside from all of the red flags already listed in other comments....are you even expecting a package to be delivered? I almost never receive a package that I don't expect