Phone spam

[oznl]

Like the rest of the world, one of the more bizarre spin-offs from the COVID pandemic has been phone spam.  Every day I'm receiving at least one or two or even up to half a dozen low-credibility text messages about missing packages, suspended accounts or prizes in competitions I knew nothing about.

The quality is getting worse.  Today one arrived that was so bad I will quote it verbatim.

"Info: Dear I am a HR. You are selected for Part time. Now you may earn upto AUD 1200/Day. Apply http://wa.me/<redacted to render post harmless>"

I feel like I should reach out and try to help them...

[DailyDi]

I get text messages with just a random link... like I'm going to click on that!

[feralfreak]

i dont get text messages anymore unless its through facebook messenger, i dont have a phone number any more, but i get scam emails like that all the time, and some have their source address obviously from a fake and not who they pretend, i know because ill hover the cursor over it, sometimes its for a package i never ordered, a service i never signed up for, or paypal or amazon when i dont have any bank info with them, or for something about crypto currency, which i dont fool with anyway(and never will. im an american, ill spend the american dollar and only that!)

[Little Sherri]

One of the big ones in Canada right now consists of convenient and helpful notices that a warrant for your arrest has been sworn because of your unpaid taxes, however if you click the link, or call them back, all can quickly be resolved. I read about some poor saps who followed through with this, and getting caught up on your taxes tended to involve spending $5000 on iTunes gift cards and giving the pin numbers to Nigerians. Although one person did meet their tax saviour in an underground carpark for a physical exchange of gift cards. The question I have is, how bad is your situation with your national revenue agency, if any of the above seems like a reasonable approach? Because if the first time you are hearing from them consists of a notification of your impending imprisonment, you should have questions. They really like mailing people things. If the last missive you received either showed everything to be in good standing, or, wasn't particularly strident, even if there was something left to be resolved, the next move typically isn't seizure of your person. And if things do get that far off the rails, they don't text you, lest you use the notice to prepare weapons or, flee. 

[Crinklz Kat]

5 hours ago, Little Sherri said:

 Although one person did meet their tax saviour in an underground carpark for a physical exchange of gift cards.

Hmm.... I'd probably be meeting that "saviour" with some .40 cal "gift cards" instead.

[feralfreak]

11 hours ago, Crinklz Kat said:

Hmm.... I'd probably be meeting that "saviour" with some .40 cal "gift cards" instead.

waste of lead, beat to a pulp instead

[Spanky the Unicorn]

On 3/6/2022 at 12:09 PM, Little Sherri said:

One of the big ones in Canada right now consists of convenient and helpful notices that a warrant for your arrest has been sworn because of your unpaid taxes, however if you click the link, or call them back, all can quickly be resolved. I read about some poor saps who followed through with this, and getting caught up on your taxes tended to involve spending $5000 on iTunes gift cards and giving the pin numbers to Nigerians. Although one person did meet their tax saviour in an underground carpark for a physical exchange of gift cards. The question I have is, how bad is your situation with your national revenue agency, if any of the above seems like a reasonable approach? Because if the first time you are hearing from them consists of a notification of your impending imprisonment, you should have questions. They really like mailing people things. If the last missive you received either showed everything to be in good standing, or, wasn't particularly strident, even if there was something left to be resolved, the next move typically isn't seizure of your person. And if things do get that far off the rails, they don't text you, lest you use the notice to prepare weapons or, flee. 

I got a voicemail for a similar scam around a year ago (I do not know how prevalent this scam is in the United States). I ended up laughing at it. If I were truly looking at potentially being arrested, then why would they need me to call back to provide my information (they would already know my information if a warrant were out for my arrest)? 
 

Most of the scam messages I get seem to be “bots” nowadays. Things have also gotten to the point where I don’t answer a call unless I recognize the number (if it’s important and I don’t realize it, they will leave a message). 

[astrodiaper]

I get these calls at the hotel I work at, saying that they are “Mr Patel”, and they are the owners of the hotel. I’ve met the owner, I know who my regional manager is. You, sir, are neither. 

[Newbee]

I get phone calls that come up on my phone that are from the USA I’m in Australia they tell me my Amazon account is more than $600 overdue the funny thing is I don’t have an Amazon account