U.S. Customs Scam Targeting Washington Residents

Another day, another phone scam.

You'd think they'd get bored of doing these, but they work on some people.

And you'd also think everyone would wise up and use common sense, but you know the old saying: "Common sense is hardly ever common!"

To give those who are victims a bit of credit, these scammers are getting craftier and craftier, and for older and less tech-savvy folks, it can get difficult to determine what is legit and what is not, especially in our 24/7, non-stop tech world.

I'm not sure if this is a New Scam or a New To Me Scam, but I was just contacted via text by U.S. Customs.

Here is what my shocking text message from the government had to inform me:

"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."

Followed by the link. No, I didn't click it, but I do love how it was a USPS followed by JATYAQ.

The next part of the text message made me really scratch my head. It read:

“(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)”

So, they want me to reply back to them (so they know they have a live person and probably spread the word that they found a potential victim), then copy and paste the link into the browser.

Giphy.com

This is one of those neat moments where my laziness has saved me. Too many steps, not getting scammed today!

Good rules to follow to help avoid scams:

• If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
• Never click on a link that an unknown person has sent you. (If it is someone that you may know, and you're in doubt, reach out to them to make sure it was actually them who sent it).
• Never pay bills or fees with gift cards.
• If something like this (from USPS) pops up, and you are worried about a package, check with the place you purchased the item from or reach out to the actual post office.
• Don't give private information out to anyone who contacts you.
• When in doubt, ignore it or delete it. If it's legitimate, they'll get in touch with you again, and then you can do your research and contact the source to help keep you protected.

Have you been hit with this text scam? If so, what did you do? Tap the App and let us know!

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