New scam/virus to watch out for

I got a message over the weekend supposidly from the US Post Office saying they had tried to deliever a package to me a day or so before, and since I wasn't home I needed to open the attached form, fill it out, and take it to the nearest post office. Everything about the message looks legit down to the Copyright USPS stuff, etc, and it all sounds logical enough until you think about it and really read what's said.

My problems with the whole deal were; One-logical or not how did the USPS get my email address since I've never given it to them...at least not that I recall??? Two- It says the attempted delivery was "at", not "on" such and such a date.

Those two things, along with the fact I haven't ordered anything lately, made me question the validity of the whole thing. So, I called the Post Office this morning and guess what...it's another scam, or attempt to insert a virus into your computer, or something. The guy at the PO said they have people all the time printing off the forms and bringing them in looking for a package that doesn't exist.

So, if you get something saying it's from the Post Office, regardless of how official it looks, it IS NOT from the PO. The guy I talked to said they have never sent out emails like that and as far as he knew had no plans to start. So, if you get one, DO NOT open the attachment as it will probably put something on your computer that you definately do not want on there because other than causing you to waste a trip to the PO them sending the message is worthless otherwise.

My policy is, I don't accept calls unless I know you. If I want something I'll call you. Same applies to email. If I don't recognize the email address I hit the delete button. My dog feels the same way, if she don't know you , you might get bit.

I got one last week. Didn't think it was legit.

Larry

My goodness you are cold! How do you ever get to know somebody you didn't know before?

Could be an attempt to infect your computer with a virus, Trojan or a bot. Could be someone who just thinks they are being funny. Post office calls when they can't deliver something.

Rick

That's a good way to play things when you can, and I am the same way when it comes to not opening emails from someone I absolutely don't know. However with all of the new technology and everything going to computers being notified of something like a missed package, etc via email isn't unheard of nowdays. That's why scams like this work because most people wouldn't question the validity of it at all. I, on the other hand question pretty much everything so I'm a really hard sell for things like this. That said, yes, I opened the message because it looked valid on the surface. While I haven't ordered anything lately, often times catalogs, etc that I recieve come in the form of a package, so that always leaves a question of the validity regardless of wether I actually ordered anything or not.

As far as phones go, my wife and daughters phones both have unknown caller blocks on them. Thing is when you work for yourself you never know when a potential new customer is going to call, or when an existing customer might call on an unknown line. Either way if I blocked all unknown numbers or simply didn't answer them it would be disasterous for business. Then you run into situations like I've had recently where telemarketers are using a spoofing device to make it look like their calls are coming from your wireless service provider. I've had nearly a dozen calls in the last two weeks showing up as Verizon Wireless when they call. Since my phone is the one the account is tied to I tend to answer it when they call in case there has been a problem, etc, because, again, I need my phone for business. So, you answer the calls and get telemarketers. Really pi$$es me off but Verizon's tech line said there is really nothing they can do but advise you not to answer the calls, or to answer the call and then turn around and block it when you hang up. Problem there is when the calls all come from different numbers...and they all show up as being from Verizon, what do you do then?

Thanks for the caution Wayne, not that I would have opened any attachment from somebody I didn"t know.

SuperAntiSpyware is a free download that will not prevent you from contracting a problem, but will fix what it finds. Far more than just spyware, the update I got this morning was a list of new or tweaked Trojans. Twice, Super has made my life easy when cleaning up what my wife picked up somewhere, that her virus protection failed to prevent.

"Where'd they get my email address" is the question I always ask when I get an email from USPS,UPS,IRS and any of the rest of them. I don't even open them,I just dump them in to the trash.

How does the post office get your phone number?

Wayne, like you I have no work without talking to people. However, I do not answer the phone for unknown numbers. The caller never knows when I have something noisy turned on, or am on a tractor. That's what voicemail is for. Telemarketer scum don't generally use it.

Last week I started answering calls from Kansas City though. Headquarters of Grundfos US. Somebody in Denmark lit a fire there. After I wet-test the pump I picked up this morning I will start a new thread, as requested by the upper levels at Grundfos US. Whose direct numbers I now have.

big fred, my internet is bundled with land line phone so our number is listed. Plus being in a small town area makes it easy. Our post mistress is married to a friend of mine who was also the best man at my sisters wedding.

Rick

Our post office will leave a note in the mail box or hang a note on the back door if they can't delivery or package is to big.

got one like that the other day, it was identical to the ones I got from Fedex, UPS, and others. One would think if they wanted to make it look legit, they would at least change the form instead of just changing the name of the carrier service.

I am not cold. My cell phone is for MY CONVIENIENCE ONLY!!!!. Everythibng else goes to the land line to be screened. If I give you my number you are told to leave a message.

And to beat a dead horse even further, NEVER click on a link, of any kind, in a message sent by an unknown party. Including the one at the bottom that says "To Unsubscribe, click here". Could be a virus or bot, just like any other link.

Can you return to the link? If you can give the real USPS the address they will skin them alive. That's a form of mail fraud.

(quoted from post at 12:59:32 08/26/13) How does the post office get your phone number?

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I've heard tell of some newfangled thing called a phone book.

(quoted from post at 22:51:32 08/26/13)

(quoted from post at 12:59:32 08/26/13) How does the post office get your phone number?

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I've heard tell of some newfangled thing called a phone book.

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Internet white pages too!

I'm wondering how a long lost cousin found my cell phone number... she called it last week but didn't leave a message so had no idea who it was. I put the unknown number into Google and came up with her business name. Another call I missed on there was a known scam out of NY city. Google can be your friend.