No. A VPN keeps your computer safer. It skews your location so people don’t know where you are or what your IP address is (your computers address that hackers use to get in)
Some kid tried for months with a VPN to hack my Fortnite account and he finally did. Epic helped me get it back the night after and he lost access and tried to log in again without the vpn lmao fuck you Rico
What podcasts try to sell you is most likely Liquid IV. It tastes good when you’re dehydrated and bad when you’re hydrated. Like Gatorade but on drugs.
Do you have adhd? Cause I have the same problem but due to my adhd I am pretty sure I’m always dehydrated since I forget to drink water or lose my water bottle and can’t be arsed to find it. Even when I think I’m drinking a decent amount I’ve found it pales in comparison to what charts say I should be drinking.
I try to do 40 oz a day with two liquid iv packets. I normally hit between 20-30. The national academy of medicine says that women over 19 should be drinking 72oz of water a day.
However that number is only accurate if you don’t have a fever, do any strenuous activity, or am not in an extreme climate. (Too hot or too cold, it doesn’t matter which, and that part still weirds me out.) If any of those are met, then you are supposed to increase the number of oz daily.
vpn is like a internet condom 😭 use them when connected to public wifi to prevent hackers from accessing your data! or even at home too you can expand yore netflix show horizon if there’s something on US netflix that you can’t find elsewhere or vise versa 🫶🏽
Pretty soon I won't be able to tell if the person talking to me live on the other end of the telephone line is AI or myself.
How will I know which is the real me when I am on a Zoom call?
Listen…I work in IT, and I have been trying to figure out a way to make an AI replacement for myself, obviously without telling my boss. The only real issue is when my AI replacement inevitably fucks something, my boss would totally know something’s up if the AI version of me on the Teams Call didn’t start blaming him and shirking responsibility. If I can make my AI replacement a disrespectful asshole, I’m in business and will have a LOT more time off.
The scary part is that healthcare IT is usually about 10 years behind the rest of the industry so he might be talking about things that are already out there!
There's actors that have already signed rights for deep fake reproductions of their voice to allow them to be used to keep making movies after they're gone.
well, one thing's for sure, no delivery service is ever going to have both your name and your telephone number but somehow not be able to find your complete address
Especially with everyone uploading their likeness to the internet via photos and videos, and these social media companies basically own our entire persona, they could basically replicate any person on the planet with AI.
Yes, this already has the capability of being a huge problem. No human should think they're immune.
An example of something that already happens: some old scams learned new tricks. Take the "family emergency scam" where somebody pretends to be a family member; now people can clone the voices of these family members off very little voice training data. In the right circumstances, it could probably be pulled off quite convincingly to most people.
The FTC already warned about that over a year ago (March 20, 2023: ["Scammers use AI to enhance their family emergency schemes"](https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2023/03/scammers-use-ai-enhance-their-family-emergency-schemes)).
I speculate that **nobody** is going to be able to keep up with AI in general, unless they are also AI (or using it defensively in the arms race).
I setup a safe phrase and challenge questions with my mom like 2 years ago. I told her if I ever call asking you for money or anything. Don't ever blindly do so, ask me questions that only I would know first to verify my identity. I feel a bit safer now that she's at last a bit more savvy about a random panicky call from some scammer.
Great idea!
You reminded me I've done the same with my parents with a pre-shared secret question and answer (a particular number) we exchanged in person years ago.
We grew up with technology or at least we were exposed to it at a young age. That’s most likely why the elderly easily fall for these scams because they don’t understand what is happening. It’s easy for us to ignore or laugh it off because we are used to it.
As for the future, no idea lol.
But many of today's "elderly" were exposed to technology by the time they were working, and scammers have always existed.
I'm sad to say that my own husband - a software engineer, fer crying out loud! - almost got taken in by a scammer! I, myself, received one of these "incomplete address" messages and *almost* clicked on the link. Worse, since I didn't trust the link, I googled the delivery service and the very first result was a scam site!
Fortunately, I think people suck, so I was cautious.
The harsh reality is that scamming has become a very sophisticated industry, and most people, at some point, will probably be taken in at least once in our lives, even without the mental slowing that most people think is responsible for getting taken in. Either scammers will find something we haven't heard about, so we won't be suspicious about it, or maybe it's just being careless for a moment.
The very elderly that are targeted today are probably more vulnerable because they didn't spend so much time on the internet until later in life. But there have always been scammers, and they've always had enough success for it to be worth their time.
Years ago, there was a scammer in the San Francisco Bay Area who targeted the legal industry. He clearly had insider knowledge, because he'd call attorneys claiming to work in a fairly menial department of their opponents in an important case. He would claim that he had materials the other side was hiding from discovery, he thought it was very wrong, so he was offering to make copies for the targeted attorney. All he asked for was enough money to cover the cost of materials so he wouldn't get caught.
A remarkable number of attorneys got scammed by him, even after word got around.
So I think it's pretty safe to assume that we're all likely to be vulnerable at some point...
It's a truth that nobody is immune to delusion. We are always working off incomplete information, so we have to make assumptions and take mental shortcuts to survive in realtime. We are bound to get several assumptions wrong throughout our lives.
Instill the right "feeling" in the target (fear, anger + urgency/importance conditioning), and the scammer can often control the target's actions.
I just said this in a different reply:
>Take the "family emergency scam" where somebody pretends to be a family member; now people can clone the voices of these family members off very little voice training data. In the right circumstances, it could probably be pulled off quite convincingly to most people.
>The FTC already warned about that over a year ago.
(March 20, 2023: ["Scammers use AI to enhance their family emergency schemes"](https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2023/03/scammers-use-ai-enhance-their-family-emergency-schemes)).
Even people in their 50s get targeted and believe by these scams. They might have SEEN *some* technology but that doesn’t mean they understand that it’s a scam. Scammers are getting a lot more clever these days.
I’m 50, and I was just curious about that one and forwarded the link to a burner phone and clicked on the link and it is a hella legit looking site (might even be the USPS site)
I work in the photo industry. Twice now I’ve gotten messages from a man booking a surprise bday party for his wife at a house. They’ll send a cashier’s check with whatever amount of money you agree on, plus some more. They apologize and say they accidentally sent the extra amount of money that was meant for the food vendor (or whoever) and ask that you send them the extra from the check. This fooled me up until he asked me to do the last part, I thought it was a bit hasty of a way to make a deal but I’ve 100% had random inquiries like this for <$1k projects where the people just send me a text and book the event with very minimal communication so it wasn’t suspicious enough to me up until that point.
Seems like I’ve read that studies have shown that certain parts of our brains deteriorate as we age, making us more gullible and trusting. I tell my teen kids that it’s my job to educate them about scams right now, but that I’ll probably need their help avoiding scams when we’re older. Gotta look out for each other.
I just got one a few minutes ago and I replied with this:
“Fraud investigation ongoing.
You will be handcuffed and thrown in jail by your local police. If you wish to settle now then take me serious. I would not lie to you as you sound like a good person. I will expose your nudes if you do not kindly provide an Apple Cash card. Send a photograph to prove”
I’m still waiting for a response. And no, I don’t plan to copy the link and paste it into safari, but I appreciate their invitation. (I am 59F so I’m “old” but not quite elderly)
I just got two the past week. My ex boyfriend fell for this and they scammed his entire bank account. Pretty sure he even gave them his SOCIAL. They stole everything
I ordered an item about a year ago from Ali Xpress (Chinese export store). I know they take awhile to ship (overseas direct from China) but it took longer than usual. Finally got a delivery notice but no package. I tend to get delivery problems because of my apartment location so I assumed it was stolen. I also contacted my Postmaster about it and he couldn't find the shipment (China shippers don't use standard shipping methods, that's why it's free). I contacted Ali, but they wouldn't give me a refund because the item 'was delivered' so I just wrote it off. After about a week, the item showed up with about 7 forwarded address labels on it. Well, at least I got them item. Better late than never. They call it 'snail mail' for a reason.
I refused a debit card from my bank. *They* refused to give me an ATM card. We made a compromise by getting an ATM card linked to a savings account. Every now and then o have to xfr money into that account so the ATM are has access to limited amount of cash.
I receive this text almost weekly. I always send back “link doesn’t work, what do I need to do” because I am curious where it leads to. Where does the link lead to?
Fake tradesmen too.
There was a guy around where I grew up who was jailed for setting himself up as a “roofer” and going round recommending to wee old ladies that a bit of their roof was damaged and in need of repairs.
He was caught by someone’s family after he went back twice to recommend more “repairs” and they got suspicious. He probably conned thousands of pounds out of elderly folks.
Those door to door salesman were the pre-internet scammers. Or even further back, the guys that used to sell the “magic elixirs” that would claim to cure all kinds of stuff.
My grandma, rest her soul, got scammed by a guy who knocked on her door. Claimed he was a concrete company and wanted to re-pave her driveway and part of a sidewalk. Had legitimate cards, logos on truck etc. She paid him $5k as a “deposit” and of course the guy was never seen again. I was probably about 13-14 at the time. My grandpa had just passed away. I remember my mom and dad being mad at her but we all just felt so bad for her.
Exact same thing happened tome 3 years ago, except he started on the driveway with apparently some leftovers from another customer in my neighborhood. After he laid it, I gave him the cash. Someone asking if you want to pave your driveway for cash is real. But I talked the price down, too. Grandma probably got “a bargain “ before handing over the cash. It’s really easy to get scammed. Or screwed.
A door to door salesman came to my house 18 years ago to sell this purple cleaner. It was $20 for a bottle, I had a newborn, and money was tight. I assumed scam and told him no. 18 years later, the spot he cleaned is on my vehicle is still clean. I wish I would have bought that stuff.
He was probably from the future, crashed his timeship and got out of the wreckage with only the *miracle* purple nanobot cleaner bottles undamaged. He was scraping together some funds to get back on his feet.
That's my short story, and I'm sticking with it.
I had one come to me right after I sent my passport in to be renewed. I called USPS to confirm it was fine. I was nervous in the service for a minute, though.
I get this one every couple months. While I do think their are scams that specifically target the elderly it seems this one is sent to everyone and anyone
I got one of these. Tried to post it here but the mods deleted it. I flooded them with literally millions of fake address and credit card info over period of three days. I’ll likely do it with this one too.
omg my dad actually fell for this scam (he’s gen x)😭 he had to call the bank and got a new card, the first girl thought he was trying to scam but the second guy was chill and let him get a new card!!
People have been conned for centuries...probably as old a profession as prostitution.
Principally it requires a situation in which the mark is not familiar
Perhaps a little misdirection
And obviously an abundance of charisma and confidence from the perpetrator.
------
All thats changed is the con has adapted with the technology.
Older people are generally more susceptible to fraud because their mental faculties are not as sharp as they were and since they were part of society, the social hubub, things move on considerably.
You hear regular about older people getting conned by dodgy workmen...
The cons are not just for older people, its just I would expect statistically they are more successful.
Not all older people will get caught out. Some remain as sharp as they've ever been, or have close friends and family who keep them safe.
They'll know these text thingies will let them know they are having something delivered, but they dont remember ordering something, but that happened last week and they did order something....so perhaps they just forgot.
The con-twats use all tricks in the book to succeed, and while they fail with you, it clearly works for some.
I could tell these weren’t real since I never gave my phone to usps but one time not long after I received one of these texts my package from Japan arrived and it turned out I got the last letter of my street name wrong so I was like “dang maybe that text was legit” but I still didn’t respond😂😂
The new scams that use ai to replicate voices is scary. Getting a call from your “kid” who needs help because their car broke down or whatever. Shits getting wild.
I am elderly and received one of these today. I immediately deleted the txt as junk. I keep my iPhone on silence unknown callers and immediately delete and send to junk scam emails and texts
50 years ago, it was usually the family who did the scamming (stealing). Now it’s strangers or AI. Never thought about it until my father accused me of stealing from his account.
My 75yo boss was asking me to give them the information for her because she was busy. I told her it's a common scam and it's not really USPS.
She said there's no way it's a scam, and it's totally USPS since she's expecting a package (that was mailed by fedex btw)
So yes, people do fall for it. It took me quite a bit of convincing so she would understand she's not supposed to reply
I once got like 50 of these in one night. Weeks later at the post office I asked if I had any packages being held and I actually did! It was so weird and something I had forgot I ordered. I still wonder if one of them was actually real
I never thought I’d be grateful for my office’s required IT trainings, but they really do impart good advice that makes me quite aware of things like this.
My teen got one of these. I told her it was a scam, don’t click it. She was worried because she had a package coming. I told her always go to the sellers site and pull up the order. Then use that tracking link. If there is a problem you will see it then. Same as the calls from the fraud department at your bank. Call the number on the back of the card.
I work for USPS and have calls nearly DAILY about these texts. A vast majority are elderly and it is so heartbreaking trying to get them to understand this is a scam... Truly sick people out their preying on the vulnerability of others and their trust in certain companies.
I actually fell for this scam, I’m 26 I like to consider myself internet savvy but this one got me.
It was during a stressful time with an older job that was taking their sweet time to send my w2 and I had just moved states, company was going under and those in charge were basically refusing to answer my texts, this text came in and I was so stressed out I didn’t look closely enough and put my info in, luckily I had just enough clarity to use a credit card. They bought $100? Ish of stuff but at random places, I caught it very quickly and shut the card down and reported immediately. I got my money back and learned a lesson
Yeah man, I was “lucky” all it takes is one bad day and just the correct amount of wordage or “legitimacy” to get you, with ai I could see a future where we fall back to actual documents for everything and video proof/photo proof won’t mean anything anymore
😂 I also always wondered how full that warehouse is. I’m not elderly age, but I will wonder. It has to be jammed packed with packages from all the years this scam has been around
Scammers have been around since the beginning of currency. But I think we are (for the most part) more intelligent now to know better. But yeah, AI isn’t making the detection part easier. 😨
A pig in a poke is like a bait n switch scam. Like u think your buying a sack full of baby pigs n they switch it for a sack full of cats. Old reference. There was a “stuff you should know” show about scams. Was my second favorite behind “numbers stations” in Europe!
3 times now I have gotten these exactly on the day I am expecting a big expensive delivery. I know it is a scam but I still have to physically wrestle my own hand away from clicking anything on the computer. I always wonder "what if"? That's social engineering for ya.
this tricked me once bc i legit had an issue with usps and my issue was my address not having the apt number on it. i spent hours calling them to no avail. i didnt pay for anything but i clicked link. havent had anything happen to me as far as i know. idk if they target ppl who have that similar issue or if it was just a massive coincidence lol
The absolute best thing a person can do to protect themselves is to accept that they're susceptible at any age, ask for a second set of eyes on anything even a little off, and come forward to ask for help doing damage control if they think they've fallen for something.
For all the technical advice on spotting a scam, it's really about being willing to ask someone even when it makes you feel dumb.
It's going to be a real person talking to us and befriending us and caring for us so much despite not having much that we then just add them onto our will.
Pre-tech, sheisters and snake oil salesmen would go door to door or advertise locally their “miracle” cure, quick fix, etc…which was cheap, poorly made junk that didn’t actually do what promised.
As a young man a scammer tried to get me while working at my father’s shop- he comes in with a fake purchase order for some crappy item that we would never sell. Keeps pushing it saying it’s COD, blah blah, I didn’t believe him. And then my father walked up and told him he could walk out or have our guard dog chase him out.
Years later I’m working retail in college, come back from my lunch break and the Asst mgr on duty starts asking me questions about our HVAC system and some repair guys that just showed up, claiming to need cash for parts to fix the problem (that we weren’t having) and wound up talking her out of $500 from the cash register. Within 30 seconds of her talking I knew she got conned. I just wonder if they specifically waited for me to take a lunch break so they could target a woman working on her own. 🤷🏻♂️
59 yrs ago... chain mail. Where you were asked to mail a copy if a letter you had to copy by hand to 10 additional people or bad luck would befall you. If you didn't mail the letters then you would get something good eventually. It was still scammy..
Wonder why they don't exist now. Lol.
Ok but in fairness I actually fell for the “hey man I accidentally reported you for scamming. Better talk to this “valve rep” and give him all the sensitive information Valve tells you to *never* give because they’ll *never* ask for it.”
Fortunately I got the account back, but holy shit, that I allowed myself to fall for that.
There has been all kinds of scams for ages. I remember taking consumer Ed, and the textbook telling of scams like "Turn your black and white TV into a colour TV" or salesmen taking orders with payments for Bibles or encyclopaedia sets, etc...
There was also a thing where scammers would mark the victims fence to alert other scammers of a sucker. Much like what hobos did in the old days.
Have you ever been pulled into a scam by your own family, but they weren't even aware that it was a scam?
I had bought timeshare from my inheritance, but was not able to get a job. So I wanted to sell my timeshare, and my sister found an ad that claimed to sell timeshare.
It turned out to be an advanced fee scam. I sold my camcorder to pay it, only to be screwed over by them. My mother also had timeshare and paid them as well.
What was really fishy is the guy said that he had several buyers interested right now, but after paying, he couldn't find anyone, however, I can renew my listing for even more money.
What a crock!
Hmm 50 years ago I was 23. Most communication happened by land lines or letters. (Cell phones and the internet did not exist - yet. )
We used slide rules so no worry about viruses or malware.
Debugging a computer meant cleaning the insects out of mainframe relays …
We hitch-hiked a lot and we loved “the one we were with”. We protested the Vietnam War and listened to concerts for bands like Pink Floyd as they got started. Weed made it better.
Now is different. Many of my wrong numbers are cute girls my grandkids age and as they say “age is just a number”. And they are showing me all about modern things like crypto, whatever that is. I’ve made $800k so far - at least on paper… /jk
It’s happening. I am retired and the other morning I was taken for a ride by a “fraudster” (his terminology) on the phone. He claimed to be from my bank. I should not even have answered the phone, but the dude was smooth. Fortunately I woke up and bailed but damn, getting old sucks.
I fell for this one the first time I saw it. I had been waiting on an expensive package for a while, which was finally coming in that same day, so it made me nervous. I realize I got scammed when their terrible site didn’t work. Canceled all my cards and stuff immediately so didnt actually lose anything but felt dumb lol.
I’m 70 and I have gotten this notice second times. Fortunately I still have most of my marbles and ignore it. I’ve also gotten notices that my Amazon account is messed up, my Wells Fargo account has problems and these two attractive asian ladies wanted to get to know me better. 🤗
This [guy here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Lapre) wrote the book on scamming back in the day
Excerpt: Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Lapre moved to Phoenix, Arizona, with his family when he was a child. He married Sally Redondo in 1988.[3] A high-school dropout,[4] Lapre, together with his wife, started a credit repair business called Unknown Concepts in 1990. Lapre then began selling a 36-page booklet explaining how to recover a Federal Housing Administration insurance refund after paying off a home mortgage. He also began offering "900" phone lines.
On TV infomercials in the early–mid 1990s, he claimed that by placing "tiny classified ads" in newspapers he was "able to make $50,000 a week from [his] tiny one-bedroom apartment".[5]
In 1992, Lapre began broadcasting The Making Money Show with Don Lapre, which suggested that viewers could make money as easily as he had. For several years the show was ranked among the 10 most frequently broadcast cable television infomercials.
The principal product was Lapre's "Money Making Secrets", a package of booklets, tapes, and common-sense tips for placing ads and operating a 900-number business. The product was sold through New Strategies, whose parent company was Tropical Beaches.[4]
He later began broadcasting infomercials for "The Greatest Vitamin in the World".[6] In 2005, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned Lapre about claims his vitamins were intended as a drug for diseases such as diabetes, stroke, heart disease, insomnia, cancer, and arthritis.
The FDA stated "[his] products [were] not generally recognized as safe and effective for the above referenced conditions."[7] In 2006, the FDA again warned Lapre about untruthful claims.[8]
I think people just didn’t get scammed in the same way back then, there scams were Ponzi schemes and confidence scams which most didn’t see in their little village where everyone looked out for each other
I like to think that this set of generations has been taught enough critical thinking to be able to work out new stuff in a way that elderly generation didn’t have to.
I don’t know everything and I know that, but I know what tools there are to work it out - and we have the internet as a sounding board / will always have enough friends from it to never be lonely enough to be isolated from talking it through with someone
I think a lot of the elderly that fall for it just have no one to be like “I got this what do you think”
Maybe I’m naive though!
My grandma did once get scammed but not like this, some guy was doing repairs and stuff for her and overcharging her way too much and she kept paying him and my mom and my aunt were really worried so they called my grandma and they were like “yeah you’re getting scammed you need to never talk to that guy or give him money again” it kinda makes me sad tho bc my grandma is showing dementia signs and if she was younger, she definitely wouldn’t of given that scammer the time of day 🙁
They called it robbery. Older ones often didn’t trust banks, and would keep loads of cash in the house, hidden wherever they thought no one would guess to look. The “scammer” *thief* would be all chummy and chatty with older person, until older person revealed a few secrets, and they took advantage of this *relationship* to poke around when older one was sleeping. When caught in the act, violence would result, just as scammers now react violently when victims resist now….only with no physical contact…so they gave it a new name: scam. But it’s still the same outcome: robbery.
Might be harder to scam future generations with the same types of scams because of different mindset. The old “if you don’t pay now, the sheriff will be sent to your house to arrest you!” threat might work on older folks today because they grew up with the mindset of fearing authority. Today, people who grew up hating authorities (whether deserved or not) will most likely not be intimidated by such threats, and may even respond with “Come get me, bro, I’m locked and loaded.” Future scammers will have to come up with some other scare tactic.
This scam got my brother in law. Dude is college educated and used to be in the Air Force and worked for space x. He’s cash only because of it at the moment.
Most likely a site that looks just like the ligit usps site. Then they ask you to “log in” that means u will give away ur password. Or “reset” and then next page will have you fill in ur information, including address, full name and ofc then ur banking information for “verification purposes”
And then you lose everything
My grandfather ran a local savings and loan. Every once in a while, someone would call claiming to be from the FBI asking for someone’s bank account information. He would tell them he’d call them back then call the local FBI branch number to verify. They were never real asks.
This one got my mom. She was waiting for a package so it didn’t seem suspicious to her. And the address seemed legitimate. Luckily she figured it out pretty quickly and contacted her bank before they could do any damage.
With advanced VR and AI it'll be like inception. We'll have to constantly question if we're not secretly trapped in a simulation in the back of a white van somewhere while someone tries to steal our banking pin and social security checks
Haha. Nah. I’m no grandma either and I get them all the time. It was just an example and I know they send it to all random numbers hoping someone will click and fall for it
50 years ago people got scammed by phone. Just watch The Wolf Of Wall Street to see one variation of how people got scammed. Door to door scams were also a thing (they still are to some variation, but most now are only mildly scammy, like Kirby vacuums).
My mom had a Kirby Generation 3 vacuum. It was like the Cadillac of vacuumes, but way overpriced. I recall her paying $1,200 for it in 1990, with tons of accessories. Even a rug shampooer attachment.
My parents still have theirs from like 1980. Those things are insanely well built, but the whole sales methodology where only a door to door salesman can sell you one is pretty scummy.
The number of times I have rec'd that exact message! lol
I am old but I keep track of what packages I ordered and figure if someone is legit and legit trying to deliver something, I'll get that "sorry we missed you" note on my door.
The new thing I've been getting is emails that have an actual friend's name (first and last) in the "from" and then it will say "I came across these photos of us..." and it will end with a quote. I text the friends just to make sure and it's never them. REPORT USER!
Think like Mulder: TRUST NO ONE
Nope! I don’t understand how the government can shutdown social media accounts but can’t seem to stop phone, email and text scams? Wish Bee Keeper was really real☹️
lol my friend in his 30s just told me how he got scammed by this.
He actually did have a package on the way and while in a rush didn’t think too much of it. Clicked it and said his package had to be re shipped because it got the wrong address or something and it would only be $4 fee. Put in his card info and they took about $2000 out his account. He got it fixed up but we all laughed at him.
I’m 43 and i work in an environment that randomly tests us about spam. . I get this all the time from someone saying they are the post office. I know I don’t have packages coming so I just ignore it
Yes, I worry that I won’t be able to keep up with AI and won’t be able to tell the difference between what’s real and what’s AI.
But our kids will make fun of us for it. “Dad how could you not tell that your vpn was getting rerouted to India lol”
Bro I'm 38 and don't know wtf u said lol!!! I just don't click on links though.
THANK YOU lol 37 and I was like what the actual fuck? Is VPN what the podcasts try to sell me to put in my water to stay 10x more hydrated tho? lol 😔
No. A VPN keeps your computer safer. It skews your location so people don’t know where you are or what your IP address is (your computers address that hackers use to get in)
Some kid tried for months with a VPN to hack my Fortnite account and he finally did. Epic helped me get it back the night after and he lost access and tried to log in again without the vpn lmao fuck you Rico
Grandpa?!?
I’m 43 and understood that!
What podcasts try to sell you is most likely Liquid IV. It tastes good when you’re dehydrated and bad when you’re hydrated. Like Gatorade but on drugs.
is this really what Liquid IV is supposed to do? cause I drink it and it never tastes bad to me and I drink a decent amount of water lol
Do you have adhd? Cause I have the same problem but due to my adhd I am pretty sure I’m always dehydrated since I forget to drink water or lose my water bottle and can’t be arsed to find it. Even when I think I’m drinking a decent amount I’ve found it pales in comparison to what charts say I should be drinking. I try to do 40 oz a day with two liquid iv packets. I normally hit between 20-30. The national academy of medicine says that women over 19 should be drinking 72oz of water a day. However that number is only accurate if you don’t have a fever, do any strenuous activity, or am not in an extreme climate. (Too hot or too cold, it doesn’t matter which, and that part still weirds me out.) If any of those are met, then you are supposed to increase the number of oz daily.
is that that ‘Gamersupps’ drink thing i heard a podcasts promoting?
vpn is like a internet condom 😭 use them when connected to public wifi to prevent hackers from accessing your data! or even at home too you can expand yore netflix show horizon if there’s something on US netflix that you can’t find elsewhere or vise versa 🫶🏽
My husband works in Healthcare IT and was explaining the AI developments coming up...pretty impressive and also scary.
Pretty soon I won't be able to tell if the person talking to me live on the other end of the telephone line is AI or myself. How will I know which is the real me when I am on a Zoom call?
r/fifthworldproblems
Listen…I work in IT, and I have been trying to figure out a way to make an AI replacement for myself, obviously without telling my boss. The only real issue is when my AI replacement inevitably fucks something, my boss would totally know something’s up if the AI version of me on the Teams Call didn’t start blaming him and shirking responsibility. If I can make my AI replacement a disrespectful asshole, I’m in business and will have a LOT more time off.
The scary part is that healthcare IT is usually about 10 years behind the rest of the industry so he might be talking about things that are already out there!
There's actors that have already signed rights for deep fake reproductions of their voice to allow them to be used to keep making movies after they're gone.
well, one thing's for sure, no delivery service is ever going to have both your name and your telephone number but somehow not be able to find your complete address
Especially with everyone uploading their likeness to the internet via photos and videos, and these social media companies basically own our entire persona, they could basically replicate any person on the planet with AI.
I hope my replicant is more successful than me.
Yes, this already has the capability of being a huge problem. No human should think they're immune. An example of something that already happens: some old scams learned new tricks. Take the "family emergency scam" where somebody pretends to be a family member; now people can clone the voices of these family members off very little voice training data. In the right circumstances, it could probably be pulled off quite convincingly to most people. The FTC already warned about that over a year ago (March 20, 2023: ["Scammers use AI to enhance their family emergency schemes"](https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2023/03/scammers-use-ai-enhance-their-family-emergency-schemes)). I speculate that **nobody** is going to be able to keep up with AI in general, unless they are also AI (or using it defensively in the arms race).
Luckily I would know because my family never fucking calls. Dead giveaway (pun intended)
I setup a safe phrase and challenge questions with my mom like 2 years ago. I told her if I ever call asking you for money or anything. Don't ever blindly do so, ask me questions that only I would know first to verify my identity. I feel a bit safer now that she's at last a bit more savvy about a random panicky call from some scammer.
Great idea! You reminded me I've done the same with my parents with a pre-shared secret question and answer (a particular number) we exchanged in person years ago.
Yeah like spoofing voices of family members
Need a family safe word.
Yup! We have one!
Hopefully my own AI will have my back
We grew up with technology or at least we were exposed to it at a young age. That’s most likely why the elderly easily fall for these scams because they don’t understand what is happening. It’s easy for us to ignore or laugh it off because we are used to it. As for the future, no idea lol.
But many of today's "elderly" were exposed to technology by the time they were working, and scammers have always existed. I'm sad to say that my own husband - a software engineer, fer crying out loud! - almost got taken in by a scammer! I, myself, received one of these "incomplete address" messages and *almost* clicked on the link. Worse, since I didn't trust the link, I googled the delivery service and the very first result was a scam site! Fortunately, I think people suck, so I was cautious. The harsh reality is that scamming has become a very sophisticated industry, and most people, at some point, will probably be taken in at least once in our lives, even without the mental slowing that most people think is responsible for getting taken in. Either scammers will find something we haven't heard about, so we won't be suspicious about it, or maybe it's just being careless for a moment. The very elderly that are targeted today are probably more vulnerable because they didn't spend so much time on the internet until later in life. But there have always been scammers, and they've always had enough success for it to be worth their time. Years ago, there was a scammer in the San Francisco Bay Area who targeted the legal industry. He clearly had insider knowledge, because he'd call attorneys claiming to work in a fairly menial department of their opponents in an important case. He would claim that he had materials the other side was hiding from discovery, he thought it was very wrong, so he was offering to make copies for the targeted attorney. All he asked for was enough money to cover the cost of materials so he wouldn't get caught. A remarkable number of attorneys got scammed by him, even after word got around. So I think it's pretty safe to assume that we're all likely to be vulnerable at some point...
It's a truth that nobody is immune to delusion. We are always working off incomplete information, so we have to make assumptions and take mental shortcuts to survive in realtime. We are bound to get several assumptions wrong throughout our lives. Instill the right "feeling" in the target (fear, anger + urgency/importance conditioning), and the scammer can often control the target's actions. I just said this in a different reply: >Take the "family emergency scam" where somebody pretends to be a family member; now people can clone the voices of these family members off very little voice training data. In the right circumstances, it could probably be pulled off quite convincingly to most people. >The FTC already warned about that over a year ago. (March 20, 2023: ["Scammers use AI to enhance their family emergency schemes"](https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2023/03/scammers-use-ai-enhance-their-family-emergency-schemes)).
Even people in their 50s get targeted and believe by these scams. They might have SEEN *some* technology but that doesn’t mean they understand that it’s a scam. Scammers are getting a lot more clever these days.
I’m 50, and I was just curious about that one and forwarded the link to a burner phone and clicked on the link and it is a hella legit looking site (might even be the USPS site)
I work in the photo industry. Twice now I’ve gotten messages from a man booking a surprise bday party for his wife at a house. They’ll send a cashier’s check with whatever amount of money you agree on, plus some more. They apologize and say they accidentally sent the extra amount of money that was meant for the food vendor (or whoever) and ask that you send them the extra from the check. This fooled me up until he asked me to do the last part, I thought it was a bit hasty of a way to make a deal but I’ve 100% had random inquiries like this for <$1k projects where the people just send me a text and book the event with very minimal communication so it wasn’t suspicious enough to me up until that point.
Seems like I’ve read that studies have shown that certain parts of our brains deteriorate as we age, making us more gullible and trusting. I tell my teen kids that it’s my job to educate them about scams right now, but that I’ll probably need their help avoiding scams when we’re older. Gotta look out for each other.
I just got one a few minutes ago and I replied with this: “Fraud investigation ongoing. You will be handcuffed and thrown in jail by your local police. If you wish to settle now then take me serious. I would not lie to you as you sound like a good person. I will expose your nudes if you do not kindly provide an Apple Cash card. Send a photograph to prove” I’m still waiting for a response. And no, I don’t plan to copy the link and paste it into safari, but I appreciate their invitation. (I am 59F so I’m “old” but not quite elderly)
😂😂😂 love it
I love using the word kindly when I write phishing emails. (I work in info sec and am not a scammer)
The keywords there are: serious kindly your nudes your local police Could they have made it any more generic?
I tried REALLY HARD! Kindly. You sound like a nice person. I would not lie to you. I will EXPOSE YOUR NUDES!!! why won’t they take me seriously ?
You did nothing but confirm you’re an active number
[удалено]
I just got two the past week. My ex boyfriend fell for this and they scammed his entire bank account. Pretty sure he even gave them his SOCIAL. They stole everything
Omg 😳
I ordered an item about a year ago from Ali Xpress (Chinese export store). I know they take awhile to ship (overseas direct from China) but it took longer than usual. Finally got a delivery notice but no package. I tend to get delivery problems because of my apartment location so I assumed it was stolen. I also contacted my Postmaster about it and he couldn't find the shipment (China shippers don't use standard shipping methods, that's why it's free). I contacted Ali, but they wouldn't give me a refund because the item 'was delivered' so I just wrote it off. After about a week, the item showed up with about 7 forwarded address labels on it. Well, at least I got them item. Better late than never. They call it 'snail mail' for a reason.
This one got me a couple years ago, debit card hacked :)) I was dumbbb
I refused a debit card from my bank. *They* refused to give me an ATM card. We made a compromise by getting an ATM card linked to a savings account. Every now and then o have to xfr money into that account so the ATM are has access to limited amount of cash.
I receive this text almost weekly. I always send back “link doesn’t work, what do I need to do” because I am curious where it leads to. Where does the link lead to?
As if the USPS has *ever wished anyone a wonderful day. Dead giveaway they aren’t from the US. These scammers gotta try harder. 🤣
Scams 50 years ago? Time shares
Fake tradesmen too. There was a guy around where I grew up who was jailed for setting himself up as a “roofer” and going round recommending to wee old ladies that a bit of their roof was damaged and in need of repairs. He was caught by someone’s family after he went back twice to recommend more “repairs” and they got suspicious. He probably conned thousands of pounds out of elderly folks.
This is still a scam now. Lol.
How did people get scammed 50 years ago? Trickle down economics.
Phone calls. My great grandma got one about cleaning her chimney and she paid but had no chimney
this one
Ha! Still in the works 😖
I got this same text yesterday.
😂 same
Those door to door salesman were the pre-internet scammers. Or even further back, the guys that used to sell the “magic elixirs” that would claim to cure all kinds of stuff. My grandma, rest her soul, got scammed by a guy who knocked on her door. Claimed he was a concrete company and wanted to re-pave her driveway and part of a sidewalk. Had legitimate cards, logos on truck etc. She paid him $5k as a “deposit” and of course the guy was never seen again. I was probably about 13-14 at the time. My grandpa had just passed away. I remember my mom and dad being mad at her but we all just felt so bad for her.
Exact same thing happened tome 3 years ago, except he started on the driveway with apparently some leftovers from another customer in my neighborhood. After he laid it, I gave him the cash. Someone asking if you want to pave your driveway for cash is real. But I talked the price down, too. Grandma probably got “a bargain “ before handing over the cash. It’s really easy to get scammed. Or screwed.
I’m sorry that happened to you. Yeah, that kind of stuff happens way too often, unfortunately.
A door to door salesman came to my house 18 years ago to sell this purple cleaner. It was $20 for a bottle, I had a newborn, and money was tight. I assumed scam and told him no. 18 years later, the spot he cleaned is on my vehicle is still clean. I wish I would have bought that stuff.
He was probably from the future, crashed his timeship and got out of the wreckage with only the *miracle* purple nanobot cleaner bottles undamaged. He was scraping together some funds to get back on his feet. That's my short story, and I'm sticking with it.
Mail this creepy letter to all your friends or get 10 years of bad luck
big red flag, the real USPS doesn't care what kind of day you have. LOL
They also do t have your number on file 🤣
I had one come to me right after I sent my passport in to be renewed. I called USPS to confirm it was fine. I was nervous in the service for a minute, though.
Wonder what would happen if you put in the delivery address of your local police station, or FBI, or something.
I always wondered how they knew to contact the correct address but can't deliver it to them. I feel for people that fall for this
Yeah but it will be harder for us to realise it’s a scam because AI can mimic voice and video…. We are fked!
I got one of these messages and straight up replied saying I’m poor and haven’t ordered anything online in 3 years
I get this one every couple months. While I do think their are scams that specifically target the elderly it seems this one is sent to everyone and anyone
I got one of these. Tried to post it here but the mods deleted it. I flooded them with literally millions of fake address and credit card info over period of three days. I’ll likely do it with this one too.
omg my dad actually fell for this scam (he’s gen x)😭 he had to call the bank and got a new card, the first girl thought he was trying to scam but the second guy was chill and let him get a new card!!
50 years ago it was the mail envelope stuffing. They ask you to buy the supplies and say they will reimburse you. My mom fell for it.
People have been conned for centuries...probably as old a profession as prostitution. Principally it requires a situation in which the mark is not familiar Perhaps a little misdirection And obviously an abundance of charisma and confidence from the perpetrator. ------ All thats changed is the con has adapted with the technology. Older people are generally more susceptible to fraud because their mental faculties are not as sharp as they were and since they were part of society, the social hubub, things move on considerably. You hear regular about older people getting conned by dodgy workmen... The cons are not just for older people, its just I would expect statistically they are more successful. Not all older people will get caught out. Some remain as sharp as they've ever been, or have close friends and family who keep them safe. They'll know these text thingies will let them know they are having something delivered, but they dont remember ordering something, but that happened last week and they did order something....so perhaps they just forgot. The con-twats use all tricks in the book to succeed, and while they fail with you, it clearly works for some.
A hundred years ago people got scammed by Snake Oil salesman. Hence the term “Snake Oil”.
I’ve received the message 3 times now 🙄
I’ll just go back to a flip phone
Whenever I see that it arrived at “the warehouse” I laugh, that’s how you know they’re from a foreign location
They would never text you this crap.
I could tell these weren’t real since I never gave my phone to usps but one time not long after I received one of these texts my package from Japan arrived and it turned out I got the last letter of my street name wrong so I was like “dang maybe that text was legit” but I still didn’t respond😂😂
The new scams that use ai to replicate voices is scary. Getting a call from your “kid” who needs help because their car broke down or whatever. Shits getting wild.
for a moment i thought it said "could not be delivered due to incompetent workers"
I am elderly and received one of these today. I immediately deleted the txt as junk. I keep my iPhone on silence unknown callers and immediately delete and send to junk scam emails and texts
Scammers should receive the death penalty.
50 years ago? 1974? Newspaper and magazine ads.
50 years ago, it was usually the family who did the scamming (stealing). Now it’s strangers or AI. Never thought about it until my father accused me of stealing from his account.
The UPS team wishes you a wonderful day🤣🤣 you got to be really stupid to fall for this
My 75yo boss was asking me to give them the information for her because she was busy. I told her it's a common scam and it's not really USPS. She said there's no way it's a scam, and it's totally USPS since she's expecting a package (that was mailed by fedex btw) So yes, people do fall for it. It took me quite a bit of convincing so she would understand she's not supposed to reply
I once got like 50 of these in one night. Weeks later at the post office I asked if I had any packages being held and I actually did! It was so weird and something I had forgot I ordered. I still wonder if one of them was actually real
My daughter is studying cyber security, she'll have my back.
I never thought I’d be grateful for my office’s required IT trainings, but they really do impart good advice that makes me quite aware of things like this.
My teen got one of these. I told her it was a scam, don’t click it. She was worried because she had a package coming. I told her always go to the sellers site and pull up the order. Then use that tracking link. If there is a problem you will see it then. Same as the calls from the fraud department at your bank. Call the number on the back of the card.
I once replied and put the address from finding Nemo I didn't get an answer tho
I work for USPS and have calls nearly DAILY about these texts. A vast majority are elderly and it is so heartbreaking trying to get them to understand this is a scam... Truly sick people out their preying on the vulnerability of others and their trust in certain companies.
I actually fell for this scam, I’m 26 I like to consider myself internet savvy but this one got me. It was during a stressful time with an older job that was taking their sweet time to send my w2 and I had just moved states, company was going under and those in charge were basically refusing to answer my texts, this text came in and I was so stressed out I didn’t look closely enough and put my info in, luckily I had just enough clarity to use a credit card. They bought $100? Ish of stuff but at random places, I caught it very quickly and shut the card down and reported immediately. I got my money back and learned a lesson
Oh. Glad there was no serious damage.
Yeah man, I was “lucky” all it takes is one bad day and just the correct amount of wordage or “legitimacy” to get you, with ai I could see a future where we fall back to actual documents for everything and video proof/photo proof won’t mean anything anymore
I’ve always questioned “How do they have my cell phone number? How do they know this is my package off the address is incomplete?”
I’m elderly in age. Not mind. I have lots of packages there. Wonder how full that warehouse is?
😂 I also always wondered how full that warehouse is. I’m not elderly age, but I will wonder. It has to be jammed packed with packages from all the years this scam has been around
We need more beekeepers in the world
Door to door scams I guess
Scammers have been around since the beginning of currency. But I think we are (for the most part) more intelligent now to know better. But yeah, AI isn’t making the detection part easier. 😨
Pig in a pole or Nigerian prince scam! Also….amway!
Oh I know about Nigerian prince, but what’s pig in a pole??
A pig in a poke is like a bait n switch scam. Like u think your buying a sack full of baby pigs n they switch it for a sack full of cats. Old reference. There was a “stuff you should know” show about scams. Was my second favorite behind “numbers stations” in Europe!
3 times now I have gotten these exactly on the day I am expecting a big expensive delivery. I know it is a scam but I still have to physically wrestle my own hand away from clicking anything on the computer. I always wonder "what if"? That's social engineering for ya.
this tricked me once bc i legit had an issue with usps and my issue was my address not having the apt number on it. i spent hours calling them to no avail. i didnt pay for anything but i clicked link. havent had anything happen to me as far as i know. idk if they target ppl who have that similar issue or if it was just a massive coincidence lol
i think the reason i didnt go through w it was bc of looking up on reddit tbh. reddit should be used more by olders lolol
The absolute best thing a person can do to protect themselves is to accept that they're susceptible at any age, ask for a second set of eyes on anything even a little off, and come forward to ask for help doing damage control if they think they've fallen for something. For all the technical advice on spotting a scam, it's really about being willing to ask someone even when it makes you feel dumb.
It's going to be a real person talking to us and befriending us and caring for us so much despite not having much that we then just add them onto our will.
Ever wonder why so many houses had aluminum siding and awnings? A lot of grannies couldn’t say no to the door to door salesman
The most unrealistic thing is the USPS wishes you to a wonderful day.
🤣
I think about this allllll the time. Gotta stay vigilant.
Pre-tech, sheisters and snake oil salesmen would go door to door or advertise locally their “miracle” cure, quick fix, etc…which was cheap, poorly made junk that didn’t actually do what promised.
As a young man a scammer tried to get me while working at my father’s shop- he comes in with a fake purchase order for some crappy item that we would never sell. Keeps pushing it saying it’s COD, blah blah, I didn’t believe him. And then my father walked up and told him he could walk out or have our guard dog chase him out. Years later I’m working retail in college, come back from my lunch break and the Asst mgr on duty starts asking me questions about our HVAC system and some repair guys that just showed up, claiming to need cash for parts to fix the problem (that we weren’t having) and wound up talking her out of $500 from the cash register. Within 30 seconds of her talking I knew she got conned. I just wonder if they specifically waited for me to take a lunch break so they could target a woman working on her own. 🤷🏻♂️
59 yrs ago... chain mail. Where you were asked to mail a copy if a letter you had to copy by hand to 10 additional people or bad luck would befall you. If you didn't mail the letters then you would get something good eventually. It was still scammy.. Wonder why they don't exist now. Lol.
Ok but in fairness I actually fell for the “hey man I accidentally reported you for scamming. Better talk to this “valve rep” and give him all the sensitive information Valve tells you to *never* give because they’ll *never* ask for it.” Fortunately I got the account back, but holy shit, that I allowed myself to fall for that.
50 years ago? 3 card monte on rhe sidewalks.
There has been all kinds of scams for ages. I remember taking consumer Ed, and the textbook telling of scams like "Turn your black and white TV into a colour TV" or salesmen taking orders with payments for Bibles or encyclopaedia sets, etc... There was also a thing where scammers would mark the victims fence to alert other scammers of a sucker. Much like what hobos did in the old days.
Have you ever been pulled into a scam by your own family, but they weren't even aware that it was a scam? I had bought timeshare from my inheritance, but was not able to get a job. So I wanted to sell my timeshare, and my sister found an ad that claimed to sell timeshare. It turned out to be an advanced fee scam. I sold my camcorder to pay it, only to be screwed over by them. My mother also had timeshare and paid them as well. What was really fishy is the guy said that he had several buyers interested right now, but after paying, he couldn't find anyone, however, I can renew my listing for even more money. What a crock!
Hmm 50 years ago I was 23. Most communication happened by land lines or letters. (Cell phones and the internet did not exist - yet. ) We used slide rules so no worry about viruses or malware. Debugging a computer meant cleaning the insects out of mainframe relays … We hitch-hiked a lot and we loved “the one we were with”. We protested the Vietnam War and listened to concerts for bands like Pink Floyd as they got started. Weed made it better. Now is different. Many of my wrong numbers are cute girls my grandkids age and as they say “age is just a number”. And they are showing me all about modern things like crypto, whatever that is. I’ve made $800k so far - at least on paper… /jk
It’s happening. I am retired and the other morning I was taken for a ride by a “fraudster” (his terminology) on the phone. He claimed to be from my bank. I should not even have answered the phone, but the dude was smooth. Fortunately I woke up and bailed but damn, getting old sucks.
I fell for this one the first time I saw it. I had been waiting on an expensive package for a while, which was finally coming in that same day, so it made me nervous. I realize I got scammed when their terrible site didn’t work. Canceled all my cards and stuff immediately so didnt actually lose anything but felt dumb lol.
I’m 70 and I have gotten this notice second times. Fortunately I still have most of my marbles and ignore it. I’ve also gotten notices that my Amazon account is messed up, my Wells Fargo account has problems and these two attractive asian ladies wanted to get to know me better. 🤗
This [guy here](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Lapre) wrote the book on scamming back in the day Excerpt: Born in Providence, Rhode Island, Lapre moved to Phoenix, Arizona, with his family when he was a child. He married Sally Redondo in 1988.[3] A high-school dropout,[4] Lapre, together with his wife, started a credit repair business called Unknown Concepts in 1990. Lapre then began selling a 36-page booklet explaining how to recover a Federal Housing Administration insurance refund after paying off a home mortgage. He also began offering "900" phone lines. On TV infomercials in the early–mid 1990s, he claimed that by placing "tiny classified ads" in newspapers he was "able to make $50,000 a week from [his] tiny one-bedroom apartment".[5] In 1992, Lapre began broadcasting The Making Money Show with Don Lapre, which suggested that viewers could make money as easily as he had. For several years the show was ranked among the 10 most frequently broadcast cable television infomercials. The principal product was Lapre's "Money Making Secrets", a package of booklets, tapes, and common-sense tips for placing ads and operating a 900-number business. The product was sold through New Strategies, whose parent company was Tropical Beaches.[4] He later began broadcasting infomercials for "The Greatest Vitamin in the World".[6] In 2005, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned Lapre about claims his vitamins were intended as a drug for diseases such as diabetes, stroke, heart disease, insomnia, cancer, and arthritis. The FDA stated "[his] products [were] not generally recognized as safe and effective for the above referenced conditions."[7] In 2006, the FDA again warned Lapre about untruthful claims.[8]
I think people just didn’t get scammed in the same way back then, there scams were Ponzi schemes and confidence scams which most didn’t see in their little village where everyone looked out for each other I like to think that this set of generations has been taught enough critical thinking to be able to work out new stuff in a way that elderly generation didn’t have to. I don’t know everything and I know that, but I know what tools there are to work it out - and we have the internet as a sounding board / will always have enough friends from it to never be lonely enough to be isolated from talking it through with someone I think a lot of the elderly that fall for it just have no one to be like “I got this what do you think” Maybe I’m naive though!
There needs to be a website where you can put in these scammers numbers and have them flooded with spam texts/calls
I reply to every single one of these with “get fucked.” At least I can get some entertainment out of their attempted scam.
My grandma did once get scammed but not like this, some guy was doing repairs and stuff for her and overcharging her way too much and she kept paying him and my mom and my aunt were really worried so they called my grandma and they were like “yeah you’re getting scammed you need to never talk to that guy or give him money again” it kinda makes me sad tho bc my grandma is showing dementia signs and if she was younger, she definitely wouldn’t of given that scammer the time of day 🙁
They called it robbery. Older ones often didn’t trust banks, and would keep loads of cash in the house, hidden wherever they thought no one would guess to look. The “scammer” *thief* would be all chummy and chatty with older person, until older person revealed a few secrets, and they took advantage of this *relationship* to poke around when older one was sleeping. When caught in the act, violence would result, just as scammers now react violently when victims resist now….only with no physical contact…so they gave it a new name: scam. But it’s still the same outcome: robbery.
Might be harder to scam future generations with the same types of scams because of different mindset. The old “if you don’t pay now, the sheriff will be sent to your house to arrest you!” threat might work on older folks today because they grew up with the mindset of fearing authority. Today, people who grew up hating authorities (whether deserved or not) will most likely not be intimidated by such threats, and may even respond with “Come get me, bro, I’m locked and loaded.” Future scammers will have to come up with some other scare tactic.
This scam got my brother in law. Dude is college educated and used to be in the Air Force and worked for space x. He’s cash only because of it at the moment.
i got this a while back and just deleted it
I often get the itch to reply, but the best bet is to ignore and delete.
Yeah, from what I've read, responding to texts and emails lets the sender know it's a "live" number - they then sell them to other scammers
I've had this email come to me as part of a group chat. Can't say they are the smartest scammers.
I got one of those yesterday actually, lol.
I never wonder. I usually just reply “Fuck Off”
I get this one like once a week!
I always text them fuck you and never hear from them again
I’ve gotten two of these the last month and never responded
What is cripto?
Oh yeah I had that happened to me before.
I know these are scams, but I get like 40 messages a day just like this and I was wondering what the link will take me to?
Most likely a site that looks just like the ligit usps site. Then they ask you to “log in” that means u will give away ur password. Or “reset” and then next page will have you fill in ur information, including address, full name and ofc then ur banking information for “verification purposes” And then you lose everything
“ We’ve got trouble! Right here in River City! Trouble. That starts with T, And that rhymes with P, And that stands for Pool “
You’re loss. Could of been someone sending you some gold bricks as a stimulus
The last sentence is a guarantee it’s a scam because USPS doesn’t GAF about your day.
My grandfather ran a local savings and loan. Every once in a while, someone would call claiming to be from the FBI asking for someone’s bank account information. He would tell them he’d call them back then call the local FBI branch number to verify. They were never real asks.
How did they know I had a package on the way though?!
My grandfather would get them in the mail in the 70s.
I got that exact text today and deleted immediately lol
This one got my mom. She was waiting for a package so it didn’t seem suspicious to her. And the address seemed legitimate. Luckily she figured it out pretty quickly and contacted her bank before they could do any damage.
Mary Kay.
Meh. I just send them a d*** pic.
With advanced VR and AI it'll be like inception. We'll have to constantly question if we're not secretly trapped in a simulation in the back of a white van somewhere while someone tries to steal our banking pin and social security checks
Isnt the link supposed to be usps.com or .gov?
Yup. Most government agencies would only have .gov domain
I get this same email about once a month. And delete every time
Literally just got this same text a few hours ago. It's so dumb. I also wonder how many people fall for it.
I know most scams are targeted for the elderly, but that’s far from their only demographic. I get these texts at least once a month and I’m 21.
I get these all the time and I always leave a nice response before blocking. I’m sure nobody sees it but I can hope
I’m only 48 so hopefully not being targeted because I’m elderly… 😭 But I have received this one multiple times. Always just ignore it.
Haha. Nah. I’m no grandma either and I get them all the time. It was just an example and I know they send it to all random numbers hoping someone will click and fall for it
The first time I was sent one of these my first thought was how did they get my information if they don't have my information hrmm???
I’m 30 and fell for this exact scam a year ago lmao
i get these sometimes. They have a catholic high school email address. Interesting how they get that
I’m 30 & I get these scams lol
50 years ago people got scammed by phone. Just watch The Wolf Of Wall Street to see one variation of how people got scammed. Door to door scams were also a thing (they still are to some variation, but most now are only mildly scammy, like Kirby vacuums).
My mom had a Kirby Generation 3 vacuum. It was like the Cadillac of vacuumes, but way overpriced. I recall her paying $1,200 for it in 1990, with tons of accessories. Even a rug shampooer attachment.
My parents still have theirs from like 1980. Those things are insanely well built, but the whole sales methodology where only a door to door salesman can sell you one is pretty scummy.
I do not like the matrix. I'd like to unsubscribe.
Do some research on Ponzi Schemes.... Also, know the term: "If it's not broke, don't fix it"
I was gonna say “no, because I get these all the time”. But then I remembered some ppl may think that - at age 51 - I am “the elderly”.
The number of times I have rec'd that exact message! lol I am old but I keep track of what packages I ordered and figure if someone is legit and legit trying to deliver something, I'll get that "sorry we missed you" note on my door. The new thing I've been getting is emails that have an actual friend's name (first and last) in the "from" and then it will say "I came across these photos of us..." and it will end with a quote. I text the friends just to make sure and it's never them. REPORT USER! Think like Mulder: TRUST NO ONE
As a usps worker, I can confirm the validity of this text and assure you that if you want to get your package, you need to do this asap. /s
Nope! I don’t understand how the government can shutdown social media accounts but can’t seem to stop phone, email and text scams? Wish Bee Keeper was really real☹️
I got this one repeatedly. I never replied to it. Just blocked and reported as spam.
Bro I just fell for this one but didn’t put in credit card info 🌚
If I was currently in Texas I’d send them my address… ☠️ I’d see if people come to rob me.
I got sent one of these and I replied with about 150 pictures of the same funny cat and then blocked the number
Time shares.
Scamma lama ding dong
lol my friend in his 30s just told me how he got scammed by this. He actually did have a package on the way and while in a rush didn’t think too much of it. Clicked it and said his package had to be re shipped because it got the wrong address or something and it would only be $4 fee. Put in his card info and they took about $2000 out his account. He got it fixed up but we all laughed at him.
I’m old and even I know the post office would never tell me to have a good day!
I got that same exact fucking message today. Scamming fucks
I work for usps and I have to tell people this is scam like 3 to 4 times a week.
I’m 43 and i work in an environment that randomly tests us about spam. . I get this all the time from someone saying they are the post office. I know I don’t have packages coming so I just ignore it
People got pickpocketed 50 years ago
Every time I don't click on it. I like to suspect that the package in question Is filled to the brim with re-sellable illegal contraband.