A Post Office Scam Postmortem

My mom is the kind of person who shouldn’t own a computer. She clicks on everything she sees and falls for every scam, but this incident was especially infuriating.

Mom: “Hey, [My Name]. I got this text from the post office saying they have a package they can’t deliver. Is this legit?”

Me: “No. It’s a common scam. Don’t call the number. The post office will never text you about a package.”

Mom: “Well, it could be legit. I am expecting a package from them.”

Me: “I assure you it’s not.”

Mom: “I guess I could go to the post office tomorrow and ask them about the text. So inconvenient…”

Me: “Mom! The.” *Clap.* “Text.” *Clap.* “Is.” *Clap.* “A.” *Clap.* “Scam.” *Clap.* “If you’re worried about your package, go to the post office website and enter your tracking number. You don’t even need to leave the house.”

Fast forward a few days, what does Mom do? The exact thing I told her not to do. She called the number in the text message. The scammer told her she “only” owed $0.25 to have the package delivered, and she gave them her banking details.

Luckily, Mom’s bank caught the weird charges that came immediately after. They blocked her account and had her come in to get everything straightened out. And the clerk told Mom the exact same thing I told her, so she finally believed me. But she still griped about being inconvenienced and got upset when I gave her my “told you so”.

But… Why ask for my advice if you’re not going to listen to it? I only have a bachelor’s in computer science and over twenty years of experience in IT and cybersecurity. What do I know?