Smishing Expedition

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I looked down at my phone as soon as I heard the ping.

“Hey, did that parcel I sent make it to you?”

Parcel? The only packages I’ve been getting lately have been from Amazon, so, no, I didn’t, whoever you are.

I wonder if this the same person who texted me on Friday.

“I see your number, but not your name,” it read. “Can you tell me who are?”

Probably not. Why would you send a parcel to someone you don’t know?

Or maybe it was that individual who texted me last month, asking “how about going for coffee tomorrow afternoon?”

“This is my new number,” the stranger added. “Please save it.”

Okay, but if you really knew me, then you’d know I don’t drink coffee. But that’s all right, I’m about to make a killing in the stock market.

“Goldman Sachs, yesterday's stock soared 80%,” a recent text told me. “Tomorrow's pick aims for 60%. Reply yes for free signal.”

No, I don’t think I want a free signal, whatever that maybe. But at least one person cares about me.

“Hey, how are you?”

I’m doing pretty well. thank you. How about yourself?

And then we have Garret, who started off with a polite “Hello there,” before wanting to know if I would be open to a discussion for my lot at 963 N. Independence Hwy. Inverness FL 34453?

“I am currently exploring the Inverness area planning on grabbing a few lots,” he said.

I didn’t respond mostly because I don’t have a lot at 963 N independence Hwy. Inverness FL 34453.

But Garrett was persistent.

“Hey Robert, I get how hard it is to let go of your land,” he said in a follow-up text. “Take your time and think I can circle back in a few weeks.”

Make a Smish

Well, thank you, Garrett. That’s very thoughtful of you. But I still don’t own a lot at 963 N independence Hwy. Inverness FL 34453.

These are all examples of smishing, a social engineering attack that uses fake mobile text messages to trick people into downloading malware, sharing sensitive information or sending money to cybercriminals.

The Federal Communications Commission says a typical smishing scam message may seem like it's from a bank and include a link or phone number to bait you into clicking or calling.

“If you do, you stand a good chance of being hooked,” the FCC said. “And that's when the scammers get to work, manipulating your personal information, which they can sell and/or use in other scams. Smishers may also try to entice you into downloading malware to your device.”

Consumers lost $470 million to text message scams in 2024. This figure is part of a larger increase in overall fraud losses in the U.S., with consumers losing a total of $12.5 billion to fraud in last year.

You could buy all the lots in the Inverness area for that kind of money.

I’ve been going through my texts looking to delete the scams, and I’ve been coming across old messages from people with whom I’ve lost contact.

There was one woman I met online, who didn’t respond to my text inquiring about her health. And then there was another from a woman that I didn’t acknowledge for some reason.

I can barely remember these people and I wonder why we never kept in touch. This is a free signal for me to clean out all my old texts and start off fresh.

But first I have to contact the post office because “due to detection of an invalid zip code address the parcel cannot be cleared.”

Hey, maybe it’s the parcel that dude said he sent to me.

“The parcel was temporarily detained, please confirm and please confirm the zip code address information in the link within 24 hours,” the text read. “The US postal team wishes you a wonderful day!”

Great. How about going for coffee tomorrow afternoon?

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