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https://www.guardian.co.tt/news/victim-of-50000-online-scam-wonders-how-fraudsters-got-info-6.2.2012348.96c603b18a
Jane Park (not her real name) said she went to a passport appointment at the Immigration Division in San Fernando two weeks ago and filled out various forms, providing her name, address, date of birth and passport number. She also provided information for TT Post to deliver the passport to her home. An immigration officer told her it would take four to six weeks to get the document but it could arrive earlier.
Last week, Park said received an SMS that appeared to be from TT Post regarding the passport delivery, which said she had a package it could not deliver due to an incorrect address. The message asked her to update her address within 24 hours, or TT Post would return the item and redeliver at her expense. It provided a link for her to modify her address.
Park said she clicked the link, which took her to a website she believed to be the legitimate TT Post website, as it had all the information she submitted to the Immigration Division.
“It said a driver attempted to deliver the passport, but either no one was available or the directions were incorrect. They said we had 24 hours to update the delivery information, and if we did not, it may incur a small fee. Initially, I was trying to update the information because I was preparing to travel and got caught up with work. I forgot to put in the information. I checked it, and I knew 24 hours had passed. It said I had to pay $2.04, so I said it was not bad. The information seemed legit, and when I tried to enter my card information, it took me to the Scotiabank website to put my information,” Park said.
After she entered her information, the website asked her for a code for the credit card. She retrieved a code generated by the website from her email, believing it was added security. When she entered it on the site, it returned a message stating, “Incorrect.” After attempting the process four times, she became suspicious and checked her bank account to see if TT Post had charged her. She saw four purchases made in Dubai, the United States and India. Park realised she had fallen prey to a scammer and immediately contacted her bank, which had already halted her credit card after flagging it for suspicious activity.
“Only a handful of people knew I took my son to get his passport two weeks ago: my husband, his (son’s) father, Immigration and TT Post. Nobody else knew that, so for me to be targeted and hacked, it has to be that it happened through immigration or TT Post because those are the only two organisations that knew I was waiting on a passport,” she said.
As she was about to travel abroad, Thomas has yet to contact TT Post, the Immigration Division or the Fraud Squad and is still awaiting the passport.
Contacted yesterday, TT Post managing director George Alexis told Guardian Media he was in a meeting and asked us to call back at 3.30 pm. However, he did not answer further calls. Efforts to contact the Immigration Division were not successful.
Park noted that all transactions were in TT dollars, which the bank also found interesting, leading her to believe the scammer was local. However, she was more worried that a cybercriminal had her personal information.
“I am very scared about that. It is madness, to be honest, and just shows you how easily your entire family can be at risk for completing a simple, legal transaction.”
Guardian Media reported earlier this month that approximately 50 customers fell prey to text messages with false information claiming to have been sent by TT Post demanding that the recipients pay money to collect their packages. Checks show that scammers devised several messages they sent to people’s phones, advising them of package deliveries. However, the common thread was a link to confirm their addresses.
TT Post and the Police Service (TTPS) have issued numerous warnings regarding this scam. The TTPS Cyber and Social Media Unit issued a public advisory weeks ago, saying it was aware of and was investigating the scam. It advised people to verify all communications claiming to be from official organisations by contacting them directly. It also warned people against clicking on suspicious links or downloading attachments.
maj. tom wrote:Scamming is a game of numbers, and unfortunately the circumstances were just right for this victim to be fooled and get taken. The TTPost scam.
She saw four purchases made in Dubai, the United States and India... Park noted that all transactions were in TT dollars, which the bank also found interesting, leading her to believe the scammer was local.
“Only a handful of people knew I took my son to get his passport two weeks ago: my husband, his (son’s) father, Immigration and TT Post. Nobody else knew that, so for me to be targeted and hacked, it has to be that it happened through immigration or TT Post because those are the only two organisations that knew I was waiting on a passport,” she said.
Duane 3NE 2NR wrote:Seems there's another WhatsApp phishing scam going on.
People are being asked for codes that allows the caller to take control of your whatsapp account.
If anyone calls or messages do not share your whatsapp code.
pugboy wrote:whatsapp provides such a facility ?
why would it have that ?
pugboy wrote:I heard there are also scammers who are making actual voice calls as well to get ppl to go to some link.
Chimera wrote:Elderly people will get very easily tricked
Duane 3NE 2NR wrote:Chimera wrote:Elderly people will get very easily tricked
Especially since the request is coming from someone in your contacts that you supposedly know
Chimera wrote:Elderly people will get very easily tricked
pugboy wrote:correct
no amount of end to end encryption helping them when they getting bamboozled by a human voice
ultimately these folks looking to hack their online banking appsDuane 3NE 2NR wrote:Chimera wrote:Elderly people will get very easily tricked
Especially since the request is coming from someone in your contacts that you supposedly know
