This attempt I have heard has been fairly common recently. I received 2 of these attempts within 3 hours of each-other. I am located in the Eastern Standard Time zone and any attempt by me to access my Instagram account at 3 AM seems sketchy at best. This is clearly a phishing attempt by someone who is clueless when it comes to time zones. Please watch out for these.

"Tap to get back into your [Software App] account: [LINK]"

I ran through my Messenger app on my Mac and noticed a few texting attempts in the past few months other than those I already posted about. The Amazon attempt must be popular as this is the second time I received one. The USPS one was an interesting attempt.

"Congratulations [Name], you came in 3rd in [Month] Amazon pods raffle! Click the link to : [LINK]"

"USPS: the arranged delivery for the package [String] has been changed. Please confirm here: [LINK]"

This is an interesting attempt. A text was sent to a group of recipients, all number neighbors. Number neighbors are users that have the exact same number as you but the last digit is different by an increment of 1. I imagine that this tactic is utilized to cast a wide net on potentially in-active numbers. This phishing attempt was using a call to action of easy cash for placing stickers on your car by clicking a link. $500 to place a sticker on you car seems too good to be true...that is because it is.

"Hello, would you allow [Product] to put a small sticker on your [Vehicle Options]? Get [Dollar Value] driving with our brand advertisement. Click here to apply [LINK]"

Many of us have been receiving texts such as the one to the right. It utilizes a quick call to action and a sense of urgency with a "raffle" that you won. There have been others such as from UPS that claim to update you on package tracking information.

I received this text, shown on the right, from a random number and decided to do something about it. I am starting this secondary blog on my website to keep a historical record of all of these phishing attempts. This is being done to not only advocate for cyber awareness but also keeping a record of the styles of phishing, how they are worded, what methods they use, the link information, and which SMS phone number they are using.

I am also keeping an up to date tracker to follow these. You can view the tracker HERE.