Y's Men Scam Alert -- March 17, 2025


The Scams Never Stop!


To brighten your day, here is the latest scam that is all over the place: It's called SMISHING, coming from SMS (texting) and Phishing. Texts like the one below are now coming in from everywhere. Look below and note that the U.S. Postal Service doesn't have your phone number and therefore will never text you. Note the originating country code is +44 which is not the US. The senders want to bill you for non-paid tolls, jury duty, and many other things that make no sense to receive by text. VERIFY or DON'T RESPOND - DELETE THE TEXT IMMEDIATELY. This is a fast growing trend.

The Westport Police Department has an excellent scam detection and recovery support service. If you have been scammed, contact the WPD immediately at 203-341-6000.



Y's Man Alan Booth reminds you to look in your email for these obvious indications of a scam:


1.    The sender’s email has misspellings, poor grammar.

2.    The email has variations that differ from a known company domain.

3.    Avoid urgent requests or attachments from unknown senders

4.    Hover over links to verify that their credentials are legitimate before clicking on them.

5.    Avoid messages with generic greetings such as "Dear Customer.”

6.    Don't respond to messages asking for sensitive details until you verify that they are legitimate.

7.     Never click on embedded links redirecting you to unexpected websites; always verify first.

8.    Does email language seem “fishy?”

9.    Emails from friends may be fake because of malware and cyber-attacks; verify first.

10. Never respond to requests for favors or to "pay" bills with Gift Cards.

11. More and more scam phone callers do not have accents. If you are not expecting the call, verify first.

12. Many phone call scams originate from legitimate phone numbers, like banks. If you are not positive it's legitimate, hang up and call your bank.


IF YOU ARE NOT CERTAIN OF THE SENDER OR DID NOT EXPECT TO RECEIVE THE PHONE CALL OR E-MAIL, DO NOT RESPOND....VERIFY FIRST.