We’ve all gotten the text message claiming a package couldn’t be delivered because of an incomplete address. But scammers are getting a lot more creative, and they’re weaponizing the built-in notification systems on your phone to get your attention.
Instead of just sending emails that end up in your spam folder, they’re injecting fake events directly into your calendar and spoofing group text messages to bypass your carrier’s basic filters.
Here’s how to spot the newest wave of mobile scams and quarantine them without compromising your device.
Nuke rogue calendar subscriptions
If your calendar is suddenly flooded with alerts claiming your phone has a virus or you’ve won a prize, you haven’t actually been hacked. You accidentally clicked a malicious pop-up on a website that subscribed you to a spam calendar.
To fix it on an iPhone, go to Settings, tap Calendar, and tap Accounts. Look for Subscribed Calendars, find the one you don’t recognize, and tap Delete Account. The spam will vanish instantly.
On Google Calendar, go to calendar.google.com on a computer (it’s much easier to manage subscriptions on a computer than the mobile app). Look at the left sidebar under Other calendars. Hover over the spam calendar you don’t recognize and click the X icon to remove the calendar.
Ignore the address update text
The package delivery scam is incredibly effective right now. You’ll get a text claiming a delivery is suspended, complete with a link to a fake postal service website asking for a small redelivery fee.
The postal service doesn’t send texts from random 10-digit numbers. Never click the link. Instead, copy the tracking number if there is one and paste it directly into the official shipping website yourself to see if it’s legit or not.
Silence the chaotic group text spam
Scammers are now dumping 20 or so random phone numbers into a single group text containing a malicious link. Once one person replies to ask who everyone is, your phone starts buzzing nonstop.
Don’t reply. Open the message thread, tap the group icon at the top, scroll down, and tap Leave this Conversation or Leave Group. Reporting the group as spam produces a similar result.