They Can’t Trick Me

What’s this? A new trick to get me to click on a link embedded in an email? Hah! I won’t fall for that. As one family member says,

I was born at night,
but not last night.

I have to give the spammers/scammers credit, though: The emails look more professional every day. I mean, look at this one: both Official Languages and no spelling mistakes, although there are run-on sentences.

Delivery notification email from delivery subcontractor

But although I appreciate the good feng shui of my alleged delivery number, I haven’t ordered anything to be delivered by Intelcom. Indeed, I’ve never even heard of them. So, no, I won’t be falling for this.

And there the matter sits for a little while: in my self-satisfied box. Then I remember a notification about a book ordered several months ago before its publication and just now being shipped from Amazon. Where the heck is that email? It came in a day ago.

Rustle, rustle. Ah.

Delivery notification email from supplier

Oh. There it is, in the (very!) fine print.

Of course it’s better to treat unexpected emails as guilty until proven innocent, but I’m still a wee bit embarrassed by my failure to actually read the first email.

But what sticks is not about me. It’s about what’s possible with an investment in new tracking and communications technologies coupled with a commitment to, you know, actual communication. Even for a $20 book.

Maybe they can’t trick me (although the jury is still out), but they can for sure still amaze me.

 

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9 Responses to They Can’t Trick Me

  1. Oh, NO! I think I dumped my similar notice from the Self-Satisfied Box into the Irretrievable (Are you sure you want to delete this permanently? Oh, yes.) trash. Thank you for the heads up — or should that be heads rolling.

    On Amazon, you should take a look at how the company is overwhelming the US postal delivery services. Sundays are now concerned only with Amazon parcels and the other days of the week have become burdensome to postal workers and mostly at the expense of the US taxpayer. https://medium.com/s/powertrip/confessions-of-a-u-s-postal-worker-we-deliver-amazon-packages-until-we-drop-dead-a6e96f125126

    • Isabel Gibson says:

      Laurna – Odd, because I expected my book to come via Canada Post and it came by this communicative courier. I guess their business model is different here.

  2. Tom Watson says:

    Isabel
    This is most interesting. Anything I have ordered from Amazon comes via Canada Post. Is Intelcom a company from your area?

    I have an order right now pending delivery. It’s delayed. Here’s the message from Amazon.
    It’s delayed by unexpected circumstances, but we’re working to get your package back on track. Please check back later for more delivery info from Canada Post.

    Here’s what Canada Post says:
    Friday, 2 November
    12:01 AM
    Delay in delivery due to weather or natural disaster
    OTTAWA, ON CA
    Thursday, 1 November
    9:01 PM
    Delay in delivery due to weather or natural disaster
    5:55 PM
    Arrival Scan
    WINNIPEG, MB CA
    3:55 PM
    Arrival Scan
    12:01 AM
    Delay in delivery due to weather or natural disaster
    OTTAWA, ON CA
    Wednesday, 31 October
    9:01 PM
    Delay in delivery due to weather or natural disaster
    Tuesday, 30 October
    9:44 AM
    Arrival Scan
    RICHMOND, BC CA
    12:01 AM
    Delay in delivery due to weather or natural disaster
    OTTAWA, ON CA
    Shipment has left seller facility and is in transit
    Monday, 29 October
    9:01 PM
    Delay in delivery due to weather or natural disaster

    So right now, it may well be on its way to Intelcom…because it seems to me there are entirely too many natural disasters afoot. As nearly as I can figure out, the parcel encountered one in Ottawa, then in Richmond, B.C., then in Ottawa again, then in Winnipeg, and now it dove right back into it in Ottawa once more.

    You got a lot of natural disasters going on in Ottawa just now?
    Tom

    • Isabel Gibson says:

      Tom – Some folks consider Ottawa a disaster at the best of times, not necessarily natural. Tracking systems vary in effectiveness, I guess . . . Good luck with your parcel!

  3. Tom Watson says:

    Maybe the natural disaster is the labor problems with Canada Post.
    Tom

  4. Jim Taylor says:

    Even though this one turned out to be a genuine notice, it’s still worth being careful. Joan got a notice from Fedex that they had been unable to deliver her prescription. We knew it was false, because we had both been home all morning. But….. later the same day, the package of pills arrived. Via Fedex. But with a different tracking number. Fedex assured us they had not sent the earlier message. We don’t where where the false message would have led us, if we had clicked on the appropriate hyperlink, because fortunately we didn’t try it. It’s worth being wary, just in case.
    Jim T

    • Isabel Gibson says:

      Jim -Yes, that’s creepy, because it was so close to an actual, legitimate transaction. Sure sounds like a hack.

  5. Tom Watson says:

    Jim
    I agree entirely!
    Tom

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