I just received a text message from someone pretending to be a representative of the Liberal Party of Canada.

The message, sent via SMS to my mobile phone from a phone number in Toronto, offers a monetary reward for being vaccinated for COVID-19, and invites the recipient to click a link to liberalparty-assist[dot]com. Here it is:

If you receive this message, or anything similar, please do not click the provided link. I can’t be sure what will happen, but it won’t be good.

While I avoided clicking the phishing link, I did look into the site it points to. The domain is actually owned by a provider in Paris, France: M247-LTD-Paris. Definitely not anything to do with a political party in Canada. The phone number has been reported numerous times as a scam source.

Since the majority of Canadians have been vaccinated, this phishing message seems likely to attract many clicks from unsuspecting people. Sadly, that will include people who desperately need the money, as well as older folks and others who may not be as technically astute as the rest of us.

Some day it may be possible to track down the people responsible for these scams. I enjoy dreaming up interesting forms of punishment for these people.