The SA Post Office has received several enquiries about a new scam designed to mislead members of the public to pay money into a fraudulent account, and into sharing the details of their credit card with the scammers.
According to Johan Kruger of the SA Post Office’s Communications Division, the emails and SMS messages appear to originate from the Post Office when in fact they have no connection with the SA Post Office.
Also read: SA Post Office warns public of scams doing the rounds
“Clicking on the link in the message leads the user to a payment page where they are asked to deposit money into an account to ‘release’ a package. In several instances a form is included asking the card number and the CVV number on the back.
“The combination of the card number and CVV number are required for online purchases. If you share these details with the scammer, they may be able to use your account to its credit limit.
This is how you can spot a message or email that is not from the Post Office:
- The Post Office never asks for import duties or clearance fees in advance. If there are customs fees payable on a parcel from abroad, the client pays the fees when they collect the parcel from the Post Office counter or when delivered by a Post Office driver.
- The Post Office never requests your bank account number or an online payment for customs duties.
- The tracking number on the message is invalid…
