‘Don’t fall for this credit card scam’, warns Post Office

The South African Post Office is warning the public to be wary of another scam that targets credit card details, where people are made to deposit money to release a package.

According to the Post office the scam involves emails and SMS messages which appear to come from them, when in fact they are from crooks.

Scammers have been tricking South Africans into paying money into a fraudulent account, while also unknowingly sharing the details of their credit card with the scammers.

The scam details

In the messages, there is a link that leads to a payment page, where people are asked to deposit money into the scammers’ account on order to release a package.

Other links also include a data harvesting farm, which requires the user’s card number and the security number (CVV) at the back of the card.

If you do fall victim to their tricks, the scammers will be able to exhaust your credit limit, as both the card number and the CVV number is required in order for the user to purchase something online.

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 when entered into the postal tracking website, or refers to a parcel that was collected years ago.
• The website you land on after clicking is NOT the SA Post Office’s secure website.
• The Post Office sends customers an SMS or a collection slip when they have a parcel waiting for collection at a post office branch.  This parcel should be collected as soon as possible to make sure it is not returned to the sender. 
• An identity document is required to make sure the rightful owner collects the parcel.

Anyone with information about postal crimes, can contact the Post Office’s toll-free crime buster hotline on 0800 020 070.

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