Look out for parcel delivery scam, warns South African Post Office

The South African Post Office (SAPO) has issued a warning to the public to be aware of a parcel delivery scam designed to defraud them, Berea Mail reports.

Here’s how the scam works:

• A person will receive an emailed letter from a company purporting to be affiliated to ‘Speed Messenger Services’ using an adaptation of the Post Office’s Speed Services logo.
• The letter demands payment for import duty on the parcel(s) before it can be delivered.

“The SA Post Office does not require customers to make any payment before parcels are released. If VAT or any other fees are payable on a parcel, this is paid at a Post Office counter when the parcel is collected,” read the statement from SAPO.

The customer will receive a valid receipt for this payment.

“Where the Post Office has the cellphone number of the recipient, the customer will receive an SMS requesting him or her to collect the parcel at a specific Post Office branch. The SMS will not request that funds be deposited into an account,” it said.

Any person who may have information regarding this scam is requested to contact the SA Police or the Post Office’s Crime buster Hotline on 0800 020 070.

Anyone receiving the communications described above, purporting to be from the Post Office or its services, is advised to ignore it.