The South African Post Office warns the public to be on alert of a parcel delivery scam designed to defraud them – the 419 scam.
When you take a look at your mail, be sure you are not being scammed. Should you receive an e-mail that appears to be sent from the SA Post Office, informing you that a parcel is ready for collection take note of the sender’s e-mail address, if it does not end in @postoffice.co.za you are likely being scammed.
Note that the e-mail address at the top is not an address on the post office server. The South African Postal Services e-mail addresses all end in @postoffice.co.za.
Moreover the SA Post Office does not require customers to make any bank deposit before parcels are released. In some instances, SARS levy import tax on parcels from abroad and the import tax must then be paid at the post office counter. The customer will receive a receipt for this payment.
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https://www.citizen.co.za/witbank-news/87903/419-scam-need-know/
The SA Post Office also warns that some of the e-mails include an attachment which plants a virus on the customer’s computer to extract personal information from the computer. Customers are advised not to click on any attachment if they receive an e-mail of this nature.
Where the post office has the cell phone 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.
“Members of the public that have information regarding this scam, are requested to call the police or the post office’s Crime buster Hotline on 0800 020 070,” said Mr Johan Kruger, SA Post Office communications.
So the next time you are asked vie e-mail to transfer funds across, be wary as you could be scammed.
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https://www.citizen.co.za/witbank-news/49765/police-warned-about-419-scams/
https://www.citizen.co.za/witbank-news/85114/kusile-issue-warning-about-social-media-job-scam-2/
