Don’t be duped by latest Post Office scam

Members of the public receive phone calls by persons pretending to be from the Customs division of the SA Post Office.

The caller informs them that a parcel is ready for collection – provided they first pay money into an account. According to the caller, the money is for customs duties and courier fees.

Members of the public are directed to a website that appears similar to the Speed Services website.  The phone number, however, is in the United Kingdom with a prefix of +44.

Customers are also given a PIN which they have to enter before they can ‘track’ the fictitious parcel.  The Post Office advises that it does not use PIN numbers for its tracking service nor does it require customers to make any bank deposit before parcels are released.  In instances where SARS levy import tax on parcels from abroad, the import tax must paid at the Post Office counter when the item is collected. The customer will receive a 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.

Members of the public that have information regarding this scam, are requested to call the SA police or the Post Office’s crime buster hotline on 0800-020-070.

The SA Post Office advises the public to ignore communication of this nature.

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