Post Office scam

The South African Post Office (Sapo) has warned of a scam in which people are phoned 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,” the Post Office said on Tuesday.

Members of the public are directed to a website that appears similar to that of Speed Services, but the phone number is in the UK with a prefix of +44 and are given a pin to enter before they can ‘track’ the fictitious parcel.

The Post Office said it does not use pin numbers for its tracking service and that it does not require customers to make any bank deposit. When SARS levies import tax on parcels from abroad, this is paid at the Post Office counter when the item is collected. “The customer will receive a receipt,” the Post Office said.

When the Post Office has the customer's cellphone number, they 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.

Members of the public who have information regarding this scam are requested to call the SA police or the Post Office’s Crime buster Hotline on 0800 020 070.