SA Post Office warns against scam

Cape Town - The SA Post Office (Sapo) warns the public to be on alert regarding a parcel delivery scam designed to defraud them.

Members of the public receive phone calls by persons pretending to be from the customs division of the Sapo. 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.  

READ: SA Post Office warns of new scam

Customers are also given a pin which they have to enter before they can "track" the fictitious parcel.

"The Post Office does not use pin numbers for its tracking service," Sapo emphasised in a statement issued on Tuesday.

"The SA Post Office does not require customers to make any bank deposit before parcels are released. In instances where the SA Revenue Service (SARS) levies import tax on parcels from abroad, the import tax must be 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 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.

The Sapo advises the public to ignore communication of this nature.  

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