12 scams of Christmas: Parcel delivery scams

With the festive season nearly upon us, ’tis the season for online scams.

The Financial and Cyber Crime Group are reminding Queenslanders to be aware of Grinch-like scammers and be sure to stay alert to scams, such as parcel delivery scams.

A type of phishing and fake website scam, where scammers use the name and branding of well-known delivery companies, to send fake ‘missed delivery’ notices to potential victims.

These can even appear in the same message stream as legitimate company messages as scammers can ‘spoof’ phone numbers.

Always think and check before you click a link.

Detective Inspector Vince Byrnes from the Financial and Cyber Crime Group said most of us expect parcels at this time of the year.

“Be careful about online links and never download attachments,” Detective Inspector Byrnes said.

“To check that a parcel delivery message is legitimate, check the tracking number on the delivery company website or call them directly.”

For information on fake websites and phishing scams, click on the links below:

The 12 scams of Christmas: Fake websites

The 12 scams of Christmas: Phishing scams

To learn more about scams, visit www.scamwatch.gov.au or the Queensland Police Service’s R U in Control campaign at www.police.qld.gov.au/safety-and-preventing-crime/r-u-in-control.

If you have information for police, contact Policelink by providing information using the online suspicious activity form 24hrs per day at www.police.qld.gov.au/reporting.

You can report information about crime anonymously to Crime Stoppers, a registered charity and community volunteer organisation, via crimestoppersqld.com.au 24hrs per day.

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