ACMA and Australia Post warn Aussies about Father’s Day parcel delivery scams

With Father’s Day just around the corner and Australians expected to shell out $860 million on gifts, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and Australia Post have warned consumers to be on the lookout for dodgy parcel delivery SMS and email messages.

In the lead-up to large retail events like Father’s Day, parcel delivery SMS and email message scams targeting Australians become even more prevalent. In many cases, these scammers slip into the legitimate message streams of consumers in order to trick them or impersonate well-known delivery services, such as Australia Post.

Arranging the re-delivery of a package, updating your delivery details, requesting payment of a fee or messages that contain unusual-looking links are some of the ways scammers will target consumers.

An Australia Post spokesperson confirmed to SmartCompany that if customers receive a suspicious text or email message that appears to be from Australia Post, the postal service encourages them to report it to scams@auspost.com.au and delete it immediately.

“Australia Post will never contact anyone via SMS or email asking for personal or financial information or payments,” the spokesperson said.

“We’re seeing a greater public awareness of cybersecurity but encourage customers to stay alert for signs of a scam, including messages asking you to click on a link, a non-Australia Post web address, or an unusual sense of urgency.

“We also encourage customers to download the Australia Post app, which is the most reliable and secure way to receive delivery updates because it uses push notifications that can’t be replicated by scammers.”

The spokesperson said for further service, support and advice, customers can contact 13POST or visit the Australia Post website.

According to research by the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) and Australian market research company Roy Morgan, Australians are set to splash out $860 million on Father’s Day gifts this year.

However, there will be a dip in Father’s Day spending for 2023, with spending down $12 million (1.3%) from 2022 and 35% of Australians planning to buy a gift for Father’s Day this year, spending an average of $112 per person.

The research has found that food and alcohol are the most popular gifts for Dad, mentioned by 18% of survey respondents, followed by clothing, shoes, books, music and games.

The ACMA said that scammers target everyone.

“We encourage Australians to discuss how to identify scams with friends and family,” the government statutory authority stated in a media release.

“If you are not sure if an SMS message or email that you’ve received about a parcel delivery is legitimate, contact the sender or delivery service using contact details you’ve identified yourself, for example through an official website or app, or via information received at the time of purchase, such as a tracking number.

“Do not click on any links or call any phone numbers in the message, and delete it.”

Tips on how to spot dodgy parcel delivery SMS and email messages:

Australia Post will never:

• call, text or email you asking for personal or financial information including password, credit card details or account information
• call, text or email you to request payment
• ask you to click on an email link to print off a label to redeem your package.

Most other major parcel delivery services provide similar advice on their websites on how to identify their genuine messages from a scam.