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Date Published: 12/01/2022

ARCHIVED - Warning over post office shipping fee scam in Spain

The new ‘phishing’ swindle impersonating Correos asks people in the Region of Murcia and elsewhere in Spain to pay to receive a package

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Warning over post office shipping fee scam in Spain

The National Institute of Cybersecurity (Incibe) is warning of a new ‘phishing’ scam whereby a criminal organisation posing as Spain’s national courier and parcel service Correos asks victims to pay 1.79 euros to receive a package.

In addition to alerting the public to the con, Incibe is offering advice on what to do if someone has already fallen prey to the scammers and provided their bank details.

Initial contact is made by email informing the recipient that they have a parcel but that it has not been dispatched because of discrepancies over the destination address.

The victim is then asked to pay a shipping fee, namely 1.79 euros, in order to cover the costs of a second attempt to make the delivery.

The subject line of the dodgy email reads “RE: your shipment number [random numbers] is pending”, and according to Incibe, when the recipient clicks on the ‘click here’ button indicated in the email, a “malicious website impersonating Correos will appear”.

Once on this web page, a ‘pay and continue’ button is displayed, which when clicked will ask for bank card details.

“If you enter them, they will be available to the cybercriminals,” warns Incibe, urging the public not to open the message and to report it.

So what do you do if you have been targeted or have already given your bank details?

Incibe recommends acting in the same way as with any other case of phishing, i.e. be extremely cautious and warn friends, family and colleagues so that they are also alert to any suspicious emails they receive, especially if they contain attachments or external links to login pages.

If you have already paid by credit card, contact your bank immediately to inform them of what has happened. In addition, collect all the evidence possible, such as screenshots, email, messages, etc, and contact the police to file a complaint.

This email con is in addition to the recent scandal of real Correos workers mistakenly asking for VAT charges to be paid on the doorstep, in person and immediately when delivering packages sent from the UK and outside the EU, even though they don’t have any commercial value.

Image: Correos

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