Warning over fake NZ Post email

A Nelson man is urging email users to be vigilant after he received one from a scammer purporting to be NZ Post.

Andy Underwood received the email on May 18, asking him to click on a link to ‘schedule a new delivery’ on his parcel.

He then got a second email a few days later, requesting he do the same thing.

“It had the proper NZ Post header and looked exactly like something they would send.”

Luckily, Andrew cottoned on to the fact that it was a scam when he took a closer look at both senders’ email addresses, which were using a Hotmail domain.

“I knew it was bogus nonsense.”

Andrew says he considers himself to be computer savvy, having owned a computer since 1980. But he worries that other people could be at risk.

“There are lots of people that would fall for this - it’s a very smart one. They are getting more and more sophisticated.”

NZ Post told Nelson Weekly that there have been 96 reports of scammers sending emails claiming to be them.

“NZ Post is aware that some of our customers have been receiving scam emails. We ask that those affected customers delete these emails immediately,” says a spokesperson.

Andrew has also filed a report to Netsafe, New Zealand’s independent, non-profit, online safety organisation.

CEO Martin Cocker says they have seen a 68 percent spike in reports related to various versions of this scam in the past year.

“Unfortunately, these types of phishing scams are very common and the one using NZ Post is the latest variation used by the scammers.

“From what Netsafe has seen, scammers are taking advantage of the increased likelihood of people waiting on parcel deliveries to make their scam appear more genuine.”

He urges people to be extra vigilant to unsolicited emails or giving out personal information such as financial details.

Martin also advises people to check that any emails from well-known organisations use the organisation's email domain.

“If it uses a free-to-use platform for personal accounts such as Gmail, Outlook, or Hotmail, this is a big red flag.

“If you think it’s a scam then mark the email as junk mail. It’s important that you don’t reply.”

For tips on how to stay safe online, go to netsafe.org.nz/phishing