French postal service warns of new QR code scam
The French postal service La Poste has issued a warning about a new scam involving fake delivery notice slips.
The scam involves a fake notice, allegedly from La Poste, being slipped into people's mailboxes.
The document tells the householder that a delivery was attempted, but they were not home, and invites them to either scan a QR code or go to a web address and enter their personal information and bank details.
It is not yet known how many people have been victim to this scam, but La Poste believes it is concentrated in the Montpellier area.
Twitter user Flavio Perez alerted the organisation to the scam by posting the fake slip online, showing that its appearance is very similar to the genuine 'while you were out' notes that postal workers leave.
Oh on dirait une belle arnaque sur le dos de La Posre (@lisalaposte comment on fait?. Reçu dans ma boîte. Très facile d’y croire et finir par donner ses infos de carte de crédit ! pic.twitter.com/5V6WlL43wI
— Flavio Perez (@flablog) August 28, 2022
A spokesperson for La Poste told Le Parisien that this was "the first time we have been confronted with a phishing attempt (a technique that impersonates a company to extract money or confidential information) that mixes a physical and digital medium."
Although parcels can lead to extra charges for the recipient - especially if they are sent from outside the EU - you will never be required to pay any sum of money to access registered mail or tracked letters.
If you have any concerns, you can take the document to your local post office and ask, particularly if you were not expecting a package to be mailed to you.
You can verify that the tracking number is legitimate by opening another browser and searching the tracking number on the document.
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The scam involves a fake notice, allegedly from La Poste, being slipped into people's mailboxes.
The document tells the householder that a delivery was attempted, but they were not home, and invites them to either scan a QR code or go to a web address and enter their personal information and bank details.
It is not yet known how many people have been victim to this scam, but La Poste believes it is concentrated in the Montpellier area.
Twitter user Flavio Perez alerted the organisation to the scam by posting the fake slip online, showing that its appearance is very similar to the genuine 'while you were out' notes that postal workers leave.
Oh on dirait une belle arnaque sur le dos de La Posre (@lisalaposte comment on fait?. Reçu dans ma boîte. Très facile d’y croire et finir par donner ses infos de carte de crédit ! pic.twitter.com/5V6WlL43wI
— Flavio Perez (@flablog) August 28, 2022
A spokesperson for La Poste told Le Parisien that this was "the first time we have been confronted with a phishing attempt (a technique that impersonates a company to extract money or confidential information) that mixes a physical and digital medium."
Although parcels can lead to extra charges for the recipient - especially if they are sent from outside the EU - you will never be required to pay any sum of money to access registered mail or tracked letters.
If you have any concerns, you can take the document to your local post office and ask, particularly if you were not expecting a package to be mailed to you.
You can verify that the tracking number is legitimate by opening another browser and searching the tracking number on the document.
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