As the holiday season approaches, the risk of falling prey to scams significantly increases. Australia Post has issued a cautionary alert, urging individuals to be vigilant in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

A prevalent scam involves fraudsters masquerading as potential buyers on platforms like Facebook Marketplace.

These scammers typically send links or QR codes through Messenger, which direct unsuspecting victims to counterfeit websites mimicking an “Australia Post courier service.”

The fraudulent sites promise that payments will be processed online and that a courier will pick up the item after payment is confirmed. However, their true intent is to harvest personal and financial information from users.

Research by Australia Post reveals that over 90% of Australians have encountered scam texts or calls, with nearly 75% reporting instances where scammers have impersonated delivery and shipping services.

Australia Post chief information security officer Adam Cartwright advised customers to track parcels through the official AusPost app and ignore any message requesting personal or payment information.

“As the pre-Christmas sales ramp up and more Aussies are expecting deliveries, scammers are exploiting that anticipation and urgency to trick people into clicking fake links or handing over personal information,” he said.

“If you receive a message asking for personal or payment details, you can be confident it’s not from us. In fact, the safest way to track your item is through the official AusPost app.”

Australia Post does not ask for personal or financial details via phone, text message, or email, including for passwords, credit card information, or bank details.

The national organisation said it had also seen a resurgence of sophisticated phishing ahead of Christmas, including the global “Darcula” operation, which rents scam toolkits to criminals that mimic trusted delivery brands.

By sending messages via end-to-end encrypted channels such as iMessage and Rich Communication Services (RCS), Darcula can bypass traditional filters, making these scams harder to detect and block.