Scam texts from “Posti”

Yle reported on a Posti scam in which criminals altered the number of an incoming message.

Fraudulent messages supposedly coming from Posti are again circulating. Their aim is to phish for the recipients’ banking credentials. They are a fraudulent scam: the sender information in the message has been changed to make it look like the sender really is from Posti. As a result, the message may end up on the user’s phone in a conversation which also contains genuine parcel notifications from Posti. Yle and other media reported on the scam.

In the messages circulating at present, a person receives a message informing them a parcel has arrived, and asks them to pay customs using the link in the message. The scam is particularly deceptive if the recipient is awaiting a package that needs to be declared.

Heikki Horn, Senior Security Manager at Posti, told Yle that the company first heard of abuse of its text message number for the first time last spring.

“We’ve discussed the matter with government agencies and telecom providers. The providers are looking for a technical solution to prevent scammers from changing the number on an incoming message.”

If you suspect a message is fraudulent, you should check on Omaposti or call Posti’s customer service. If you are waiting for a package, you can check the status using the tracking code.

If you fell for the scam, contact the police

Various scam messages have been sent, supposedly from Posti, in the past. The messages would notify about a new package delivery or unpaid delivery fees. In reality, no such fees existed. In some scams, the message is made to look like an arrival notification and contains a link to a fraudulent site. On this kind of temporary website, the user is asked to sign in, such as using online banking codes.

If the person made the mistake of entering their banking codes on the website after following the link, they should contact their bank or the police.

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