Scammers have targeted the Post's prepaid credit card and try to convince users to email them their card number
Getting a user's credit card or bank account number online is one of the scammers' goals. The tactics they use to succeed are always different and change as the months go by. Phishing is definitely one of the most used, since users are not able to recognize that it is a scam (for those who do not know, phishing is a scam in which hackers send e-mails to people, asking for confidential information, using e-mail addresses that are virtually identical to those of banks, credit institutions and government agencies).
But phishing is not the only method that crooks use to scam people. Also very much in vogue in the last period is the "African buyer" scam, which mainly targets people who sell products online. The goal of this scam is to get the number of the PostePay card, so that it can be used for online purchases.
How the PostePay scam works
It all starts when a user puts a product up for sale on an e-commerce platform or auction site. The scam starts when the crook sends an email showing that he is very interested in buying an item for sale. The problems start to arise when the buyer communicates the address where to send the package: the Ivory Coast, Nigeria or another African country. The buyer, however, is always very interested in the object and is also willing to pay the extra for international shipping. But he asks for his PostePay and ID card number in order to complete the payment. And this is where the scam reaches its climax. The goal of the scammer is to get hold of the user's credit card number and personal data so that they can use them for online purchases. But the scam doesn't end there. Because the fraudsters are not only satisfied with the data of the rechargeable card, but they are also looking for cash. In the following days, the seller will start receiving emails from the buyer's bank/scammer inviting them to send extra money to unlock the payment. In reality, the message is sent by the buyer himself in order to steal more money from the poor unfortunate.
How to recognize the scam
It doesn't take much to understand that this is a scam: if you have put up for sale an object that has a value of a few tens of euros, why should someone living in an African country buy it? Also, you should never send your personal information to someone you don't know, even more so if it's your credit card number.