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Man from Melbourne weirded out after receiving ‘fishy’ mail: “Sounds like some scammer, stay frosty!”
On the popular forum site Reddit, a man from Melbourne shared that he received a “weird” and “suspicious” letter in his mailbox a few days ago.
The man was not expecting any letters or packages to arrive, so he was surprised and confused at the same time when a white envelope addressed to his full name arrived at his house.
When he opened the envelope, he was left dumbfounded after discovering that all it contains was a single, badly photocopied black-and-white page of a Coles catalogue.
One man received a black-and-white copy of a Coles catalogue in his mailbox. Credit: Reddit.
Hundreds of fellow Melbourne residents responded to his post, writing in the comments section their own ‘theories’ on what the purpose of the mail might have been.
Some users said the letter might have been sent by a relative who thought the man may enjoy some seafood currently on sale. That, or it was sent by a random Catholic, reminding him to skip out on the meat since it’s currently Lent.
However, the man responded by saying he is “so far away” from being a Catholic. “I didn’t even notice ‘Lent’ on the top until someone pointed it out. Also, I even had to google what it is,” he said.
On a more serious note, some users pointed out that this might be the work of a scammer trying to “confirm” the man lives at the address, or an attempt for identity fraud.
They advised the man to “stay frosty” and to be on the lookout for anything strange. “Do a credit check, keep an eye on your cards etc. Definitely worth reporting to Australia Post and probably worth telling your local cop shop,” they suggested. Another user added that he should consider 2FA (two-factor authentication) set up in all of his accounts, just to be safe.
One user also hinted that this incident might have been a “brushing” scam.
Brushing is an online e-commerce scam where people receive cheap, unsolicited packages in the mail from an online marketplace, such as Amazon. But the actual seller – the individual or company that sent them the item – is usually a third party that uses those websites to sell its products.
Since they have to record proof of a legitimate sale, they tend to send random junk, like a Coles catalogue or a hair tie or whatever, to real addresses just to get a person’s mailing receipt number.
“With the mailing receipt number, they can then create fake reviews in your name and say you have purchased from their company because they have a mailing receipt number to prove it,” they said.
Now, the third-party seller can write a fake, five-star review of the product it has just “sold” and sent to you, using your name as the author.
Using an actual person's name makes the review seem more legitimate and helps a seller's items appear more popular and in demand.
Be careful, members! While we understand that getting free stuff in the mail is relatively harmless, it does indicate your personal information could be in the hands of digital criminals.
Your personal data is extremely valuable and must be protected at all costs.
If you’re not careful, scammers can use it to access your bank accounts or set up new ones, take out loans and steal superannuation, or even create fake accounts on social media to attack others.
We here at the SDC hope you guys never find yourselves in similar situations, so we have shared here some online scams to look out for, and some tips as well to protect yourself against them! Check out the article here.
Stay safe, members!
