In the next few days, pay attention to any messages in your email inbox that have as their subject a phantom “Final Reminder”, with the intention of convincing you that you should click on a little blue button to avoid the suspension of your PostePay card from next October 25th. Yes, because if you should receive such a message you could fall victim to yet another online scam that is exploiting the name and brand of Poste Italiane to try to steal from unfortunate users the access credentials to your online account on the Poste website and, consequently, card data and various security codes with which to authorize operations on the account without your knowledge. Let’s take a closer look at this fraud attempt, trying to understand both how it works and what to do to defend yourself.
How the new Poste Italiane scam works
To understand how the new Poste Italiane scam works, let’s analyze the message that is delivered by cyber criminals and which constitutes a classic example of phishing. After the usual and reassuring formal greeting «Dear Customer“, the scammers refer to repeated attempts at telephone contact which, having not been successful, would justify “this final notice», this is precisely the expression used by scammers.
After having sown the doubt and also having attempted to make the message seem as legitimate as possible, the scammers drop their ace by saying that starting from a certain specific date (rather close to the sending of the e-mail, to generate a certain urgency in the recipient of the message) the Postepay Standard card connected to the account at Poste Italiane «will be suspended from operational functions», and can no longer be used until an unspecified new security system has been activated. The latter, according to the message, «represents a solution that guarantees greater security and reliability of (…) online operations and purchases». What happens if this system is not activated? Simple: you will not be able to carry out any operations with the card starting from the date previously indicated in the message.
This is where you might be tempted to click the blue Sign in and activate now button in the email. It’s a shame that, by doing this, you will find yourself in front of a web page that is not the official website of Poste Italiane, but a fraudulent page that replicates the Poste Italiane website in every way with the aim of collecting confidential information. By taking the bait and following the instructions on the page, you would be handing over to cyber criminals all the information necessary to operate with your PostePay card: the access credentials to your Poste Italiane account, the card number, its expiry date, the CVV code, and so on. The request could also continue with the OTP codes sent to authorize operations on the account, such as transactions and various payments, which would obviously lead to the theft of the money available on the card itself.
How to defend yourself from PostePay fraud
Now that it is clear how the scam works, let’s also see what you need to do to defend yourself. The golden rule is always the same: you should never click on links or buttons that are inserted in messages like the one we told you about earlier. You must always remember that Poste Italiane and, in general, any other reliable body, will never ask you to carry out similar actions with emails like this. The same applies if this type of request arrives via other channels, for example on social media, with instant messaging apps or even by telephone.
And if you receive requests for money via one of these contact methods, even if the messages seem authentic, remember what Poste Italiane says on this information page:
Poste Italiane or the Authorities will never ask you in any way (…) and for any purpose to transfer money or to provide your card details, OTP codes (…) or access credentials to “secure” your savings, nor to open a new current account in your name.
In the event that you have opened this article too late, as you have fallen victim to the scam, do not hesitate to immediately report the incident to the Postal Police and also to Poste Italiane.
