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First published 3rd December 2025

The postie and I were recently chatting venting to each other regarding our respective dealings with Australia Post.

He told me of a scam well worth drawing to your attention, and which couldn’t be more timely at this time of year.

Someone/s has or did have access to Australia Post parcel data — whether internally or via external hacking is not clear to me — but very importantly, these data are being used to extract money from people.

The someones know from these data when a parcel is due for delivery — say this coming Tuesday. They notify the intended recipient that there is underpaid postage owed (there isn’t), and that the recipient must pay the difference for the parcel to be delivered. It’s probably only a handful of dollars if that.

The recipient pays, and the parcel arrives when it was always going to arrive, and is none the wiser as to the scam.

Yes, underpaid postage is a thing — it happens if a sender with an Australia Post account enters weight or dimensions incorrectly (any parcels lodged over a PO counter would be charged correct postage from the get-go) — but the parcel is delivered as normal and without fuss, and it is the sender who is invoiced after the fact by Australia Post for the postage difference.

Please note that the recipient does not pay for owed postage, only the sender. The recipient in the normal day-to-day delivery of parcels has no reason to suspect that there may even be underpaid postage owed by the sender.

And one other thing the postie mentioned. Your parcel has been marked “delivered”, yet you can’t find it? Check your roof. I kid you not. Some of the (sub-contracted) deliverers stand on the street, aim for wherever, throw, and yes, some packages end up on the roof.