Australia Post's urgent Christmas scam warning

The lead-up to Christmas provides fertile ground for scammers and con artists, and Australia Post has warned everybody to be on alert in the coming weeks.

One particular grift can involve scammers posing as interested buyers on groups such as Facebook Marketplace.

They will send links or QR codes via Messenger that take the victim to fake "Australia Post courier service" websites.

READ MORE: Australia Post reveals deadline for mailing Christmas parcels

These sites claim that payment will be processed online and that a courier will collect the item once payment is made – but all the sites actually do is steal personal and financial information.

Australia Post said its research showed more than 90 per cent of Australians had received a scam text or call, and nearly 75 per cent reported that scammers had impersonated a shipping and parcel delivery service.

Australia Post chief information security officer Adam Cartwright advised customers to track parcels through the official AusPost app and ignore any message requesting personal or payment information.

READ MORE: Missing dog reappears after seven weeks in South Australian scrub

"As the pre-Christmas sales ramp up and more Aussies are expecting deliveries, scammers are exploiting that anticipation and urgency to trick people into clicking fake links or handing over personal information," he said.

"If you receive a message asking for personal or payment details, you can be confident it's not from us. In fact, the safest way to track your item is through the official AusPost app."

Australia Post does not ask for personal or financial details via phone, text message, or email, including for passwords, credit card information, or bank details.

READ MORE: Australian activewear label folds after 10 years

View gallery

Can you pick the Black Friday scam text message?

The national organisation said it had also seen a resurgence of sophisticated phishing ahead of Christmas, including the global "Darcula" operation, which rents scam toolkits to criminals that mimic trusted delivery brands.

By sending messages via end-to-end encrypted channels such as iMessage and Rich Communication Services (RCS), Darcula can bypass traditional filters, making these scams harder to detect and block.

People can sign up for a free MyPost account online, or download the AusPost app from the Apple Store or Google Play.

The Australia Post website also contains information on scams.

DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.