What should you do if you find one in your mailbox

Phishing has been a problem for many years. Every time we find more sophisticated techniques To try to pique and do with our data or violate the privacy and safety of our devices. In this case, it seems that tactics have evolved, taking advantage of the postal mail of our house and thus skipping all the filters of the usual e-mail customers.

The play that we are going to talk about next has been meeting a few years and more and more users who have informed of it are. It is a tactic that seeks to imitate Amazon through a promotional card in which they promise free products and commissions of up to 40 euros in exchange for scanning a QR code. It is a trap Internationally located of which we have seen examples in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France and even in Spain.

A new modus operandi. Criminals send physical letters with the Amazon logo in which the recipient is invited to join an alleged “test club” of new products. The letter promises free items and a commission that can reach 40 euros, as seen in several of the examples that circulate through Redditand in this Another user. The letter maintains that, to participate, we must scan a QR code that supposedly allows “registering the name and contact information.” The final hook is a suspicious contact email.

Click the image to go to the publication

Why this scam works. That postal mail is used instead of using e-mail in this practice is an intelligent decision by scammers. Physical letters generate more confidence than electronic messages, especially in older people less familiar with digital scams. In addition, they avoid all Antispam filters and security systems that block fraudulent emails. The QR code adds an additional layer of difficulty detecting the scam, since it is not possible to see with where to redirect the link.

An international problem. This fraudulent campaign has been detected in numerous countries. According to experiences that other users have shared, identical letters They have appeared in the mailboxes of the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and even Spain, always with the same format and similar promises. Knowbe4 cybersecurity company has identified This technique through one of its employees, who also received this letter. The company contacted the scammers to learn more information, revealing that the plot could only mean a new method to transfer funds illegally, a fake review campaign, and other similar scams.

If you receive it, ignore it. Amazon never contacts potential customers via postal mail not requested to offer test products. The company has specific official channels for its testing programs, which require prior registration and never promise cash commissions. In fact, as we can see, the contact email does not correspond to any official Domain of Amazon. The company has a website where they report what to do if we have been victims of ‘Brushing‘, the scam in which we receive an unplayed package or letteran increasingly common tactic.

Throwing the letter directly to the trash without scanning the QR code or responding to the email is, surely, the best you can do. Older people and those less familiar with the Internet and technology are the objective of greatest risk in this type of scams, so It is convenient to run the voice to make sure they are also aware and thus avoid falling into the trap.

Cover image | Thanhy Nguyen and U/Lozit93

In Xataka | False payment SMS with El Corte Inglés: What is it and how to avoid falling and that your data steals you