Post bosses warn of e-mail hoax

April 27, 2001

Post has urged people not to pass on an e-mail petition claiming the Government plans to introduce a five cents-a-message e-mail fee.

The petition was a hoax, the company said.

It claims the Government is trying to push through legislation allowing Australia Post to charge Internet users an alternative postage fee.

The e-mail states: "The Australian Postal Service is claiming lost revenue, due to the proliferation of e-mail, is costing nearly $230,000,000 in revenue per year."

It urges people to complain to Communications Minister Richard Alston's office.

Australia Post spokesman Stephen Walter said there was no such legislation and no plan to charge for e-mails.

"The best thing to do if you receive one of these e-mails is to delete it rather than compound the hoax by forwarding it on," he said.

"As Australia's largest provider of Internet fulfillment services, it is not in Australia Post's interest to discourage communication over the Internet."

Mr Walter said the hoax began in the United States and Canada in 1999.

A spokesman for Senator Alston said the minister's office received hundreds of protest e-mails a day.