A warning has been issued over strange ‘gifts’ being put through letterboxes, claiming to be from NSW Health.
The health department issued a warning on Monday, urging Australians to be careful with the packages.
“NSW Health is aware that cards and parcels have been left in letterboxes at some homes in Sydney, falsely presenting themselves as a ‘gift’ and ‘recovery therapy’ from NSW Health,” the department wrote on social media.
We have reported this matter to the New South Wales Police.
‘We advise anyone who has received such a package to dispose of it safely, without opening it.’
NSW Health added that the department would never put gifts through people’s letterboxes.
The small packets, wrapped in what appeared to be gauze, also contained a small card with valid NSW Health phone numbers and email addresses.
One card contained a small handwritten message: ‘With compliments from Our Father’.
NSW Health has urged anyone who receives a strange ‘gift’ in their letterbox not to open it and instead dispose of the package safely (pictured)
CCTV footage from a house where one of the packages was received shows a man in a dark blue jacket and a trolley (pictured) throwing the package into the resident’s mailbox.
One of the recipients of the packages said he wore gloves when he removed the package from the mailbox because he was concerned about the contents.
“I checked my video cameras,” she said.
‘There’s a man walking around with a cart that you can use to move large objects, such as a cupboard or drawers.’
CCTV footage shows a man in a dark blue jacket dragging a cart and dropping the package in her letterbox.
A neighbor reported that they opened the “gift” and found a small kumquat inside.
Another claimed to have found one of the strange packages in the mailbox on Monday.
“They gave a piece of fruit as a gift, didn’t eat it and didn’t know what it was,” they wrote under the NSW Health post on Facebook.
“And the card they gave me was just a piece of paper with some words written in pen. It’s weird.”