Avoid losing your email via "DHL Package Tracking Confirmation" scam
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on (updated)
What is the "DHL Package Tracking Confirmation" scam email?
"DHL Package Tracking Confirmation email scam" refers to a spam campaign - large-scale operation during which thousands of deceptive emails are sent. The letters distributed via this campaign - are presented as notifications from DHL International - a legitimate courier, package delivery, and express mail service.
The scam emails claim that the delivery address requires another confirmation. "DHL Package Tracking Confirmation" spam campaign aims to promote a phishing website designed to record email account log-in credentials.
The "DHL Package Tracking Confirmation" deceptive letters (subject/title " [recipient's email address] : DHL Delivery Notification"; may vary) inform that a priority package scheduled for delivery to the recipient's destination lacks the necessary details and numbers.
Therefore, unless the delivery address is reconfirmed - tracking will be unavailable. It must be emphasized that these emails are in no way associated with the genuine DHL International GmbH. When "View Package & In The Attachment" button presented in the letters is clicked, it redirects to a phishing site.
This page requests users to sign in with their email accounts. Log-in credentials (i.e., email addresses and passwords) entered into this website are exposed to the scammers, thereby allowing them to steal the corresponding accounts.
The "DHL Package Tracking Confirmation" scam letters pose more threats than just losing an email account. Scammers target emails as they are typically connected to different accounts, platforms, and services (e.g., they are registered through the email).
Hence, via stolen emails - access/control may be gained over other accounts associated with them. For example, hijacked communication platforms (e.g., emails, social media, social networking, messengers, etc.) can be used to ask contacts/friends/followers for loans - under the guise of the genuine owner.
These platforms can also be employed to proliferate malware by sharing virulent files or links to malicious websites. Finance-related accounts (e.g., banking, online money transferring, e-commerce, digital wallets, etc.) can be used to make fraudulent transactions and/or online purchases.
To summarize, by trusting the "DHL Package Tracking Confirmation" scam emails, users can experience severe privacy issues, financial losses, and even identity theft. Should attempts to sign in through the phishing website have already been made - the passwords of potentially compromised accounts must be changed immediately.
Furthermore, it is advised to contact the official support of the endangered platforms.
| Name | DHL Package Tracking Confirmation Email Scam |
| Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud |
| Fake Claim | Scam emails claim that the recipient's delivery address need to be reconfirmed. |
| Disguise | Scam emails are disguised as notifications from DHL International GmbH |
| Related Domains | backblazeb2[.]com |
| Detection Names (backblazeb2[.]com) | CRDF (Malicious), CyRadar (Malicious), Kaspersky (Phishing), Forcepoint ThreatSeeker (Suspicious), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal) |
| Serving IP Address (backblazeb2[.]com) | 104.153.233.177 |
| Symptoms | Unauthorized online purchases, changed online account passwords, identity theft, illegal access of the computer. |
| Distribution methods | Deceptive emails, rogue online pop-up ads, search engine poisoning techniques, misspelled domains. |
| Damage | Loss of sensitive private information, monetary loss, identity theft. |
| Malware Removal (Windows) | To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. |
"EuroLine Windows Exchange", "System Administrator Quota Update", "Standard Bank Financial Consultancy (SBFC)", and "Mailjet email scam" are some examples of phishing spam campaigns. Aside from account log-in credentials, phishing also commonly targets personally identifiable information (e.g., names, surnames, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, etc.).
However, spam mail is not used exclusively for phishing and other scams, it is employed to proliferate malware (e.g., trojans, ransomware, and cryptominers) as well. It is highly recommended to exercise caution with incoming emails.
How do spam campaigns infect computers?
Spam campaigns spread malware by distributing infectious files. The files can be attached to and/or linked inside the deceptive emails.
Virulent files can be in various formats, e.g., archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), Microsoft Office and PDF documents, JavaScript, and so forth. When the files are executed, run, or otherwise opened - the infection process (i.e., malware download/installation) is jumpstarted.
For example, Microsoft Office documents infect systems by executing malicious macro commands. This process starts the moment a document is opened in Microsoft Office versions released before 2010.
Newer versions have "Protected View" mode, which prevents automatic execution of macros. Instead, users can manually enable editing/content (i.e., macro commands), and they are warned of the potential risks.
How to avoid installation of malware?
It is advised not to open suspicious and irrelevant emails, especially any attachments or links found in them. Additionally, it is recommended to use Microsoft Office versions released after 2010. Malware is not proliferated only through spam campaigns, it is also spread via dubious download channels (e.g., unofficial and free file-hosting websites, Peer-to-Peer sharing networks, etc.), illegal activation ("cracking") tools, and fake updates.
Therefore, it is important to download only from official and verified sources. Furthermore, all programs must be activated and updated with tools/functions provided by legitimate developers.
It is crucial to have a reputable anti-virus/anti-spyware suite installed and kept up-to-date. This software has to be used to run regular system scans and remove detected/potential threats and issues.
If you've already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.
Text presented in the "DHL Package Tracking Confirmation" scam email letter:
Subject: ******** : DHL Delivery Notification
DHL
DHL PackageTracking Confirmation
Dear ********,
Your are copied in this notification due to a priority package scheduled for delivery to your destination.
Unfortunately we are stuck on the way with inappropriate presentation of the recipient details and number.
So this email notification is to enable you track your package and re-confirm your delivery address
The details below outlines the delivery schedule .
SCHEDULE & DETAILS:
Expected Delivery Date: May 22 2020
Type of Shipment: 2 TRIP WATER WAY BILL
Affected Account: info
Package Parceled For: ********
Confirm the delivery details below with tracking number;
View Package & In The Attachment
Always serving you better!
DHL EXPRESS
This is an automated e-mail message, please do not reply directly. If you have any questions contact us officially.
Deutsche Post DHL Group
©2020 . ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Appearance of the "DHL Package Tracking Confirmation" scam email (GIF):
Screenshot of the phishing website promoted by the "DHL Package Tracking Confirmation" spam campaign:
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Quick menu:
- What is DHL Package Tracking Confirmation spam?
- Types of malicious emails.
- How to spot a malicious email?
- What to do if you fell for an email scam?
Types of malicious emails:
Phishing Emails
Most commonly, cybercriminals use deceptive emails to trick Internet users into giving away their sensitive private information, for example, login information for various online services, email accounts, or online banking information.
Such attacks are called phishing. In a phishing attack, cybercriminals usually send an email message with some popular service logo (for example, Microsoft, DHL, Amazon, Netflix), create urgency (wrong shipping address, expired password, etc.), and place a link which they hope their potential victims will click on.
After clicking the link presented in such email message, victims are redirected to a fake website that looks identical or extremely similar to the original one. Victims are then asked to enter their password, credit card details, or some other information that gets stolen by cybercriminals.
Emails with Malicious Attachments
Another popular attack vector is email spam with malicious attachments that infect users' computers with malware. Malicious attachments usually carry trojans that are capable of stealing passwords, banking information, and other sensitive information.
In such attacks, cybercriminals' main goal is to trick their potential victims into opening an infected email attachment. To achieve this goal, email messages usually talk about recently received invoices, faxes, or voice messages.
If a potential victim falls for the lure and opens the attachment, their computers get infected, and cybercriminals can collect a lot of sensitive information.
While it's a more complicated method to steal personal information (spam filters and antivirus programs usually detect such attempts), if successful, cybercriminals can get a much wider array of data and can collect information for a long period of time.
Sextortion Emails
This is a type of phishing. In this case, users receive an email claiming that a cybercriminal could access the webcam of the potential victim and has a video recording of one's masturbation.
To get rid of the video, victims are asked to pay a ransom (usually using Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency). Nevertheless, all of these claims are false - users who receive such emails should ignore and delete them.
How to spot a malicious email?
While cyber criminals try to make their lure emails look trustworthy, here are some things that you should look for when trying to spot a phishing email:
- Check the sender's ("from") email address: Hover your mouse over the "from" address and check if it's legitimate. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft, be sure to check if the email address is @microsoft.com and not something suspicious like @m1crosoft.com, @microsfot.com, @account-security-noreply.com, etc.
- Check for generic greetings: If the greeting in the email is "Dear user", "Dear @youremail.com", "Dear valued customer", this should raise suspiciousness. Most commonly, companies call you by your name. Lack of this information could signal a phishing attempt.
- Check the links in the email: Hover your mouse over the link presented in the email, if the link that appears seems suspicious, don't click it. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft and the link in the email shows that it will go to firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0... you shouldn't trust it. It's best not to click any links in the emails but to visit the company website that sent you the email in the first place.
- Don't blindly trust email attachments: Most commonly, legitimate companies will ask you to log in to their website and to view any documents there; if you received an email with an attachment, it's a good idea to scan it with an antivirus application. Infected email attachments are a common attack vector used by cybercriminals.
To minimise the risk of opening phishing and malicious emails we recommend using Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows.
Example of a spam email:
What to do if you fell for an email scam?
- If you clicked on a link in a phishing email and entered your password - be sure to change your password as soon as possible. Usually, cybercriminals collect stolen credentials and then sell them to other groups that use them for malicious purposes. If you change your password in a timely manner, there's a chance that criminals won't have enough time to do any damage.
- If you entered your credit card information - contact your bank as soon as possible and explain the situation. There's a good chance that you will need to cancel your compromised credit card and get a new one.
- If you see any signs of identity theft - you should immediately contact the Federal Trade Commission. This institution will collect information about your situation and create a personal recovery plan.
- If you opened a malicious attachment - your computer is probably infected, you should scan it with a reputable antivirus application. For this purpose, we recommend using Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows.
- Help other Internet users - report phishing emails to Anti-Phishing Working Group, FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, National Fraud Information Center and U.S. Department of Justice.
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