Avoid getting scammed by fake "DHL Shipment Details" emails

What kind of email is "DHL Shipment Details"?

"DHL Shipment Details" refers to a fake email using the name of DHL - courier and deliver company - for nefarious purposes. It must be emphasized that this letter is in no way associated with either DHL or Deutsche Post. After analyzing this email, we have determined that it operates as a phishing scam. This spam mail targets email account log-in credentials by tricking recipients into entering them into a phishing file.

"DHL Shipment Details" email scam overview

The email with the "DHL Shipment Notification : 4609916441" subject (may vary) states that the attachment contains shipment details. The letter then lists certain specifications of the fake shipment like Air Waybill (AWB) number, pickup date, description, etc. As mentioned in the introduction, all of this information is false.

The phishing attachment - "4609916441.html" (may vary) - requests users to provide their email account log-in credentials (email address and corresponding password) supposedly for verification purposes. By entering this information into the file - users will inadvertently expose it to the scammers behind this spam campaign.

Cyber criminals can gain access to content registered through or otherwise connected to a stolen email. To elaborate, communication accounts (e.g., emails, social networking, messengers, etc.) can be employed to ask the owner's contacts/friends for loans or to distribute malware (by sharing malicious files/links). Finance-related accounts (e.g., online banks, e-commerce, digital wallets, etc.) can be used to make fraudulent transactions and online purchases.

In summary, by trusting the "DHL Shipment Details" spam email, users can experience severe privacy issues, financial losses, and even identity theft.

Threat Summary:

Name	DHL Shipment Details phishing email
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Email claims to contain shipment details.
Disguise	Shipment notification from DHL.
Attachment(s)	4609916441.html (filename may vary)
Detection Names (attachment)	Avast (HTML:Phishing-BVB [Phish]), Combo Cleaner (Trojan.Agent.FPUA), ESET-NOD32 (HTML/Phishing.Gen), Kaspersky (Trojan.HTML.Agent.sg), Microsoft (TrojanDownloader:Win32/Nemucod!ml), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
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. ▼ Download Combo Cleaner To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. 7 days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

Spam campaigns in general

"Signed In To From A New Windows Device", "New Contract Documents Received", and "Payment Forecast Of The Attached Invoice" are just a few examples of the phishing emails we have analyzed. These letters are usually presented as "official", "urgent", "priority", and similar. In addition to various scams, spam mail is also used to proliferate malware (e.g., ransomware, trojans, cryptocurrency miners, etc.).

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Spam emails can contain virulent files as attachments or download links. These files can be in various formats, e.g., archives, executables, PDF and Microsoft Office documents, JavaScript, etc. When such a file is opened - the infection process is triggered.

For example, infectious documents opened in pre-2010 Microsoft Office versions immediately execute malicious macro commands, thus beginning malware download/installation processes. Later versions have "Protected View" mode, and users can manually enable macros (i.e., allow editing/content). Note that virulent documents often contain messages designed to bait users into enabling macro commands.

How to avoid installation of malware?

We strongly advise exercising caution with incoming mail. The attachments and links present in suspicious/irrelevant emails and messages - must not be opened, as they can cause system infections. Additionally, we recommend using Microsoft Office versions released after 2010.

However, malware is not spread exclusively via spam mail. Therefore, we also advise downloading only from official and verified sources. Furthermore, all programs must be activated and updated with tools provided by legitimate developers.

We must stress the importance of having a dependable anti-virus installed and updated. Security software has to be used to perform regular system scans and to remove detected threats. 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 Shipment Details" email letter:

Subject: DHL Shipment Notification : 4609916441

For the shipment details (Sender's and Receiver's Address) see the attachment:

Notification for shipment event group "Delivered" for 14 Jun 20.
Receiver's Email: ********
AWB Number: 4609916441
Pickup Date: 2020-05-19 12:42:34
Service: P
Pieces: 1
Cust. Ref:  CONTAINER
Description: Sample

Delivery Date:
Receiver's Email: ********
Ship From :
Ship To:
Tracking Number:

EVENT CATEGORY
22 Feb 20 10:58 AM - Shipment delivered -

Signed By -

Shipment status may also be obtained from our Internet site in USA under hxxp://track.dhl-usa.com or Globally under hxxp://www.dhl.com/track

Please do not reply to this email. This is an automated application used only for sending proactive notifications

You are receiving this email because a notification is configured to receive notifications from ProView. If you prefer not to receive future notification email of this type, click here to unsubscribe. Please note this URL is only valid for 1 day.

Screenshot of the phishing attachment distributed via "DHL Shipment Details" spam campaign ("4609916441.html"):

Instant automatic malware removal: Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced IT skills. Combo Cleaner is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
▼ DOWNLOAD Combo Cleaner By downloading any software listed on this website you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. 7 days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

Quick menu:

• What is DHL Shipment Details phishing email?
• 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.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Why did I receive this email?

Cyber criminals distribute spam emails in large-scale campaigns; hence, thousands of users receive them.

I have provided my personal information when tricked by this spam email, what should I do?

If you have provided account credentials - change the passwords of all potentially compromised accounts and inform their official support without delay. And if you have disclosed other private data (e.g., credit card numbers, ID card details, etc.) - immediately contact the appropriate authorities.

I have read a spam email but didn't open the attachment, is my computer infected?

No, just opening a spam email will not initiate any system infection processes. Malware download/installation chains begin when the attachments or links present in this mail - are opened/clicked.

I have downloaded and opened a file attached to a spam email, is my computer infected?

Whether an infection was triggered - depends on the opened file's format. If it was an executable (.exe, .run, etc.) - most likely, yes - your system was infected. However, if it was a document (.doc, .xls, .pdf, etc.) - you might have avoided jumpstarting malware download/installation. These formats may require additional actions (e.g., to enable macro commands) to start infection processes.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Yes, Combo Cleaner is capable of detecting and eliminating nearly all of the known malware infections. However, running a full system scan is paramount - since sophisticated malicious programs tend to hide deep within systems.

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