How to spot fake emails like "Your Shipment With DHL Express Is On Its Way"

What is "Your Shipment With DHL Express Is On Its Way"?

Our team has inspected the email and found that its purpose is to steal personal information. This is a phishing email posing as a notification from DHL and containing a link to a deceptive web page. Falling for this scam can lead to identity theft, monetary loss, or other issues. Thus, recipients should ignore such emails.

More about the "Your Shipment With DHL Express Is On Its Way" scam email

This phishing email (with the subject line "Your Shipment Is On Its Way") claims that a shipment via DHL Express is en route. It instructs the recipient to download an attachment containing a Waybill Number and shipment documents. The email emphasizes the need for the recipient to have the Tracking Number and a Valid ID upon delivery.

It claims that the "required" information is provided in the attached file, "Documents.html" (its name may vary). Opening this attachment leads to a fake login form requesting to provide an email address and password (login credentials). The information provided on this site is sent to scammers.

Scammers can use stolen credentials to access accounts such as email, banking, or social media to steal more personal information or money. They may also use the credentials to send phishing emails, spam, or malware, spreading their scams or malicious software to others.

In some cases, they sell the stolen information on the dark web. If victims reuse passwords across multiple accounts, scammers can also attempt to gain access to those. Therefore, recipients are advised to carefully examine emails, avoid opening suspicious files or links, and refrain from sharing personal information on questionable websites.

Threat Summary:

Name	Your Shipment With DHL Express Is On Its Way Email Scam
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Your shipment is on its way
Attachment	Documents.html (its name may vary)
Detection Names (Documents.html)	AliCloud (Trojan:Unknow/Phishing.Akgpp), ESET-NOD32 (HTML/Phishing.Agent.FHJ), Fortinet (JS/Phishing.TKPH!tr), GData (HTML.Trojan.Agent.AMNQQZ), Ikarus (Win32.Outbreak), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
Disguise	Notification from DHL
Symptoms	Generic greeting, urgent language, suspicious links, grammatical errors.
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.

Similar scam emails in general

Phishing emails are often crafted to seem urgent and critical, tricking recipients into revealing personal information, usually through fake websites. Fraudulent emails can also be used to spread malware. As a result, users should exercise caution when dealing with suspicious emails, avoid sharing sensitive information, and leave file or links found in shady emails unopened.

Examples of scam emails targeting personal information are "Capital One - Your Password Has Been Changed", "DHL - INCOMING PACKAGE NOTIFICATION", and "Email Account Is Outdated".

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Emails delivering malware include harmful attachments or deceptive links. Attached files can introduce malware when opened or after specific actions are taken. For example, malicious executable files can infect a device immediately upon being launched, while infected MS Office documents may require enabling macros to activate the malware.

When malicious links are present, threat actors aim to trick users into downloading dangerous files or programs from untrustworthy sites or visiting web pages designed to initiate automatic downloads. In most cases, malware infection relies on user interaction.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Carefully review emails before accessing their content. Avoid opening files or clicking links in unsolicited emails from unfamiliar senders. Download software only from reliable sources, like official websites or app stores. Do not use dubious platforms, like peer-to-peer networks or third-party downloaders, to obtain apps or files.

Keep your security software, applications, and operating systems up to date. Use a reputable security tool. Do not click pop-ups, links, or ads on untrustworthy sites, and reject requests from shady websites to show notifications. If you have already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the "Your Shipment With DHL Express Is On Its Way" email letter:

Subject: Your Shipment Is On Its Way

Your Shipment with DHL Express is on its Way!

You can download the Waybill Number and Shipment Documents attached.

We will notify you as soon as shipment arrives. Please ensure to have the Tracking Number and a Valid ID to receive shipment.
Shipment Details

Sender Reference N/A

Recipient -

Waybill No. See enclosed document

Delivery Address See enclosed document

Please do not reply to this email – inbox is not monitored.
Terms of Use | Privacy Notice | Terms and Conditions of Carriage 2024 © DHL Group

Screenshot of the phishing website used in this scam:

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 Your Shipment With DHL Express Is On Its Way 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?

Scam emails are often sent randomly, as scammers rely on chance to trick some recipients. Thus, it is very likely that there are many more recipients of the same email.

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

If you have shared any account information, it is crucial to change your passwords immediately. Make sure to create strong, unique passwords for each account.

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

The file attached to this email leads to a phishing website. It does not contain malware and cannot infect computers. However, when emails contain malicious attachments, these files can inject malware after opening or taking additional actions (like enabling macros in MS Office documents).

I have read the email but did not open the attachment, is my computer infected?

Simply opening an email is generally safe and does not cause infections.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections that were present in email attachment?

Yes, Combo Cleaner can detect and remove most known malware. However, advanced malware may embed itself deeply within the system, making it necessary to run a full system scan to ensure thorough removal.

▼ Show Discussion