For more than a decade, inboxes around the world have been hit by bogus emails claiming to be from international delivery service DHL.
Typically, the emails claim that there has been a problem such as an incorrect shipping address that has delayed delivery of a package being sent to you.
The emails urge you to click a link or open an attached file to deal with the supposed delivery issue.
However, the emails have no connection to DHL and the claims about a lost or delayed package are untrue.
Here’s a screenshot of a rather crude version that recently hit my spam folder:
Clicking links in these scam emails opens fraudulent websites that supposedly allows you to download a shipping form or other delivery related document. However, if you proceed, you will actually be downloading malware. In some cases, the “delivery documents” are contained in an attached file. But, as with clicking the links, opening the attachments can also install malware.
Once installed, the malware may steal personal information such as banking passwords from your computer and send it to online criminals. Or, it might lock up all of your files and then demand that you pay a ransom to receive a decryption key.
Some versions of the fake websites may try to trick you into supplying sensitive personal and financial information, ostensibly as a means of proving your identity and procuring your package. This information may later be used to commit fraud and identity theft.
Criminals have repeatedly used the DHL name and logo in such scam attempts over a number of years.
They also send out similar fake messages claiming to be from other delivery services, including FedEx, UPS, Australia Post, USPS, and The Royal Mail.
If you receive such an email, do not click any links or open any attachments that it contains.
Transcript of the scam email:
Office] DHL Shipment Notification
COSTUMER SERVICE
Dear sir/madam,
I’m sorry for the trouble in receiving your order, and will be happy to help straighten it out.
The shipping information on your order is incorrect,
(insert information here)
We are so sorry for the delay; your email has only just now come to our attention. We have contacted the current resident of that address, and asked them to place the package out for return to sender, but have not received word as to whether or not this has occurred.
Thanks for your patience!
Importance Notice
After considerable thought and with an ache in my heart, I have decided that the time has come to close down the Hoax-Slayer website.These days, the site does not generate enough revenue to cover expenses, and I do not have the financial resources to sustain it going forward.
Moreover, I now work long hours in a full-time and physically taxing job, so maintaining and managing the website and publishing new material has become difficult for me.
And finally, after 18 years of writing about scams and hoaxes, I feel that it is time for me to take my fingers off the keyboard and focus on other projects and pastimes.
When I first started Hoax-Slayer, I never dreamed that I would still be working on the project all these years later or that it would become such an important part of my life. It's been a fantastic and engaging experience and one that I will always treasure.
I hope that my work over the years has helped to make the Internet a little safer and thwarted the activities of at least a few scammers and malicious pranksters.
A Big Thank You
I would also like to thank all of those wonderful people who have supported the project by sharing information from the site, contributing examples of scams and hoaxes, offering suggestions, donating funds, or helping behind the scenes.I would especially like to thank David White for his tireless contribution to the Hoax-Slayer Facebook Page over many years. David's support has been invaluable, and I can not thank him enough.
Closing Date
Hoax-Slayer will still be around for a few weeks while I wind things down. The site will go offline on May 31, 2021. While I will not be publishing any new posts, you can still access existing material on the site until the date of closure.Thank you, one and all!
Brett Christensen,
Hoax-Slayer
