New E-mail Scam: UPS "Your package has arrived!"
Well, folks, I just received an e-mail this morning informing me that UPS has a package waiting for me, and urging me to click on a link to look at the tracking information. Even though I actually am waiting on a package from UPS, it struck me as odd because UPS would normally just go ahead and deliver it - why send me an e-mail? As I suspected, it turns out that the links in the e-mail, which seemed to point to legitimate UPS web site locations, was actually a clever ploy to get me to download an infected attachment.
The subject line was "Your package has arrived!" and the sender was "web29400 [web29400@cgi00.web.eu.clara.net]; on behalf of; UPS Shipments [tracking@ups.com]". That also seemed odd; why would UPS have somebody sending e--mails on behalf of them?
This is the body of the e-mail (with links removed):
Dear clientNeedless to say, I did not click on the links, but instead I looked up the subject line on Google and discovered that this is a fairly well-known virus scam. If you would like to read more about it, you can click on this link (this link is safe - promise!): www.snopes.com/computer/virus/ups.asp
Your package has arrived.
The tracking # is : 392869B2DAEB9292 and can be used at :
http://www.ups.com/tracking/tracking.html
The shipping invoice can be downloaded from :
http://www.ups.com/tracking/invoices/download.aspx?invoice_id=392869B2DAEB9292
Thank you,
United Parcel Service
*** This is an automatically generated email, please do not reply ***
As a general rule, if you ever receive an e-mail that just seems even a little bit suspicious, open up your web browser and search for the subject and the sender on Yahoo or Google; if it is a widespread virus attack, you should easily be able to find alerts posted on the Internet.
Have a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day Weekend, and remember to honor those who have died in our nation's service.
-PJ
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