It seems like this time of year brings out anyone and everyone who wants to take advantage of your busy schedule and seasonal stress.  Don’t be a victim this holiday season.  Stop those who wish to defraud you and/or add stress to your life.  Be alert! 

At this time of year when we are trying to connect with loved ones both near and far there are unsavory people who wish to add to your stress.  If you receive an email regarding a package delivery, even if it looks legitimate please beware…  If you open the links within the email you are very likely loading a virus onto your computer.  Below are warnings from DHL and FEDEX about this very thing.  But they are not the only businesses that are having to deal with these.

Rule of thumb if you didn’t ship it… how did they know where to email you?  Shippers usually ask for a phone contact.

Some very good tips to protect you, your finances and your investments can be found at:  http://www.sans.org/tip_of_the_day.php

DHL

A message to our customers about a spam message and new virus

Please be advised that if you received an email suggesting that DHL is attempting to deliver a package, requesting that you open the email attachment in order to affect delivery, this email is fraudulent, the attachment is a computer virus, and the package does not exist.

Please do not open the attachment. This virus does not originate from DHL. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Fraud Alert: DHL Express

Please read our urgent security notice on fraudulent use of the DHL name.

Security Notice

Fraudulent Use of the DHL Brand

Numerous attempts have been made to defraud Internet shoppers by the unauthorized use of the DHL name and brand, via email communications and graphics which appear, on the surface, to have originated from DHL.

In most cases the communications concern the sale of consumer goods over the Internet, where payment may be requested by money transfer - for goods in transport, before the goods will be delivered.

Please be advised that DHL does not request payment in this manner. In general, DHL collects money due for official DHL related shipping expenses only.

FEDEX

For examples of common email scams involving the FedEx brand please see the following link:  http://www.fedex.com/us/security/email_fraud.html . If you receive any of these or similar communications, do not reply or cooperate with the sender. Learn more about dealing with suspected fraud.

Aug. 24, 2010: FedEx has received reports that there has been an increase in fraudulent emails claiming to come from FedEx. The messages appear to come from a random '@fedex.com' email address and have a vague subject referencing a FedEx tracking, invoice or item number. The attachment is typically a zip file with 'FEDEXInvoice' in the file name and may contain a computer virus. If you receive a message matching this description do not open the attachment. Delete the email immediately.