The latest scam being utilized to propagate malware involves emails purporting to emanate from an official postal service. The emails include an attachment of course, and that is where the malware lurks. I was first notified of this latest scam just a couple of days ago by a very good friend who lives in Victoria, Australia. He sent me a copy of the email he received:
The included attachment was a small zip folder which purported to contain information necessary to redeem the supposedly wayward package:
I can understand how enticing it might be for someone to open that folder, what they would be doing in fact, is activating the malware. Thankfully, my mate recognized the danger and did not open the attachment.
Co-incidentally, the very next day I came across an article on the Sophos Naked Security blog warning users about this same scam. The author makes a very valid comment – “Why are people believing these emails are from the Royal Mail in the first place? I mean, how do they think the Royal Mail got hold of their email address?”
You can view the entire Naked Security article HERE.
I received, yesterday, what I believe is a very similar scam, this time apparently from “UPS”. It had their exact logo and appearance and language. This time it said a package from some unknown company had been delivered to me earlier in the day. The where delivered was the only part that was not clearly written.