People Cautioned about Malicious E-mail Supposedly from Fed Ex/UPS

Bob Johnston, Assistant District Attorney of DeKalb County (Georgia, USA), has urged Internet users to exercise caution against a fresh PC virus currently circulating, as reported by Times Journal on June 20, 2009.

Johnston said the worm is distributed through an e-mail attachment that relates to a UPS/Fed Ex delivery. According to him, the e-mail, which uses a caption "UPS/Fed Ex Delivery Failure," apparently is sent from UPS/Fed Ex mentioning a parcel number. It also states that the company could not deliver the parcel someone sent for the recipient on a specified date.

Further, the e-mail states that the recipient takes out a print copy of the invoice given as an attachment inside the e-mail. Johnston said that hitting the print button triggered the transmission of the worm to the recipient's PC.

Security experts say that the e-mail virus or "Fedex Tracking Number" is one more bogus e-mail that is recently going around. The virus' creator is getting increasingly innovative every time. Meanwhile, the "Fedex tracking number" e-mail simply poses to be from fedex.com. Users are thus advised not to click on the attachments as they could be carrying the virus.

However, there is no instance of anyone in the DeKalb County area falling victim to the malicious e-mail or becoming infected with the virus. Still people should not view the attachments as the virus in them has resulted in damages to the tune of several million dollars during the recent days.

Johnston also suggested users to avoid clicking on any attachment appearing doubtful. He said if anyone gets a Fed Ex or UPS e-mail, the person should contact the companies to check if a parcel is indeed waiting for him or not.

Meanwhile, e-mail scams involving delivery packages or well-known logistic firms are getting increasingly common these days. In June 2009, people in Hartlepool (UK) were warned about an e-mail that appeared to come from Courier Company DHL Services London saying that there was a £250,000 worth parcel waiting for the recipient but to obtain it he must pay £200.

Related article: Paypal – Web Hosting Services Need To Work Hard To Tackle Phishing

» SPAMfighter News - 6/29/2009