United Parcel Service malware attack spreads fake anti-virus

Email inboxes around the world are being spammed today with a malicious attack designed to infect Windows computers with a fake anti-virus attack.

The emails claim to be notification from United Parcel Service (UPS) that a package is winging its way to your address. The cybercriminals behind the scheme hope that recipients will be intrigued enough to open the attached file, which can infect their computer with malware.

A typical message looks as follows:

Subject: United Parcel Service notification #[number]

Message body:

United Parcel Service
tracking number #[number]

Good morning
Parcel notification

The parcel was sent your home adress.
And it will arrive within 3 buisness days.

More information and the parcel tracking number are attached in document below.

Thank you

United Parcel Service of America (c)
153 James Street,…

Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.

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Graham Cluley •   @gcluley

Graham Cluley is a veteran of the anti-virus industry having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent security analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of computer security, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter at @gcluley, on Mastodon at @[email protected], or drop him an email.