An email phishing campaign tries to steal user data with phantom incoming packages. Here’s how to defend yourself from the scam attempt
There is no respite even in summer. As reported by the Postal Police via its Facebook account “Commissariato di PS Online – Italia”, Italian Internet users are at the center of a new email scam attempt by the usual cyber criminals looking for easy earnings.
As you can read in the post of the special corps of the State Police, tens of thousands of email accounts of Italian users are receiving messages from companies specializing in parcel delivery. This is, of course, a well-orchestrated phishing campaign articulated on different types of messages. In some cases the user is contacted for the lack of some data needed to complete the sending of the package; in others, the user is asked to confirm his data for a package waiting for validation. Whatever message you receive, it is very short and concise texts, written in a correct Italian language.
How to defend yourself from phishing e-mails
Despite the language factor – which most of the time allows you to distinguish between a “legitimate” mail message and an online scam – you still have several “cards to play” to avoid falling into the trap and defend yourself from phishing. First of all, if you haven’t made any purchases recently, delete the mail message immediately: no courier will contact you if he doesn’t really have a package to deliver. If you are actually waiting for a package, contact the seller and ask them directly if there are any problems with the shipment or if it’s just a “bait message” from hackers and hackers looking for data.
It should also be noted that contact with shipping companies is usually made by phone and not by email. Before clicking on any link and providing your personal information, try to contact the customer service center of the company that apparently sent the email and verify that the tracking number mentioned in the email corresponds to a package addressed in your name.