Fraud at DHL: Consumer advice center warns of sensitive data and loss of money!

Fraud at DHL: Consumer advice center warns of sensitive data and loss of money!

Caution! Customers of DHL and other parcel service providers are being warned by the consumer advice center: A scam has been doing the rounds for months that fraudsters can use to obtain personal data and money.

Fraud at DHL: consumer advice center warns!

Waiting for online orders can be quite annoying, not least because of the waiting time. How good that thanks to shipment tracking you can track exactly whether your package has already left the warehouse, exactly where it is and when it is expected to arrive. But what happens if, instead of tracking the shipment, sensitive data is suddenly requested or you get to a further link? Experts warn of a dangerous scam at DHL & Co.

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In the clip: Warning of fraud via SMS

DHL & Co.: This is how the scam works

In order to obtain sensitive data and ultimately money, SMS and emails are sent that at first glance appear to come from DHL or other parcel service providers. The content of these messages may vary. For example, the senders request sensitive data in order to supposedly pass on the updated shipment tracking in return.

Another version of the online fraud: A link contained in the message leads to a payment website under the pretext that an outstanding invoice that arose from the package still needs to be paid. If you contain a message like this, extreme caution is advised.

Consumer advice center warns

The consumer advice center warns that you should carefully check every text message or email before opening it and not click on any further links. Once the data has been passed on or the money has been paid, consumers usually have only a very small chance of receiving compensation.

Criminals don't just use DHL's cover for this. This scam is also carried out under the names of other parcel services, such as UPS or Hermes. Last year, the consumer advice center warned against verification by email for an energy flat rate, and Amazon customers also fell victim to a phishing scam. However, the consumer advice center also helps with deposit bottle return policy: You can find out what you can do if acceptance is refused here.

By the way, Peter Giesel tells you how you can defend yourself against scam calls and telephone fraud in his “5 important tips against telephone fraud”.

How to protect yourself from phishing messages

Even if many of the so-called phishing emails or text messages look deceptively real at first glance, you can protect yourself from them. Here we provide more detailed information on how to recognize phishing messages.

1. Überprüfe, ob du wirklich etwas bestellt hast.
2. Achte auf den Absender und kontrolliere die E-Mailadresse.
3. Klicke niemals direkt auf Links und gib keine Daten wie Adresse oder Konto per E-Mail oder SMS weiter.
4. Falls du dir immer noch unsicher bist, hake direkt beim Paketdienstleister nach.

DHL explains in a statement: “As a general rule, we never ask you to make payments or change (address) data via SMS.” An attempt is made to sensitize customers. However, there is nothing more that can be done.

Also interesting: Track DHL parcel – trick to find out the missing location

Unfortunately, this scam is not new and affects not only DHL, but also other parcel service providers such as UPS or Hermes. The fraudsters send SMS and emails that at first glance appear to be from the parcel services in order to obtain personal information and money. In some cases, sensitive data is requested to supposedly share updated tracking. In other cases, a link in the message leads to a payment website that claims to be an outstanding invoice incurred by the package.

The consumer advice center warns consumers to check such messages carefully and not to click on any further links. Once the data has been passed on or the money has been paid, consumers usually have only a very small chance of receiving compensation. It is therefore important to ignore suspicious messages and contact the parcel service provider directly if there are any doubts.

To protect yourself from phishing messages, you should always check whether you have actually ordered something and check the sender and email address. It is important to never click on links directly and not to share sensitive information such as address or account via email or SMS.

DHL emphasizes in a statement that they generally never request payments or data changes via SMS. They try to raise awareness among customers, but they can't do more.

Source: According to a report by www.sat1.de