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UPS Parcel HOAX
"Unfortunately we were not able to deliver postal package you sent"


You receive an email apparently from the UPS Postal Service Support Team saying that the recipient's address is not correct and they'll charge you if you don't open the attachment. Well don't! It's a virus! It's nothing to do with UPS and it's entirely a HOAX designed to fool you into opening the attachment which is a virus. You may have been able to spot this, especially if you have taken the advice at the page about how to avoid getting a virus. Anyway, here is a carefully stuffed and mounted (harmless) version of the email message:

----- Original Message -----
From: UPS Postal Service Support Team <temav@qfcinc.com> *
To: ZYRA [or your address here]
Sent: Tuesday, October 21, 2008 9:46 PM
Subject: Tracking N 2127073861

Unfortunately we were not able to deliver postal package you sent on October the 19th in time
because the recipient's address is not correct.
Please print out the invoice copy attached and collect the package at our office.
If you do not receive package in ten days you will have to pay 6$ per day.

Your UPS

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Our virus protection on one of the old machine here says "Suspicious files were found in the attachments. INVOICE_7761662.doc.rar: Warning: Hidden extension .exe. The attachment was moved to the virus vault. Checked by AVG.
Version: 7.5.549 / Virus Database: 270.8.2/1735 - Release Date: 2008/10/20 14:52".

Obviously you wouldn't open a .exe file, would you?! They are inherently risky, and if you receive one in an e-mail it is almost always a virus.

Also see PDS - Parcel Delivery Service - SCAM!

Also, the message fails a commonsense test. Look at this: "Unfortunately we were not able to deliver postal package you sent" (implying that YOU SENT it) and "If you do not receive package in ten days you will have to pay 6$ per day" - so, what then? You are going to RECEIVE it? So you sent it to YOURSELF? This is nonsense! Besides, no courier charges you $6 per day for storing your package. Instead, if they can't deliver it, they "Return to Sender". That's the way things work.

Looking at the grammar in that last clause, the virus message seems to have been crafted in the Orient, the Far East, or at any rate somewhere where the definite article is not commonly used and where the position of the currency sign is after, not before, the figure.

Regardless of any of that, it's a hoax, and you should not be fooled by it!

If you are worried because you've been fooled into opening the attachment, I suggest you run some antivirus software and get your computer cleaned (from a software point of view, not just with a damp cloth). Good luck!

Even if you have no antivirus software on your computer, you can still avoid being fooled by these ridiculous messages. There are a set of antivirus advice points which help you to be vigilant against these things. Even having special email addresses and not letting Microsoft hide file extensions are a good start to virus avoidance.

Besides: Did you send a package at all? If you did, did you send it via UPS? Did you give them an email address to contact you with, and if you did, is that the same as the one the email senders have used? I advise using a different email address for each company so you can keep a track of what they are doing with your information.

As well as anomalies about your own email address which may help to unmask the fraud, there's also the matter of the message's sender address. In this particular case, temav@qfcinc.com , which besides the obvious unlikeliness of it being UPS, also turns out to be fake (bounced on reply).

Beware of hoaxes. You can learn more about ways to avoid them by having a look at the Rogues Gallery

If you're looking for the real UPS, see Couriers and Postal Services