alt Hacker NewsThanks FedEx, This Is Why We Keep Getting Phished (2024)
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This is so weird, seeing this. Two years ago, I got a customs notice from FedEx asking to fill in my details. That was just a plain email from __some guy__ at FedEx with a PDF file attached. I wasn't expecting any package.
I wrote to their chatbot (of course, no human assistance) and after some time of "prompt engineering," or what one might call coercing, it finally directed me to a human consultant who confirmed it was indeed not a scam, and that it was indeed their messaging.
I opened the PDF, and it was pre-filled with someone else's data, with blank rectangles placed over fields in a bad attempt at redacting them (you could just move those rectangles around to reveal the underlying data).
The package later turned out to be a surprise from collaborators abroad. Years later, I still feel that scam aftertaste whenever I see the FedEx logo.
I wonder how we could describe this so that aging non-technical executives understand.
"It's like your real salesperson showed up in a wrinkled suit smelling of booze, telling me that your product could be seen in the back of an anonymous white van... But only if I first proved I was carrying the asking-price in the form of gift-cards."
In a recent example my step-mother, who is constantly getting cloud storage full scam emails, received an email from Google about 75% full storage that appears to be fully valid. However all the links use a domain c.gle and whois c.gle errors with "getaddrinfo(whois.nic.gle): Name or service not known". whois gle however does work. I was not sure of the validity of c.gle myself, my step-mother would have no idea.
I swear, the proliferation of random ".xyz" type gTLD is not making things any easier in stopping non tech people from clicking on phishing links. There's so damn many of them. Sure, if they didn't exist people would use phishing domains like "fedex-secure-delivery-approval.com" or something, I suppose...
List of top level domains: https://data.iana.org/TLD/tlds-alpha-by-domain.txt
There is a similar issue with the IRS. If you call the IRS they use a text-to-speech system to generate the voice for their call tree IVR. The problem is, it's a commercially available system that fake call center scammers also use, so they sound identical. It also doesn't help that it sounds fake and scammy, so you can't use that as a signal to avoid the number you're calling, either
It reminds me how at work we had to take a course hosted on our domain about how to recognize phishing and a few days later we got an e-mail from outside our domain saying we had to take a course about a different subject on their domain. We got an email from management a week or so later that complained that so few people had completed the new training -- because we all assumed it was a phishing attempt because it was exactly the sort of thing the phishing course talked about!
>Our Australian Communications and Media Authority body (ACMA) recently reported 336M blocked scam SMSs
Australia has mandatory identity verification for getting a SIM card.
The FCC is now proposing [1] to add a rule to require government ID, physical address, and alternative phone number for every phone line in the US.
KYC for phone lines would cause more IDs to be leaked, and more American dollars lost to scammers and fraudsters.
[1] https://www.404media.co/fcc-wants-to-kill-burner-phones-by-f...
Discussion:
I keep getting this message and it might be legit, but I have no idea:
> BlueShieldCA: ANON, you have an important benefits message in your health feed. blueshieldca.customerfeed.com/a/abcd12345 Txt help/stop Msg&DataRatesApply
If I login to BSCA, their messaging section shows nothing. But some threads on the internet make “customerfeed” seem like a real service.
Chase actively will tell you they'll call you back and then they'll try to verify who you are. That's their fraud department at play.
Despite trying to tell people not to trust unknown callers.
I remember receiving a genuine "verify your account" email from PayPal way back. The phishers didn't make it up, they were just copying actual emails PayPal sent their own users.
I spend a lot of time figuring out whether an email from facebookmail.com is legit
If I had a nickel for every post I saw on HN front page involving companies confusing people on phishing-like patterns today, I would have two nickels. Which is not a lot but still weird that it happened twice.
When I lived in Sunnyvale, CA, I got text that said "Renew your alarm license online at my-alarm-license-renew.info"
You do need a residential alarm license in Sunnyvale, but I was sure this was a scam. I called the city. It was the real address, and they were mystified as to why I'd call them. (I sent in a check to avoid the $1.50 processing fee, but that was before 50% of checks get stolen in the mail.)
This shit drives me insane. Last year I had my home insurer send me a link in an SMS pointing me to allstate.yem.bo to collect some information. Stop training your users to get phished!!
Do they build their own software or contract it to the consultants?
I wouldn’t assume that email is genuine. “Hi,” and “…the B-point link that I’ve sent”? Dodgy AF.
My first suspicion would be that they’re getting hold of the Fedex invoice data, via a software compromise or an insider.
If it really is real, then wow, FedEx Australia sounds like it’s one guy operating out of a shipping container down at the docks.
> Why are the "D" and the "T" capitalised? Dodgy AF!
You should be more respectful, you’ve clearly received a Message direct from President Trump!
Discussed previously, 2024, 564 comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39479001
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It really doesn't help that after the acquisition of TNT couriers, some bright spark decided to call the Australian arm of FedEx "FedEx Express". That's right, "Federal Express Express".
It's moronic that these big companies can't get their shit together and provide nice links like this:
https://fedex.au/duty/abc123
which could have an explainer landing page before prompting you to visit the grotesque original link.