fake DHL AND KHASHOGGI

 
FAKE DHL AND KHASHOGGI

​... Or Fake DHL and just about everybody else

You may (or may not) recall my musings in October  about Omar Abdulaziz and his stated closeness with Jamal Khashoggi that resulted in his being sent a fake DHL email which enticed him to click a link that placed spyware on  his phone and audited the two friends' conversations.​

Everything's About the Saudis These Days
The Revised Tales of Omar

A Quebecer spoke out against the Saudis - then learned he had spyware on his iPhone

• It started with a tub of protein powder. Omar Abdulaziz ordered one on Amazon in late June and was waiting for it to arrive at his Sherbrooke, Que., apartment. Abdulaziz didn't think much of it when he received a text message later that day from DHL with a link to a tracking number, stating his package was on its way.

• Abdulaziz believes he clicked the link, which would have let spyware burrow its way into his iPhone. There, it could copy his contacts and messages and even eavesdrop on calls. Its operators would have total control.

• In a new report, researchers at the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab say that it was very likely conducted by the government of Abdulaziz's home country, Saudi Arabia.

I, myself, received a DHL message yesterday, which was actually sent to "undisclosed recipients" (see image above). I didn't even have to order protein powder - or anything at all.

I clicked on the "view Shipment" button and it took me to a site set up very much like the regular DHL sight, and it asked for email and password, which of course I did not provide.

The site address is as follows (note the PK for Pakistan):
https://iotalliance.pk/tom/new2018dhl/rjyxkjinmil0a6smy8g9g0sd.php?rand=13InboxLightaspxn.1774256418&fid&1252899642&fid.1&fav.1&email=

​There is an IOT Alliance, but these folks ain't them.

Seems that whoever is behind the spyware Omar Abdulaziz claims to have been infected with doesn't care whether you're a Khashoggi buddy or not.

Anyway, when you receive the bogus email, I would advise you don't click on the link button, especially if you are running Windows, which I am not. And you might want to visit the valid DHL fraud awareness site.

I'm moving digs today and will be without Internet for several days, and when I start up again it will be with a different provider and an updated operating system (sorry, fake DHL, but them's the breaks) so see you sometime next week, I hope.