The end of the calendar year is marked by a flurry of sales and shopping. It makes sense then that between October and December, cybercriminals imitated DHL in their phishing scams.

Check Point Research’s Brand Phishing Report for Q4 2021 reveals that DHL took the top spot and replaced Microsoft as the most imitated brand. The DHL name was used in 23 percent of all phishing attacks globally while Microsoft was only used in 20 percent of phishing attacks.

“This quarter, for the first time, we’ve seen global logistics company DHL top the rankings as the most likely brand to be imitated, presumably to capitalize on the soaring number of new and potentially vulnerable online shoppers during the year’s busiest retail period. Older users in particular, who are less likely to be as technologically savvy as younger generations, will be shopping online for the first time and might not know what to look for when it comes to things like delivery confirmation emails or tracking updates,” explains Omer Dembinsky, data research group member at Check Point Software.

In the images below you can see the phishing email as well as a spoof of the official DHL website. We highlight these because it is important that whenever you click a link you know where it is taking you.

The full list of brands that were imitated the most often in Q4 2021 follows below.

1. DHL (related to 23% of all phishing attacks globally)
2. Microsoft (20%)
3. WhatsApp (11%)
4. Google (10%)
5. LinkedIn (8%)
6. Amazon (4%)
7. FedEx (3%)
8. Roblox (3%)
9. Paypal (2%)
10. Apple (2%)

[Image – CC 0 Pixabay]