Delta Air Lines Passenger Itinerary Receipt Malware Emails

Outline
Email purporting to be from Delta Air Lines provides details of a supposed ticket purchase and instructs recipients to follow a link or open an attached file to review flight information.

© Depositphotos.com/Christos Georghiou

Brief Analysis
The email is not from Delta Air Lines. Following links or opening attachments in the email can install malware that may allow criminals to control the compromised computer and steal personal and financial information.



Detailed Analysis
These emails which purport to be from US based air carrier Delta Air Lines, supposedly contain information about a recent online ticket purchase. They instruct recipients to either follow a link or open an attached file, ostensibly to review flight information.

However, the emails are not from Delta and opening links or attachments can install malware that may allow criminals to control the infected computer and steal personal and financial information. Delta Air Lines has published the following advisory on its website warning Internet users about the threat:

We have recently received reports from customers of fraudulent emails claiming to be from Delta Air Lines. As such, please be advised of the following:

• We recommend you change your SkyMiles account PIN immediately and monitor your account for any misuse.
• These emails were not sent by Delta Air Lines.
• You should not click on the link in the email or open any attachments.
• Instead, you should delete the email from your inbox.
• Please call us at 1-888-750-3284 if you have questions or need further information.

These emails claim that you have purchased a Delta ticket, a credit card has been charged and/or an invoice or receipt is attached to the email. If you receive one of these emails, do not open the attachment as it may contain potentially dangerous viruses or harm your computer.

Be assured that Delta did not send these emails, and our customers’ credit cards have not been charged by Delta as a result of the emails. These emails did not originate from Delta, nor do we believe that any personal information that you provided us was used to generate these emails. We will continue to post updates on this page as additional information becomes available.

Details in the malware emails may vary. Very similar malware emails have falsely claimed to be from American Airlines. As in this case, opening attachments or following links in the emails can install malware on the user's computer.

In fact, Internet criminals regularly send malware emails that use cover stories designed to trick recipients into opening an attachment or clicking a link without due care and attention. Delta Air Lines customers have been targeted in several similar malware campaigns since 2009. During 2008 several air lines were targeted in similar malware emails that claimed that the recipient's credit card had been charged for flight tickets. Again, an attachment carried malware that could steal information.

Last updated: March 6, 2013 First published: 12th March 2009 By Brett M. Christensen About Hoax-Slayer

References
Delta Advisory
Buy Airplane Ticket Online' Trojan Email