--- title: "It Was Only a Matter of Time Before the Lockdown Lead to Delivery-based Phishing Scams | DuoCircle" description: "The COVID-19 worldwide lockdown has had many side effects, not the least of which is that people are doing even more online shopping now." image: "https://www.duocircle.com/images/og-default.png" canonical: "https://www.duocircle.com/blog/phishing-protection/it-was-only-a-matter-of-time-before-the-lockdown-lead-to-delivery-based-phishing-scams/" --- Quick Answer COVID-era online ordering surged (Amazon orders rose around 35% during the early pandemic), and attackers followed the parcels. Phishing campaigns spoofing FedEx, DHL, and UPS use shipment-status emails and lookalike tracking pages to harvest credentials and drop malware via attachments. The technical defenses that hold up: real-time link rewriting that re-checks every URL on click against reputation databases, sender authentication on the inbound side (SPF, DKIM, DMARC alignment), and attachment sandboxing. User awareness alone fails because curiosity about a real package overrides skepticism. Cloud-based phishing protection deploys in about 10 minutes on top of any major mailbox provider. Share [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=undefined%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fit-was-only-a-matter-of-time-before-the-lockdown-lead-to-delivery-based-phishing-scams%2F "Share on LinkedIn") [ ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=It%20Was%20Only%20a%20Matter%20of%20Time%20Before%20the%20Lockdown%20Lead%20to%20Delivery-based%20Phishing%20Scams&url=undefined%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fit-was-only-a-matter-of-time-before-the-lockdown-lead-to-delivery-based-phishing-scams%2F "Share on X/Twitter") [ ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=undefined%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fit-was-only-a-matter-of-time-before-the-lockdown-lead-to-delivery-based-phishing-scams%2F "Share on Facebook") [ ](https://reddit.com/submit?url=undefined%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fit-was-only-a-matter-of-time-before-the-lockdown-lead-to-delivery-based-phishing-scams%2F&title=It%20Was%20Only%20a%20Matter%20of%20Time%20Before%20the%20Lockdown%20Lead%20to%20Delivery-based%20Phishing%20Scams "Share on Reddit") [ ](mailto:?subject=It%20Was%20Only%20a%20Matter%20of%20Time%20Before%20the%20Lockdown%20Lead%20to%20Delivery-based%20Phishing%20Scams&body=Check out this article: undefined%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fit-was-only-a-matter-of-time-before-the-lockdown-lead-to-delivery-based-phishing-scams%2F "Share via Email") ![Delivery-based Phishing Scams](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/05/smtp-email-server-4236.jpg) The COVID-19 worldwide lockdown has had many side effects, not the least of which is that _people are doing even more online shopping now_. Weekly online purchases now include staples like food and cleaning products. Amazon’s [sales](https://www.vox.com/recode/2020/4/10/21215953/amazon-fresh-walmart-grocery-delivery-coronavirus-retail-store-closures) since the pandemic **arrived is up 35%**. And what’s the one thing all these online sales have in common? A delivery service has to bring them to your door. It was only a matter of time before scammers seized on the delivery services as a way to launch their phishing attacks. And that’s precisely what has happened. [![phishing attack](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/05/smtp-providers-6251.jpg)](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/05/smtp-providers-6251.jpg) According to [Tech Republic](https://www.techrepublic.com/article/fake-fedex-dhl-and-ups-delivery-issues-used-in-covid-19-phishing-scams/), “_Cybercriminals are leveraging overwhelmed delivery services to further phishing schemes_.” Consumers are used to receiving emails from ecommerce companies, including shipping status emails. So, it’s not a big leap for hackers to use those emails to launch a **phishing attack**. From the article, “_Cybercriminals are using a number of different attack styles centered around package delivery_. Some are sending emails purporting to be from delivery services that contain **malicious attachments**, pushing recipients to open them either for more information on their package or for addresses to places where packages can be picked up.” Which delivery firms have been targeted? How about all of them. “_More sophisticated **phishing emails** even contain images to make them seem like they have come from DHL, UPS and FedEx_. Cybercriminals are even upping the ante further by creating spoofed package tracking websites that look like DHL, FedEx and UPS as a way to steal account information.” [![phishing protection](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/05/windows-smtp-service-7236.jpg)](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/05/windows-smtp-service-7236.jpg) It is human nature to be curious about the status of your package delivery. And that’s what _hackers count on to get you to let your guard down and click on the link_. It’s human nature, and the only reliable way to counteract human nature, in an effort to _protect yourself from phishing emails_, is with technology. Technology that’s only curious about whether the embedded link points to a **phishing website**. Technology like that available from [DuoCircle](/). **Phishing Protection** from DuoCircle conducts _real-time link click analysis to make sure no matter who you think the email is from, none of the links in the email point to a phishing website_. And if they do, Phishing Protection keeps that email out of your inbox where it can’t do any damage. Since [Phishing Protection](/email/phishing-protection) is cloud-based, _it requires no hardware, software or maintenance. It sets up in 10 minutes, works with all major email providers and costs only pennies per user per month_. If you’re going to be ordering online during the pandemic, and you can’t control your curiosity, you may as well compensate for it by deploying **Phishing Protection** from DuoCircle. ![Brad Slavin](https://media.mailhop.org/dmarcreport/images/team/brad-slavin.jpg) Brad Slavin General Manager General Manager at DuoCircle. Product strategy and commercial lead across the email security portfolio. ## Secure your email infrastructure Protect, authenticate, and deliver. Contact our team to find the right solution. [Contact Sales](/contact/) [Explore Products](/products/) Share this article [ ](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.duocircle.com%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fit-was-only-a-matter-of-time-before-the-lockdown-lead-to-delivery-based-phishing-scams%2F) [ ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=It%20Was%20Only%20a%20Matter%20of%20Time%20Before%20the%20Lockdown%20Lead%20to%20Delivery-based%20Phishing%20Scams&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.duocircle.com%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fit-was-only-a-matter-of-time-before-the-lockdown-lead-to-delivery-based-phishing-scams%2F) [ ](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.duocircle.com%2Fblog%2Fphishing-protection%2Fit-was-only-a-matter-of-time-before-the-lockdown-lead-to-delivery-based-phishing-scams%2F) Copy Related Articles - [ ![AI-Generated Phishing](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2026/04/spf-record-4522.jpg) AI-Generated Phishing Has Eliminated the Typo: Why Traditional Email Filters Are No Longer Enough Phishing ](/blog/ai-generated-phishing-eliminates-typos-making-traditional-email-filters-ineffective/) - [ ![spf-permerror-4555](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2023/05/spf-permerror-4555.jpg) 10 Applications of ChatGPT that Hackers Are Already Exploiting Phishing ](/blog/phishing-protection/10-applications-of-chatgpt-that-hackers-are-already-exploiting/) - [ ![Email-Based Cyber-Attacks](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2016/03/spf-record-tester-4455.jpg) 65% of Global Businesses Ill-Equipped to Defend Against Email-Based Cyber-Attacks Phishing ](/blog/phishing-protection/65-global-businesses-ill-equipped-defend-email-based-cyber-attacks/) - [ ![Email-based Ransomware Attacks](https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2018/02/email-smtp-service-7834.jpg) 7 Ways to Protect Your Organization from Email-based Ransomware Attacks Phishing ](/blog/phishing-protection/7-ways-protect-organization-email-based-ransomware-attacks/) ## Related Articles [ Phishing 11m AI-Generated Phishing Has Eliminated the Typo: Why Traditional Email Filters Are No Longer Enough Apr 28, 2026 ](/blog/ai-generated-phishing-eliminates-typos-making-traditional-email-filters-ineffective/)[ Phishing 5m 10 Applications of ChatGPT that Hackers Are Already Exploiting May 3, 2023 ](/blog/phishing-protection/10-applications-of-chatgpt-that-hackers-are-already-exploiting/)[ Phishing 4m 65% of Global Businesses Ill-Equipped to Defend Against Email-Based Cyber-Attacks Mar 29, 2016 ](/blog/phishing-protection/65-global-businesses-ill-equipped-defend-email-based-cyber-attacks/)[ Phishing 9m 7 Ways to Protect Your Organization from Email-based Ransomware Attacks Feb 11, 2018 ](/blog/phishing-protection/7-ways-protect-organization-email-based-ransomware-attacks/) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Organization","name":"DuoCircle LLC","url":"https://www.duocircle.com","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.duocircle.com/images/duocircle-logo.png"},"description":"DuoCircle is a portfolio of specialized email products covering protection, authentication, delivery, and routing. We deliver about 90% of category-leader capability at roughly half the price, backed by experts who own the outcome. Trusted by 50,000+ organizations since 2014.","subOrganization":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138898167","name":"DMARC Report","url":"https://dmarcreport.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897474","name":"AutoSPF","url":"https://autospf.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897912","name":"Phish Protection","url":"https://www.phishprotection.com"}],"sameAs":["https://www.linkedin.com/company/duocircle","https://x.com/duocirclellc","https://www.facebook.com/duocirclellc","https://www.g2.com/products/phish-protection-by-duocircle/reviews","https://github.com/duocircle","https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/duocircle-llc"],"contactPoint":{"@type":"ContactPoint","contactType":"customer support","url":"https://support.duocircle.com"},"knowsAbout":["Email Security","Email Authentication","SPF","DKIM","DMARC","Phishing Protection","Spam Filtering","SMTP Relay","Email Deliverability","Email Forwarding"]} ``` ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"WebSite","name":"DuoCircle LLC","url":"https://www.duocircle.com","description":"DuoCircle is a portfolio of specialized email products covering protection, authentication, delivery, and routing. We deliver about 90% of category-leader capability at roughly half the price, backed by experts who own the outcome. Trusted by 50,000+ organizations since 2014.","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"DuoCircle LLC","url":"https://www.duocircle.com","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.duocircle.com/images/duocircle-logo.png"},"description":"DuoCircle is a portfolio of specialized email products covering protection, authentication, delivery, and routing. We deliver about 90% of category-leader capability at roughly half the price, backed by experts who own the outcome. Trusted by 50,000+ organizations since 2014.","subOrganization":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138898167","name":"DMARC Report","url":"https://dmarcreport.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897474","name":"AutoSPF","url":"https://autospf.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897912","name":"Phish Protection","url":"https://www.phishprotection.com"}]}} ``` ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BlogPosting","headline":"It Was Only a Matter of Time Before the Lockdown Lead to Delivery-based Phishing Scams","description":"The COVID-19 worldwide lockdown has had many side effects, not the least of which is that people are doing even more online shopping now.","url":"https://www.duocircle.com/blog/phishing-protection/it-was-only-a-matter-of-time-before-the-lockdown-lead-to-delivery-based-phishing-scams/","datePublished":"2020-05-06T13:10:07.000Z","dateModified":"2025-06-23T17:29:55.000Z","dateCreated":"2020-05-06T13:10:07.000Z","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://www.duocircle.com/authors/brad-slavin/#person","name":"Brad Slavin","url":"https://www.duocircle.com/authors/brad-slavin/","jobTitle":"General Manager","description":"Brad Slavin runs DuoCircle, the company behind DMARC Report, AutoSPF, Phish Protection, and Mailhop. His focus is product strategy, customer relationships, and the commercial and compliance side of email authentication (DPAs, SLAs, enterprise procurement).","image":"https://media.mailhop.org/dmarcreport/images/team/brad-slavin.jpg","knowsAbout":["Email Security Strategy","SaaS Product Management","Enterprise Compliance","Customer Success","Email Deliverability Business"],"worksFor":{"@type":"Organization","name":"DuoCircle LLC","url":"https://www.duocircle.com"},"sameAs":["https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradslavin"]},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"DuoCircle LLC","url":"https://www.duocircle.com","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.duocircle.com/images/duocircle-logo.png"},"description":"DuoCircle is a portfolio of specialized email products covering protection, authentication, delivery, and routing. We deliver about 90% of category-leader capability at roughly half the price, backed by experts who own the outcome. Trusted by 50,000+ organizations since 2014.","subOrganization":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138898167","name":"DMARC Report","url":"https://dmarcreport.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897474","name":"AutoSPF","url":"https://autospf.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897912","name":"Phish Protection","url":"https://www.phishprotection.com"}]},"mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://www.duocircle.com/blog/phishing-protection/it-was-only-a-matter-of-time-before-the-lockdown-lead-to-delivery-based-phishing-scams/"},"articleSection":"phishing-protection","keywords":"","wordCount":439,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/05/smtp-email-server-4236.jpg","caption":"Delivery-based Phishing Scams","width":900,"height":600},"speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":[".answer-block","h1"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https://www.duocircle.com/blog/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Phishing"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"It Was Only a Matter of Time Before the Lockdown Lead to Delivery-based Phishing Scams","item":"https://www.duocircle.com/blog/phishing-protection/it-was-only-a-matter-of-time-before-the-lockdown-lead-to-delivery-based-phishing-scams/"}]}] ``` ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://www.duocircle.com/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Blog","item":"https://www.duocircle.com/blog/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Phishing","item":"https://www.duocircle.comundefined"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"It Was Only a Matter of Time Before the Lockdown Lead to Delivery-based Phishing Scams","item":"https://www.duocircle.com/blog/phishing-protection/it-was-only-a-matter-of-time-before-the-lockdown-lead-to-delivery-based-phishing-scams/"}]} ``` ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BlogPosting","headline":"It Was Only a Matter of Time Before the Lockdown Lead to Delivery-based Phishing Scams","description":"The COVID-19 worldwide lockdown has had many side effects, not the least of which is that people are doing even more online shopping now.","url":"https://www.duocircle.com/blog/phishing-protection/it-was-only-a-matter-of-time-before-the-lockdown-lead-to-delivery-based-phishing-scams/","datePublished":"2020-05-06T13:10:07.000Z","dateModified":"2025-06-23T17:29:55.000Z","dateCreated":"2020-05-06T13:10:07.000Z","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https://www.duocircle.com/authors/brad-slavin/#person","name":"Brad Slavin","url":"https://www.duocircle.com/authors/brad-slavin/","jobTitle":"General Manager","description":"Brad Slavin runs DuoCircle, the company behind DMARC Report, AutoSPF, Phish Protection, and Mailhop. His focus is product strategy, customer relationships, and the commercial and compliance side of email authentication (DPAs, SLAs, enterprise procurement).","image":"https://media.mailhop.org/dmarcreport/images/team/brad-slavin.jpg","knowsAbout":["Email Security Strategy","SaaS Product Management","Enterprise Compliance","Customer Success","Email Deliverability Business"],"worksFor":{"@type":"Organization","name":"DuoCircle LLC","url":"https://www.duocircle.com"},"sameAs":["https://www.linkedin.com/in/bradslavin"]},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"DuoCircle LLC","url":"https://www.duocircle.com","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://www.duocircle.com/images/duocircle-logo.png"},"description":"DuoCircle is a portfolio of specialized email products covering protection, authentication, delivery, and routing. We deliver about 90% of category-leader capability at roughly half the price, backed by experts who own the outcome. Trusted by 50,000+ organizations since 2014.","subOrganization":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138898167","name":"DMARC Report","url":"https://dmarcreport.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897474","name":"AutoSPF","url":"https://autospf.com"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q138897912","name":"Phish Protection","url":"https://www.phishprotection.com"}]},"mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://www.duocircle.com/blog/phishing-protection/it-was-only-a-matter-of-time-before-the-lockdown-lead-to-delivery-based-phishing-scams/"},"articleSection":"phishing-protection","keywords":"","wordCount":439,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://media.mailhop.org/duocircle/images/2020/05/smtp-email-server-4236.jpg","caption":"Delivery-based Phishing Scams","width":900,"height":600},"speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":[".answer-block","h1"]}} ```