(07/25/2008) CBP has been notified that a malicious e-mail has been distributed that may include an attachment with a computer virus. These e-mails are not authentic and have not been sent from any Department of Homeland Security or CBP system or authorized individual.

CBP will not initiate contact to citizens by e-mail for customs declarations issues.

The e-mail claims to be from “US Customs Service” with a subject line similar to “Parcel requires declaration.” It indicates that a parcel has been received addressed to the recipient of the e-mail. It asks the recipient to fill out a Customs Declaration attached to the e-mail. The message is signed by different names purporting to be employees of the U.S. Customs Service. This attachment may contain a damaging computer virus.

If you have received the email please report to the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) and follow the instructions on the link entitled Report Phishing. ( US-CERT: Report Phishing )

Please do not open any attachments or follow any links that are contained in this email.

If you suspect your computer has been infected please refer to the US-CERT security publication Recovering from a Trojan Horse or Virus. ( Recovering from a Trojan Horse or Virus ) For more general information about email security and social engineering refer to the US-CERT security publication Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks. ( Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks )