If you receive a mysterious box from Shein… do not open it

If you receive an email with the subject “mysterious box from Shein”, do not open it. It is not mysterious at all and it is not from Shein. It is a phishing email, coming from hackers who are trying to steal your personal information.

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Earlier this week, cybersecurity researchers from Harmony Email observed the sending of over 1,000 phishing emails pretending to be from Shein.

For those who are not familiar with Shein, it is one of the most popular shopping platforms in the world, with over 500 million downloads just on the Google Play Store. It’s like Temu or AliExpress, but with a special focus on clothing.

A perfect app for hackers

Shein was founded in China in 2008 and, being so popular, it is an important target for identity thieves and similar scammers. Harmony recalls that hackers often carry out scams with fake gift cards on Instagram and throughout the web, posing as the retailer.

Recipients receive an email apparently from Shein claiming that they have won a “mystery box” that can be redeemed. Those who click on the image to “redeem” the gift are redirected to a fake Shein website where they are invited to share their personal information.

There are numerous warning signs in this email campaign, making it easy to detect. First of all, the sender’s email address doesn’t resemble the official Shein domain. Additionally, the email doesn’t contain any branding or logo.

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Finally, the URL of the website that visitors are redirected to is obviously not Shein’s website. And that’s where we lose any chance of getting out of the scam unharmed.