Homeland Security Threat From ISIS Buying UPS Uniforms? Old Hoax Surfaces After Paris Attacks

In the wake of the Paris attacks and with the holiday shopping season right around the corner, a letter that alleges a security threat in the form of ISIS terrorists posing as UPS drivers has been making the rounds. Although the letter is convincing enough that some law enforcement agencies have been fooled, it’s actually just a very old hoax that has resurfaced many times.

According to a warning that has been passed around recently on social media, some $32,000 worth of UPS uniforms were purchased via eBay within a short time span, prompting concerns that the buyer might have nefarious motives that could pose an imminent threat to national security.

The warning gained traction when Sheriff Jimmy Kilgore, of Talladega County, AL, posted a UPS-related security threat on his Facebook page, according to AL.

“A warning has been issued due to a huge purchase on Ebay within the last 30 days of $32,000 worth of United Parcel Service (UPS) uniforms. This could represent a serious threat as a bogus driver or terrorist can drop off any type of dangerous package or envelope to anyone with deadly consequences.”

When it became clear that the security threat wasn’t legitimate, Kilgore issued a retraction, calling it an “older warning,” rather than a hoax.

Since the deadly attacks that left hundreds dead in Paris, numerous hoaxes and rumors have spread, such as the fake Syrian passport that ISIS may have planted to point a finger at innocent refugees, as previously reported by Inquisitr.

Unlike most of the hoaxes and rumors that have circulated after the attack, it turns out that this one has absolutely nothing to do with ISIS at all. In fact, warnings that terrorists may have purchased a large number of UPS uniforms from eBay have been around for over a decade, and this isn’t even the first time that law enforcement has been duped by what is essentially the same hoax.

According to Snopes, the Los Angeles Police Department posted a very similar security threat warning to its site in 2011, followed shortly by a retraction. And the trail doesn’t stop there.

The first instance of this hoax can be dated to 2003, less than two years after the deadly attacks of September 11, 2001.

On April 8, 2003, The Washington Post published an article about a suspiciously familiar warning that involved $32,000 worth of UPS uniforms purchased from eBay.

At that time, representatives from UPS and two federal law enforcement agencies confirmed that the security warning was, in fact, a fake.

Although the similarities between the old hoax and the current warning should make it clear that there is no security threat involving terrorists in UPS uniforms, it’s easy to fall prey to what looks like an official announcement.

However, both state and local agencies have confirmed that the idea that terrorists have created a security threat by purchasing a large number of UPS uniforms is nothing more than a hoax.

The Anniston Star reports that the National Department of Homeland Security confirmed that the new warning is simply a retread of the old hoax.

Nashville’s WKRN News 2 spoke to Commissioner Bill Gibbons, of the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security, who echoed the sentiment that the warning is nothing more than a hoax.

“That letter is not authentic,” Gibbons said. “We are living in very dangerous times, and it’s important to check out everything that’s out there that might be a potential threat.”

The good news is that you don’t have to worry about a terrorist security threat from your UPS driver. The bad news is that we can almost certainly expect this same hoax to show up again in a few years.

[Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images]