Overview
- DHL confirmed to public broadcaster rbb that it fully retracted its alert on January 30 after finding no manipulated delivery cards nationwide.
- Fact-checkers at Mimikama and hoaxinfo determined the widely shared image showed a single authentic notice whose QR led to official dhl.com subdomains and requested only a Z-code.
- DHL acknowledged its initial alert and reiterated that customers should never submit personal data via a card QR code and should scan only through the official Post & DHL app when required.
- Police in Magdeburg recast their messages as preventive advice about QR-code phishing rather than a warning tied to the specific DHL case.
- Subsequent reporting noted that fabricated notification images, possibly created with AI, circulated online and sustained concern over QR-code scams.