BID PURCHASE DOCUMENT Email Virus

What is BID PURCHASE DOCUMENT?

"BID PURCHASE DOCUMENT" is a spam email campaign used to proliferate a trojan-type virus called FormBook. It is very similar to Swisscom Email Virus, Complaint Email Virus, AT&T Invoice Email Virus, and many others.

As usual, criminals send hundreds of emails that contain deceptive messages encouraging users to open attachments, however, the attached Microsoft Office documents download and install malware - opening them results in infiltration of FormBook.

"BID PURCHASE DOCUMENT" campaign's emails contain a message encouraging victims to make a bid. For more information, users are encouraged to open an attached MS Office document. This is a scam. The opened document immediately installs FormBook onto the system.

Note that the deceptive email contains the signature of an engineer from "Addax Engineering Co. Ltd", however, this is another deceptive ploy. Cyber criminals often claim to be employees of legitimate companies (typically major ones) or governmental agencies. In this way, they attempt to give the impression of legitimacy, thereby increasing the number of infections.

Users are much more likely to open files that are received from familiar names. With regard to FormBook, this is a high-risk trojan designed to record sensitive information. The capabilities of this malware are significant - it can collect clipboard data, saved logins/passwords, take screenshots, track web browsing history, and so on.

In addition, FormBook accepts commands from a remote Command and Control (C&C) server to perform various actions (e.g., reboot/shutdown the system, download files, etc.). Cyber criminals might gain access to victims' personal accounts (e.g., banks, social networks, etc.), and infect and exploit the system.

Therefore, the presence of FormBook can lead to serious privacy issues, significant financial loss, and computer infections. You can read more about FormBook in this article.

If you have recently opened the "BID PURCHASE DOCUMENT" campaign attachment, your computer is likely to be infected. We advise you to scan it with a reputable anti-virus/anti-spyware suite and eliminate all threats.

Threat Summary:

Name	BID PURCHASE DOCUMENT spam
Threat Type	Trojan, Password stealing virus, Banking malware, Spyware
Symptoms	Trojans are designed to stealthily infiltrate victim's computer and remain silent thus no particular symptoms are clearly visible on an infected machine.
Distribution methods	Infected email attachments, malicious online advertisements, social engineering, software cracks.
Damage	Stolen banking information, passwords, identity theft, victim's computer added to a botnet.
Malware Removal (Windows)	To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. ▼ Download Combo Cleaner To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. 7 days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

There are many trojans similar to FormBook. The list of examples includes (but is not limited to) Hancitor, LokiBot, Adwind, and TrickBot.

These trojans are also likely to be distributed using spam campaigns. As with FormBook, most trojans record sensitive information. In some cases, however, these viruses proliferate other malware (typically ransomware). In summary, trojans pose a direct threat to your privacy and computer safety - they should be eliminated immediately.

How did BID PURCHASE DOCUMENT infect my computer?

"BID PURCHASE DOCUMENT" emails come together with a malicious Microsoft Office document. Once opened, this attachment encourages users to enable macro commands and/or notifies that the file might be linked to others. By complying, users inadvertently grant these files permission to infiltrate FormBook into the system.

Although distributing malware using MS Office documents is a simple and effective method, it has a major flaw. Malicious documents are only able to infect the system if the user opens them using tools from the Microsoft Office suite.

For example, if .doc files are opened using applications other than MS Word, malware will not be infiltrated. In addition, FormBook targets only the Microsoft Windows Operating System and, therefore, users of other platforms are safe.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Poor knowledge and careless behavior are the main reasons for computer infections. Caution is the key to safety. Therefore, pay close attention when browsing the Internet. We strongly recommend that you think twice before opening email attachments. Files that seem irrelevant or have been received from suspicious/unrecognizable email addresses should never be opened.

Furthermore, download your software from official sources only (using direct download links) and keep installed applications up-to-date. Using a reputable anti-virus/anti-spyware suite is also paramount, since these tools can eliminate malicious files before the infection starts.

If you have already opened the "BID PURCHASE DOCUMENT" attachment, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the "BID PURCHASE DOCUMENT" email message:

Subject: Bid Purchase Document and Bid Terms and Condition
Good Morning Please offer your best price and delivery for the attached RFQ. Also, attached is the datasheet for your consideration. Awaiting your offer.
Thanks and regards,
CHOONG HEUM PARK
Procurement Engineer
Addax Engineering Co. Ltd

Malicious attachment distributed via "BID PURCHASE DOCUMENT" spam campaign:

Instant automatic malware removal: Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced IT skills. Combo Cleaner is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
▼ DOWNLOAD Combo Cleaner By downloading any software listed on this website you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. 7 days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

Quick menu:

• What is BID PURCHASE DOCUMENT spam?
• Types of malicious emails.
• How to spot a malicious email?
• What to do if you fell for an email scam?

Types of malicious emails:

Phishing Emails

Most commonly, cybercriminals use deceptive emails to trick Internet users into giving away their sensitive private information, for example, login information for various online services, email accounts, or online banking information.

Such attacks are called phishing. In a phishing attack, cybercriminals usually send an email message with some popular service logo (for example, Microsoft, DHL, Amazon, Netflix), create urgency (wrong shipping address, expired password, etc.), and place a link which they hope their potential victims will click on.

After clicking the link presented in such email message, victims are redirected to a fake website that looks identical or extremely similar to the original one. Victims are then asked to enter their password, credit card details, or some other information that gets stolen by cybercriminals.

Emails with Malicious Attachments

Another popular attack vector is email spam with malicious attachments that infect users' computers with malware. Malicious attachments usually carry trojans that are capable of stealing passwords, banking information, and other sensitive information.

In such attacks, cybercriminals' main goal is to trick their potential victims into opening an infected email attachment. To achieve this goal, email messages usually talk about recently received invoices, faxes, or voice messages.

If a potential victim falls for the lure and opens the attachment, their computers get infected, and cybercriminals can collect a lot of sensitive information.

While it's a more complicated method to steal personal information (spam filters and antivirus programs usually detect such attempts), if successful, cybercriminals can get a much wider array of data and can collect information for a long period of time.

Sextortion Emails

This is a type of phishing. In this case, users receive an email claiming that a cybercriminal could access the webcam of the potential victim and has a video recording of one's masturbation.

To get rid of the video, victims are asked to pay a ransom (usually using Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency). Nevertheless, all of these claims are false - users who receive such emails should ignore and delete them.

How to spot a malicious email?

While cyber criminals try to make their lure emails look trustworthy, here are some things that you should look for when trying to spot a phishing email:

• Check the sender's ("from") email address: Hover your mouse over the "from" address and check if it's legitimate. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft, be sure to check if the email address is @microsoft.com and not something suspicious like @m1crosoft.com, @microsfot.com, @account-security-noreply.com, etc.
• Check for generic greetings: If the greeting in the email is "Dear user", "Dear @youremail.com", "Dear valued customer", this should raise suspiciousness. Most commonly, companies call you by your name. Lack of this information could signal a phishing attempt.
• Check the links in the email: Hover your mouse over the link presented in the email, if the link that appears seems suspicious, don't click it. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft and the link in the email shows that it will go to firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0... you shouldn't trust it. It's best not to click any links in the emails but to visit the company website that sent you the email in the first place.
• Don't blindly trust email attachments: Most commonly, legitimate companies will ask you to log in to their website and to view any documents there; if you received an email with an attachment, it's a good idea to scan it with an antivirus application. Infected email attachments are a common attack vector used by cybercriminals.

To minimise the risk of opening phishing and malicious emails we recommend using Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows. 

Example of a spam email:

What to do if you fell for an email scam?

• If you clicked on a link in a phishing email and entered your password - be sure to change your password as soon as possible. Usually, cybercriminals collect stolen credentials and then sell them to other groups that use them for malicious purposes. If you change your password in a timely manner, there's a chance that criminals won't have enough time to do any damage.
• If you entered your credit card information - contact your bank as soon as possible and explain the situation. There's a good chance that you will need to cancel your compromised credit card and get a new one.
• If you see any signs of identity theft - you should immediately contact the Federal Trade Commission. This institution will collect information about your situation and create a personal recovery plan.
• If you opened a malicious attachment - your computer is probably infected, you should scan it with a reputable antivirus application. For this purpose, we recommend using Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows.
• Help other Internet users - report phishing emails to Anti-Phishing Working Group, FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, National Fraud Information Center and U.S. Department of Justice.

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