DSKD Email Virus

What is "DSKD Email Virus"?

"DSKD Email Virus" is a spam email campaign that cannot be trusted. Scammers send it to many people hoping that a percentage of them will open the attachment, which is presented as an "urgent inquiry". If opened, it causes download and installation of a high-risk computer infection called FormBook. 

This is a malicious program designed to steal personal information. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you do not open the attachment presented in this email.

Cyber criminals who proliferates this email present themselves as a company from Germany. It is unclear exactly what they are proposing, however, they present this email as a business relationship proposal. It is very common for scammers to present these emails as legitimate and important, however, the messages cannot be trusted.

"DSKD Email Virus" contains attachment, a malicious .xls (Microsoft Excel) document. If opened, it will demand permission to enable content or enable editing. Granting this, will give permission to download and install FormBook. This is high-risk malicious program that, once installed, starts to monitor computer activity and gathers various data/information.

For example, it can record keystrokes, take screenshots, steal logins and passwords, collect browsing-related information, and so on. Having FormBook installed might cause victims financial loss, since it targets banking information.

Furthermore, this malware could be used to control infected systems remotely: to restart, shut down computers, download and install unwanted programs (such as ransomware), and so on. This computer infection can cause serious damage. If you have received a "DSKD Email Virus" (or other, similar) email, ignore the message and remove it.

Threat Summary:

Name	DSKD 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.

Many scammers send various emails that contain malicious attachments, or web links that lead to them. Some examples of other scams similar to "DSKD Email Virus" include "O2 Bill Email Virus", "TD Bank Email Virus", and "Royal Bank Of Canada Email Virus".

These spam campaigns are used to distributed high-risk infections such as Adwind, Pony, Emotet, AZORult, etc. These viruses cause a number of problems such as privacy/browsing safety issues, financial loss, and other similar issues.

How did "DSKD Email Virus" infect my computer?

The most common way to proliferate FormBook is through email attachments. In this case, an email contains a malicious MS Excel document that, once opened, asks to enable editing/enable content (i.e. effectively to disable "Protected View" mode, which prevents malicious documents from downloading/installing computer infections).

Other scams of this type cause computer infections in similar ways. Note, however, that most of the emails cannot cause any harm unless the attachments or links presented in them are opened.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Various attachments and links are presented in emails received from unknown, suspicious addresses - these should not opened. They are usually presented as official or legitimate, however, they are mostly irrelevant. All software and associated files should be downloaded from official sources.

Peer-to-Peer networks (eMule, torrent clients, and other such tools), third party downloaders, unofficial websites and so on should not be used. The same applies to software cracking tools: cyber criminals often employ them to proliferate various viruses. Rather than activating software (illegally), these tools often download and install malicious programs.

Have a reputable anti-spyware or anti-virus suite installed, since these programs usually detect various threats before they can do any damage. If you have already opened a "DSKD Email Virus" attachment, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the "DSKD Email Virus" email message:

Subject: URGENT INQUIRY PO#DSKD (GERMANY)
Dear Sir / Madam

We are company from Germany, herewith like you to quote as this attached item qty for 550 pcs

I hope we can establish a long business relationship.
We work correctly, discreetly and reliably.
For possible questions we are at your disposal.
Thank you very much.
Yours sincerely,

J¸rgen Klaus

DSKD Detector - Scout / Special - Detecting - Systems
Advice centre D - 53859 Niederkassel near Bonn / Deutschland / Germany
Sales place in A / Headquarters : Salzburg - ÷sterreich / Austria
Keltenstrafle 10 , A - 5162 Obertrum am See, ÷sterreich / Austria

Mobil - Phone in Austria : + 43 ( 0 ) 650 - 970 7000
Mobil - Phone in Germany : +49 ( 0 ) 177 - 6 55 98 33
Phone in Germany : + 49 ( 0 ) 2208 - 933 8 400
Fax in Germany : + 49 ( 0 ) 2208 - 91 81 74
E-Mail : sales@detector-scout.de.com
Internet : www.detector-scout.de

Malicious attachment distributed via "DSKD Email Virus" 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 DSKD 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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