Avoid having your account stolen through fake Cisco Webex emails

What is the "Cisco Webex" scam email?

"Cisco Webex" is an email phishing scam. These messages claim to be official mail from the Cisco Webex Team, stating that issues have been detected with recipients' Webex Mettings SSL certificates. Therefore, their accounts must apparently be verified.

Cisco Webex is a legitimate company, developing web conferencing and videoconferencing software. While the scam emails closely mimic the graphic design and formatting of genuine Cisco Webex Team messages, they are bogus.

If recipients attempt to log-in via the link presented in the fake email (to rectify the nonexistent problems), they are redirected to a phishing website, which appears identical to the legitimate Webex Meetings log-in page. Note that there has been an increase in scams/infections targeting Cisco Webex services/products.

"Cisco Webex" email scam overview

The scam emails entitled "Important: Webex Mettings SSL certificate error. Verify your account." are virtually identical to legitimate SSL certificate error notifications sent by Cisco Webex. The message content is virtually identical to the genuine email and begins by alerting the recipient that, if they have already installed a certificate, importing a new one will rewrite the original.

The message goes on to state that the user cannot start or join meetings, as the system cannot validate the security certificate of their Webex site. This type of error can occur due to inability to access the digital signature site. This can be caused by the user's firewall restricting external access to a revocation server or due to a network connectivity issue.

Therefore, the recipient's account has apparently been blocked by their site administrator and they need to verify this to regain access. The email urges the user to log-in and unlock the account. These scam emails are in no way connected to the legitimate Cisco Webex company and the link presented in these messages redirects to a phishing website.

The fake web page mimics the appearance of the official Webex Meetings log-in page and even the URL closely resembles it, however, rather than accessing their accounts through the site, users unintentionally expose their Webex account log-ins and passwords to the scammers responsible.

If attempts to access an account through the phishing website have already been made, you are strongly advised to immediately change the password. Furthermore, you are advised to contact the genuine Cisco Webex support team to find a solution.

Threat Summary:

Name	Cisco Webex Email Scam
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud.
Fake Claim	Emails notifies of a Webex Mettings SSL certificate error and urges recipients to verify their accounts.
Disguise	Emails are disguised as official mail from Cisco Webex.
Related Domains	app-login-webex[.]com
Symptoms	Unauthorized online purchases, changed online account passwords, identity theft, illegal access of the computer.
Distribution methods	Deceptive emails, rogue online pop-up ads, search engine poisoning techniques, misspelled domains.
Damage	Loss of sensitive private information, monetary loss, identity theft.
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.

Spam campaigns in general

Deceptive/Scam emails are distributed via spam campaigns. This term defines a large scale operation, during which such messages are sent by the thousand. The messages are typically presented as "official", "urgent", "important" or otherwise "priority" mail.

These emails might even be disguised as "legitimate" notifications, alerts, etc. from genuine institutions organizations, companies, service providers and so on. "Microsoft Email Scam", "COVID-19 Cases Surpassed 300,000", "Google Ad Grant" and "ProtonMail Email Scam" are some examples of phishing spam campaigns, however, other schemes are common as well.

For example, those attempting to trick recipients into making monetary transactions (e.g. paying ransoms, fake fees, making donations for nonexistent causes, etc.). Spam campaigns are also used to proliferate Trojans, ransomware and other malware.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

System are infected through dangerous files distributed via spam campaigns. These files can be attached to the emails or, alternatively, the messages can contain download links of infectious content or links to malicious websites.

Infectious files can be in various formats, such as archives (RAR, ZIP, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), Microsoft Office and PDF documents, JavaScript files, and so on. When they are opened, the infection process is triggered. I.e., the files begin downloading/installing malware.

For example, once opened, Microsoft Office docs ask users to enable macro commands (i.e., to enable editing/content). If macros are enabled, the infection starts, however, this process begins automatically when a malicious document is opened in Microsoft Office versions released prior to 2010.

How to avoid installation of malware

To avoid system infections originating from spam campaigns, do not open suspicious or irrelevant emails, especially those with any attachments or links found in within dubious mail, as this can result in a malware infection. Additionally, you are advised to use Microsoft Office versions released after 2010.

The newer versions have "Protected View" mode, which prevents macro commands from being executed immediately after the document is opened.

Malicious content is also distributed through untrusted download channels (unofficial and free file-hosting websites, Peer-to-Peer sharing networks and other third party downloaders), illegal activation ("cracking") tools and fake updaters.

Therefore, it is important to use official/verified download sources, and activate and update products with tools/functions provided by legitimate developers. To protect system health and user safety, it is crucial to have reputable anti-virus/anti-spyware installed.

This software must be kept up to date, used to run regular system scans and to remove all detected/potential threats. If you have already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the "Cisco Webex Email Scam" email message:

Subject: Important: Webex Mettings SSL certificate error. Verify your account.

Important note: If you already have a certificate installed, the system warns you that importing a new certificate will overwrite it.

- Private Key

- Certificate matched to the Private Key

- Intermediate/Chain Cert

You cannot start or join meetings because we cannot validate the security certificate of your Webex site. This error can occur because we cannot access the digital signature site, your firewall has blocked external access to a revocation server, or is a problem connecting to the network.
Verify your Account. Your account is blocked by your site administrator.

Log in sign in and unlock your account.

Delivering the power of collaboration

Cisco WebEx Team

Screenshot of the fake Webex Meetings log-in page used to steal account credentials:

 

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▼ 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 Cisco Webex 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.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Why did I receive this email?

Spam emails are not personal. This mail is sent out in massive operations – hence, thousands of users receive identical messages.

I have provided my personal information when tricked by this spam email, what should I do?

If you have provided your log-in credentials – change the passwords of all potentially compromised accounts and inform their official support without delay. If the disclosed data was of a different personal nature (e.g., ID card details, passport scans/photos, credit card numbers, etc.) – immediately contact the appropriate authorities.

I have read a spam email but didn't open the attachment, is my computer infected?

No, just opening/reading an email will not trigger any system infection processes. Systems are infected when malicious attachments or links are opened.

I have downloaded and opened a file attached to a spam email, is my computer infected?

If the opened file was an executable (.exe, .run, etc.) – most likely, yes – your device was infected. However, you might have avoided this if it was a document (.doc, .xls, .pdf, .one, etc.). These formats can require additional actions (e.g., enabling macro commands, clicking embedded files/links, etc.) to jumpstart infection processes.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Yes, Combo Cleaner is capable of detecting and eliminating most of the known malware infections. Note that since high-end malicious software typically hides deep within systems – running a complete system scan is crucial.

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