Avoid installation of Gozi via the "Your purchase of BTC has started" email

What is "Your purchase of BTC has started"?

Cyber criminals behind this malspam campaign attempt to deceive recipients into believing that they have purchased a certain sum of Bitcoins and that opening the attached document supposedly contains more information about the purchase. In fact, the attached document is malicious and designed to install a Trojan named Gozi.

Therefore, ignore this email and leave the file attached to it unopened.

The email states that the recipient has purchased the equivalent of US$992.00 in the Bitcoin currency. The main purpose of this malspam campaign is to trick the recipient into believing that it is possible to take action regarding cancellation of this purchase by checking the attached document for more details.

The file attached to this email is a malicious Microsoft Excel document (pagamento_722.xls), which infects computers with Gozi malware. Gozi is Trojan-type software that steals various sensitive information. It is capable of recording (logging) keystrokes, login credentials, collecting browsing data, system information and other details.

The cyber criminals behind Gozi malware attempt to extract data, which can be misused for various malicious purposes. For instance, to steal identities, accounts, credit card details, and so on.

Therefore, users with computers infected by Gozi might become victims of identity theft, lose access to various personal accounts, experience problems relating to online privacy and browsing safety, suffer monetary loss, and experience other serious issues.

Note that stolen accounts might be used to spread malspam campaigns (including this one), trick other users into transferring money, etc. Therefore, never open the file attached to this email.

Threat Summary:

Name	Your Purchase Of BTC Has Started spam
Threat Type	Trojan, password-stealing virus, banking malware, spyware.
Hoax	This malspam campaign is disguises as an email regarding purchase of Bitcoin cryptocurrency
Attachment(s)	pagamento_722.xls  (its name might vary).
Detection Names	ALYac (Trojan.Downloader.XLS.gen), ESET-NOD32 (DOC/TrojanDownloader.Agent.BRB), Kaspersky (HEUR:Trojan-Downloader.MSOffice.SLoad.gen), Microsoft (TrojanDownloader:O97M/EncDoc.FF!MTB), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
Symptoms	Trojans are designed to stealthily infiltrate the victim's computer and remain silent, and thus no particular symptoms are clearly visible on an infected machine.
Payload	Gozi
Distribution methods	Infected email attachments, malicious online advertisements, social engineering, software 'cracks'.
Damage	Stolen passwords and banking information, identity theft, the 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.

Some examples of other malspam campaigns that cyber criminals use to distribute malware are "National Bank Of Greece Email Virus", "Black Lives Matter Email Virus" and "Credit Card Refund Email Virus". 

Generally, these emails contain website links that download a malicious file or attachment. In any case, the main goal of cyber criminals behind these malspam campaigns is to deceive unsuspecting recipients into executing a malicious file, which then infects computers with malware.

Some examples of malware that cyber criminals spread via email are NanoCore RAT, TrickBot, GuLoader and IceID.

How did "Your purchase of BTC has started" infect my computer?

In this case, computers are infected with Gozi only if recipients open the attached malicious Microsoft Office document and allow it to run macro commands (enable editing/content). I.e., the malicious attachment cannot install malware unless it is opened and allowed to run macros commands.

Therefore, files in dangerous emails must remain unopened. Some more examples files that cyber criminals attach to their emails when they attempt to trick recipients into causing installation of malware are as follows: other malicious MS Office documents (e.g. Word), executable files (.exe), JavaScript files, archive files (ZIP, RAR), PDF documents .

How to avoid installation of malware

Do not trust irrelevant emails that are received from unknown, suspicious addresses and contain attachments and/or website links. Do not click links or open files in any emails without being sure that it is safe to do so.

Software should NOT be downloaded or installed through third party downloaders, installers, unofficial pages, Peer-to-Peer networks (e.g., torrent clients, eMule), free file hosting sites, or other channels of this kind. Use official websites and direct links. Installed software must be activated and updated only with tools/functions that are designed by official software developers.

Third party, unofficial tools often install malware. Furthermore, it is illegal to activate licensed programs with various unofficial ('cracking') tools. Additionally, you are advised to regularly scan the computer for threats with a reputable antivirus or anti-spyware suite, and keep this software up to date.

If you have already opened "Your purchase of BTC has started" attachment, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Appearance of the "Your purchase of BTC has started" email:

Text presented in the "Your purchase of BTC has started" email message:

Subject: Il tuo ordine VCNXFSR e stato completato

 

Your purchase for $992.00 USD of BTC has started
Your funds will be available by
6/15/2020 8:17:00 AM
We're unable to cancel started orders.
Read mroe about why here.
Reference code VCNXFSR
Payment method Bonifico online
Start date 6/15/2020
Estimated payout 8:17:00 AM

 

Amount 0.0992 BTC
Fee $1.00
Total $992.00

 

View File Pagamento.xls

 

Frequently asked questions

 

How long does a purchase or deposit take to complete?
How are fees applied when I buy or sell digital currency?
Can I cancel my purchase?

 

For customer service inquiries, please contact customer support. Please include your reference code VCNXFSR.

 

Coinbase, Inc., 548 Market St., #23008 San Francisco, CA 94104-5401, (888) 908-7930.

Malicious attachment distributed via "Your purchase of BTC has started" 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 Your Purchase Of BTC Has Started 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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