Do not open files attached to fake Ptt emails

What is "Ptt Email Virus"?

Typically, cyber criminals behind malspam campaigns such as this attempt to deceive recipients into executing (opening) a malicious file, which is attached to the email (or downloaded from a website). This particular email is disguised as a message from the Turkish post company (Ptt) and used to distribute a malicious Remote Access Trojan (RAT) called Agent Tesla.

Cyber criminals behind this malspam campaign send emails disguised as shipment notifications. Their main goal is to deceive recipients into believing that a package, which they have supposedly received, has an invalid shipping address and they must review a receipt found in the attached "PTT MAKBUZLARI.rar" file (its name may vary).

The executable file (named "PTT MAKBUZLARI.exe") in the attached archive file is malicious - if executed, it installs Agent Tesla, a Remote Access Trojan (malware). This RAT can be used to log keystrokes, steal credentials saved on web browsers, email and messaging clients, FTP, VPN clients, certain download managers and the operating system registry.

Additionally, Agent Tesla includes a feature allowing cyber criminals to prevent victims from accessing Task Manager, Registry, executing commands through the Command Prompt, and other Windows Operating System features.

In most cases, cyber criminals use malware of this type to collect sensitive, personal information such as login credentials, credit card details and other data. The data could be misused to steal identities, make fraudulent purchases and transactions, spread malware via email and other accessed accounts, deceive other users into transferring money, etc.

Therefore, users who have their computers infected RATs such as Agent Tesla can become victims of identity theft, suffer monetary loss, experience problems relating to online privacy, browsing safety, and other serious issues. Therefore, avoid malspam campaigns and never open files or links within the emails.

Threat Summary:

Name	Ptt email spam
Threat Type	Remote Access Trojan, password-stealing virus, spyware.
Hoax	This malspam campaign is disguised as a message from a legitimate post company called Ptt.
Attachment(s)	PTT MAKBUZLARI.rar (its name may vary)
Detection Names	Arcabit (Trojan.Ursu.DE5E49), BitDefender (Gen:Variant.Ursu.941641), ESET-NOD32 (A Variant Of MSIL/GenKryptik.EQAD), Microsoft (Trojan:MSIL/AgentTesla.VN!MTB), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal).
Symptoms	Remote Access/Administration 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	Agent Tesla
Distribution methods	Infected email attachments, malicious online advertisements, social engineering, software 'cracks'.
Damage	Monetary loss, 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 more examples of malspam campaigns are "ABB Email Virus", "Deutsche Bank Email Virus" and "Google Pay Email Virus". 

Typically, emails of this kind are disguised as important, official, and are sent from legitimate companies/organizations and contain a malicious link or attachment. Examples of other malicious programs that cyber criminals attempt to spread in this way are HawkEye, Taurus, TrickBot and Ursnif.

How did "Ptt Email Virus" infect my computer?

Agent Tesla can be installed on computers via this malspam campaign only when a malicious file ("PTT MAKBUZLARI.exe") in the attached RAR (.rar) file is opened/executed. Other examples of files that cyber criminals attach to their emails are Microsoft Office, PDF documents, JavaScript files, executable files (e.g., .exe).

Generally, malicious MS Office documents install malware on the computer only if users give permission to enable editing/content (macros commands).

This applies only to malicious documents opened with MS Office 2010 and newer versions. Older versions do not have the "Protected View" feature, and so malicious documents are opened and install malware automatically.

How to avoid installation of malware

If a received email is irrelevant, sent from a suspicious/unknown address, and contains a file or link, it is likely to have been sent by cyber criminals. Therefore, do not open any suspicious emails, links or files, since this can cause installation of malware. Programs and files should be downloaded only from official websites and through direct links.

Other channels and sources (such as Peer-to-Peer networks, third party downloaders, unofficial websites, freeware download pages, free file hosting sites, etc.) are used to proliferate malware. Installed programs should be updated and activated only with implemented functions/tools that are designed by official software developers.

Note that it is illegal to use third party, unofficial tools to activate licensed software. Keep your computer safe by regularly scanning it for threats with a reputable antivirus or anti-spyware suite. If you have already opened "Ptt Email Virus" attachment, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

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

Subjecet: PTT Sevkiyat Bildirimi: Son PTT Faturanız BKK0005254282

Track PTT Express Shipments

 

Değerli müşterimiz

 

E-posta adresiniz, uygun olmayan teslimat adresi içeren pakette bulundu ve
PTT politikasına göre, sahipsiz kalırsa paketi iade etmeyeceğiz
sonraki 48 saat içinde.

 

Lüften cecipt'i gözden geçirin ve paket size ait mal kaybını önlemek için size
aitse gerekli adımları atın.

 

Paket ayrıntılarını incelemek için lüften Ekli alıcıyı tıklayın ve indirin

 

Saygılarımla

 

PTT TESLIM EKIBI
telif hakkı 2020

Malicious Agent Tesla process running in Task Manager as "Equations":

Malicious executable detected as a threat on Virustotal:

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 Ptt email 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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