How to spot scams like the SendGrid email scam
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on (updated)
What is the SendGrid email Scam?
Scammers behind this spam campaign attempt to trick recipients into believing that this email is sent from SendGrid (a legitimate email marketing company) and entering their login credentials into a fake SendGrid login page. The SendGrid company has nothing to do with this scam and, therefore, you should ignore this email.
More about the SendGrid email scam
The email states that an invoice payment has been submitted by SendGrid to pay for services purchased from this email marketing company. The main purpose of scammers behind this scam is to deceive people into opening a fake SendGrid login page and entering their usernames and passwords.
In this way, they attempt to steal SendGrid accounts and misuse them for malicious purposes (e.g., to make fraudulent purchases, sell stolen accounts to third parties).
Many people use identical usernames and passwords for multiple accounts and, therefore, entering SendGrid login credentials into that fake website can result in loss of access to other personal accounts as well. You are strongly advised not to trust emails of this kind and/or enter login credentials (or other sensitive information) on unofficial, dubious websites.
| Name | SendGrid Email Scam |
| Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud. |
| Fake Claim | Scammers claim that recipients have to pay for certain services provided by SendGrid. |
| Disguise | This email is disguised as a message regarding an invoice from SendGrid. |
| Related Domain | krebs-sucks[.]com |
| Detection Names | CRDF (Malicious), CyRadar (Malicious), ESET (Phishing), Fortinet (Phishing), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal) |
| 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. |
Similar scams in general
More examples of email scam campaigns are "Your Email Is Out Of Date Email Scam", "Mail Quota Email Scam" and "Your Account Has Encountered An Error 505 Email Scam". In most cases, the emails are sent by cyber criminals who attempt to steal sensitive information, trick recipients into sending money, etc.
The emails can be used to proliferate malware (for example, ransomware, Trojans). They succeed when recipients open a malicious attachment or a file downloaded via malicious link that was sent to them.
How do spam campaigns infect computers?
Typically, users are tricked into installing malware through malspam campaigns when they execute a malicious file that was attached to the email. In some cases, cyber criminals send emails with website links designed to download malicious files or open their download pages.
They commonly send emails that have a malicious PDF, Microsoft Office document, JavaScript file, executable file (.exe) or archive file (ZIP, RAR) attached to them. Note that malware is installed via MS Office documents only when users enable macros commands (enable editing/content).
When such documents are opened with MS Office that was released before 2010, they install malware automatically, since these versions do not include "Protected View" mode, which prevents malicious documents from installing malware without permission.
How to avoid installation of malware
You are advised not to open files (attachments) or website links that are sent from suspicious, unknown email addresses, especially if the emails are irrelevant. Files and software should be downloaded from official websites and through direct download links. Other sources should not be used.
Examples of dubious download channels are unofficial pages, third party downloaders, Peer-to-Peer networks such as torrent clients, eMule, etc. Also avoid third party installers to install software. Furthermore, installed programs must be activated and updated with official tools or implemented functions, and not third party, unofficial updating and activation tools.
The use of third party activation 'cracking' tools is illegal. Regularly scan the operating system with reputable antivirus or anti-spyware software and keep it up to date. 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 SendGrid Email Scam email message:
This email is to notify you that an invoice has been created for your account at
SendGrid, which is due on Wed, 19 Aug 2020 20:35:05 +0000
The Invoice ID is 009334, and is due for the amount of 89.95 dollars.
If you have a credit card on file with us, this invoice will automatically be billed on Wed, 19 Aug 2020 20:35:05 +0000
You may login anytime to make a manual payment at:
Invoice ID - Login
We are available 24/7. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us.
This is an automated alert for your SendGrid account with the username . Manage your alert settings.
© SendGrid Inc.
1801 California St.
Suite 500, Denver, CO 80202 USA
Since you're a SendGrind customer, we send you emails from time to time with product updates, webinar invites, onboarding help, and im portant info about your account. You can find out more about how we process personal data in our Priv acy Policy. If you no longer wish to receive these emails, you can unsubscribe.
Fake SendGrid login page (GIF):
Another example of SendGrid-themed spam mail:
Text presented within:
Subject: All-Outgoing-Mail-Suspended for -
Hi -,
Your SendGrid account has been flagged, to fix and avoid further delivery problem, follow the attached procedure.
Thank you
Twilio-SenGrid
Screenshot of the attached HTML file designed for phishing purposes:
Another spam email from "SendGrid" spam campaign:
Text presented within:
Subject: Reactivate Your Account for Enhanced Protection
TWILIO
SendGridYour Set Up Two-Factor Authentication
Due to recent updates to our multi-factor authentication system, we require all clients to re-login and reactivate their accounts promptly.
Two-Factor AuthenticationDetails:
To address security concerns, our multi-factor authentication protocols have been enhanced.
These updates are essential to ensure the continued security of your account.
Thank you for your immediate attention to this matter.
Best regards,
SendGridSend with Confidence
© SendGrid Inc. 1801 California Street, Suite 500, Denver, CO 80202 USA
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Quick menu:
- What is SendGrid phishing email?
- 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?
This letter is not personal - scammers sent it to all addresses that they have. Your email was likely leaked in a data breach.
I have provided my personal information when tricked by this email, what should I do?
If you've provided your username and password (or other account credentials), change all passwords immediately, especially if scammers can use the provided password to access more than one account.
I have downloaded and opened a malicious file attached to an email, is my computer infected?
It depends on the file type. For instance, malicious MS Office documents do not infect computers until macros commands are enabled, but executable files inject malware right after their execution.
I have read the email but did not open the attachment, is my computer infected?
Emails cannot infect computers. The purpose of emails used to deliver malware is to trick recipients into opening malicious attachments or links.
Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections that were present in email attachment?
Yes, Combo Cleaner can detect and remove almost all known malware from a computer. It is required to run a full system scan to detect (and eliminate) high-risk malware. Typically, malware of this kind hides deep in the operating system.
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