Do not open files attached to DUNCAN ENGINEERING LIMITED ORDER malspam messages

What is DUNCAN ENGINEERING LIMITED ORDER email virus?

Duncan Engineering Limited is a legitimate company, however, some cyber criminals use its name within their malspam campaigns. Generally, cyber criminals behind malspam attempt to trick recipients into opening a malicious attachment or a file, which can be downloaded via the provided website link.

The file then installs malicious software. In this particular case, they send emails with an image (.img) file attached which installs a Remote Administration Trojan (RAT) called Agent Tesla.

Cyber criminals behind this malspam campaign attempt to trick recipients into believing that they have received an email regarding a purchase order from the Duncan Engineering Limited company. Their main goal is to deceive recipients into opening/executing the attached "DUNCAN PO ORDER.img" file, which installs Agent Tesla.

The main purpose of this malicious software is to steal sensitive information. It achieves this by logging keystrokes (recording keyboard input).

Generally, cyber criminals behind malware such as Agent Tesla attempt to steal information such as login credentials (usernames and passwords) of email, social networking, online money transfers and other accounts, and also credit card details, and other information that could be misused to steal accounts, identities, make fraudulent purchases and transactions, and for other malicious purposes.

This enables cyber criminals to generate revenue in various ways. Therefore, you are strongly advised not to trust this email and leave the file that is attached to it unopened.

Threat Summary:

Name	DUNCAN ENGINEERING LIMITED ORDER spam
Threat Type	Trojan, password-stealing virus, banking malware, spyware.
Hoax	Email contains a copy of a purchase order from Duncan Engineering Limited.
Attachment(s)	DUNCAN PO ORDER.img (its name might vary).
Detection Names (DUNCAN PO ORDER.img)	ESET-NOD32 (A Variant Of MSIL/GenKryptik.ESST), Kaspersky (HEUR:Trojan-PSW.MSIL.Agensla.gen), Microsoft (Trojan:Win32/Wacatac.C!ml), Symantec (Trojan.Gen.2), 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	Agent Tesla
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 are "TNT EXPRESS Email Virus", "FedEx Invoice Ready Email Virus" and "PO Copy Email Virus". They are all disguised as official emails from legitimate companies/organizations and contain links or malicious attachments. More examples of malware that cyber criminals distribute via malspam are Ursnif, Dridex, and TrickBot.

How did "DUNCAN ENGINEERING LIMITED ORDER email virus" infect my computer?

This email has a malicious image called "DUNCAN PO ORDER.img" attached to it. This file installs malware (a Remote Administration Trojan named Agent Tesla), but only if users/recipients download and open it. Note that cyber criminals use other file formats to distribute malware as well.

Commonly, they send malicious Microsoft Office, PDF documents, JavaScript files, archive files such as ZIP, RAR, and executable files (.exe). Computers become infected when users open files that are sent to them via malspam.

Note that when users open malicious documents with Microsoft Office versions released before year 2010, they allow the documents to install malware automatically. Newer versions include "Protected View" mode, which prevents malicious documents from installing malware. I.e., they do not install malware unless users enable editing/content (macros commands).

How to avoid installation of malware

To avoid infecting the system with malware spread through spam mail, you are strongly advised not to open suspicious or irrelevant emails, especially those with any attachments or links present in them. Use official and verified download channels.

Additionally, all programs must be activated and updated with tools/functions provided by legitimate developers, since illegal activation tools ("cracks") and third party updaters commonly proliferate malicious software. To ensure device integrity and user safety, it is paramount to have reputable anti-virus/anti-spyware installed and kept updated.

Furthermore, use these programs to run regular system scans and to remove detected/potential threats. If you've already opened the file attached to DUNCAN ENGINEERING LIMITED ORDER email, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the DUNCAN ENGINEERING LIMITED ORDER malspam email:

Subject: DUNCAN ENGINEERING LIMITED ORDER

Dear Sir/Madam,

Please find enclosed herewith a soft Copy of Purchase Order raised on you.

You are requested to provide us following ASAP -

1. Order acknowledgment & Delivery date confirmation.

2. Kindly arrange delivery of material 1 WEEK before purchase order due date.

3. You have to attached inspection report & relevant test certificate along with invoice copy.

Thanking you,

DUNCAN ENGINEERING LIMITED.

Jay Cho

Sales Department / Assistant Manager

Tel : +82 54 280 4562, Fax : +82 54 275 2736

Mobile : +82 10 7187 7641

Malicious attachment distributed via DUNCAN ENGINEERING LIMITED ORDER malspam campaign:

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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 DUNCAN ENGINEERING LIMITED ORDER 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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