Do not trust fake "WhatsApp" emails concerning chat/call backups

What is the fake "WhatsApp" email?

"WhatsApp email scam" refers to a spam email campaign. The term "spam campaign" is used to define a large-scale operation, during which thousands of deceptive/scam messages are sent. As the name implies, the emails distributed through this spam campaign are disguised as important notifications from WhatsApp, a cross-platform messaging and VoIP (Voice over IP) service.

These deceptive emails are in no way associated with the genuine WhatsApp company. The scam messages are in Portuguese and claim that they contain recipients' WhatsApp message/call history backups, however, the attached HTML file and the link listed in the emails redirects to a phishing website, which attempts to trick recipients into providing their personal information.

According to a rough translation, the fake "WhatsApp" email subject states that recipients' private messages have been attached to the messages. The text within the emails lists the retrieved messaging and call histories. Supposedly, the backups are of: 46 deleted WhatsApp messages, 3549 read messages and 1236579 restored messages.

As mentioned, however, the link in the messages and attached HTML file redirect to a phishing website. Sites of this type can target a wide variety of sensitive/personal information such as names, surnames, addresses, telephone numbers, emails, banking account and/or credit card details.

Furthermore, some phishing websites are disguised as log-in/sign-in web pages of legitimate services/platforms. Therefore, by entering IDs, username and passwords to such sites, many users inadvertently expose their details to the website designers, thereby resulting in the accounts being stolen.

In summary, by trusting the "WhatsApp" scam emails, many users risk experiencing serious privacy issues, financial loss and even identity theft.

Threat Summary:

Name	WhatsApp Email Scam
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud.
Fake Claim	Scam emails claim they contain recipients' WhatsApp chat/call history backups.
Disguise	WhatsApp
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.
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"Account Access Disabled", "Email Quarantine", "National Lottery", "Wire Transfer" and "POWERBALL OFFICIAL 2020 WINNINGS" are some examples of other phishing spam campaigns. These deceptive messages are usually presented as "official", "priority", "urgent" and similar.

They might even be disguised as mail from legitimate companies, institutions, organizations, service providers and other entities. Spam campaigns are used for phishing and other scams. Furthermore, they are used to distribute Trojans, ransomware and other malware. Due to the prevalence of spam emails, you are strongly advised to exercise caution with incoming messages.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Typically, cyber criminals behind malspam campaigns send emails with a file attached to them or a download link to the malicious file. Their main goal is to trick recipients into opening/executing the rogue file, which then installs malicious software.

Some examples of files that cyber criminals send via email are Microsoft Office and PDF documents, executables (.exe), JavaScript, and archives (ZIP, RAR). Note that malicious documents that are opened with Microsoft Office 2010 or newer versions install malicious software only if users enable macros commands (enable editing/content).

These versions include "Protected View" mode, which does not allow opened malicious documents to install malware automatically. Older versions do not include this feature and install malicious software without asking permission.

How to avoid installation of malware

To avoid malware spread via spam mail, you are strongly advised against opening suspicious or irrelevant emails, especially those with any attachments or links present within them. Additionally, use Microsoft Office versions released after 2010.

Malicious programs also proliferate through untrusted download channels (e.g. unofficial and free file-hosting sites, Peer-to-Peer sharing networks and other third party downloaders), illegal software activation ("cracking") tools, and fake updaters.

Therefore, only download from official/verified sources and activate and update software with tools/functions provided by legitimate developers. To ensure device integrity and user privacy, have a reputable anti-virus/anti-spyware suite installed and kept updated.

Furthermore, use these programs to run regular system scans and to remove 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 "WhatsApp" scam email message:

Subject: Mensagens Privadas foi anexado a este e-mail ID:   (488218)

 

Faça backup da conversa do WhatsApp e do histórico de chamadas

 

Backup encontrado:
 * Mensagens excluídas do WhatsApp (46)
 * Leia mensagens (3549)
 * (1236579) Mensagens restauradas

 

Segunda-feira, 04 de novembro de 2020

 

BAIXAR-HISTÓRICO - CONVERSA

 

2020 © WhatsApp Inc.

Another example of WhatsApp-themed spam email:

Text presented within:

Subject: Mensagens Privadas foi anexado a este e-mail ID: (768943)

 

Baixar - Conversa do WhatsApp(290.KB)

O histórico de conversas foi anexado ao e-mail como um arquivo "Conversa do WhatsApp".

Another example of WhatsApp-themed spam email promoting a phishing site:

Text presented within:

Subject: New voicemessage: 6:01AM

WhatsApp

Missed voicemessage.

Description

Jul 2 6:01 AM
07 seconds

Play

© Whats App

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Quick menu:

• What is WhatsApp 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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