How to avoid installation of Remcos via FedEx Freight malspam emails

What is FedEx Freight email virus?

Malspam emails are messages that cyber criminals send to deliver malware. Typically, the emails are disguised as official messages from legitimate companies and organizations and contain a malicious attachment or download link for a malicious file. Recipients who open files downloaded via such emails often infect their computers with malware.

This particular email is disguised as a message from FedEx and used to deliver a Remote Administration Tool (RAT) called Remcos.

This email is disguised as a message regarding an arrival notice/freight invoice. The main purpose of this email is to trick recipients into believing that it contains shipping documents and into opening the attached file.

The file attached to this email is an IMG file named "FedEX Detail.img" (its name might vary), which contains a malicious executable (EXE) file called "fedex detail.exe" (its name might also vary). This executable file installs the Remcos RAT, a legitimate Remote Administration Tool, however, cyber criminals often use such tools for malicious purposes. A RAT allows users to remotely control computers that have the program installed.

Typically, cyber criminals use RATs to infect computers with malware. For example, ransomware, Trojan-type malware, and cryptocurrency miners.

They use RATs to steal personal information such as credit card details, login credentials, and other data that could be misused to steal identities and accounts, to make fraudulent purchases and transactions, and for other malicious purposes.

Note that RATs are often capable of recording the screen, taking screenshots, and recording microphone input.

If Remcos or other RATs were installed on the operating system without your knowledge, remove them immediately.

Threat Summary:

Name	FedEx Freight spam
Threat Type	Trojan, password-stealing virus, banking malware, spyware.
Hoax	Shipment arrival notice from FedEx.
Attachment(s)	FedEX Detail.img (its name might vary).
Detection Names	Avast (Win32:RATX-gen [Trj]), BitDefender (Gen:Variant.Midie.77314), ESET-NOD32 (A Variant Of Win32/Kryptik.HHZP), Kaspersky (HEUR:Backdoor.Win32.Remcos.gen), Microsoft (Trojan:Win32/Woreflint.A!cl), 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	Remcos
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.

"iPhone 12 Email Virus", "VodaFone Email Virus" and "Inditron Enterprises Email Virus" are some of examples of other malspam campaigns that are used to deliver malware. As mentioned, in most cases, these emails are disguised as messages from existing, legitimate companies, however, none have anything to do with these emails.

Examples of malware that is also distributed via malspam include Agent Tesla, Dridex, Ursnif and TrickBot.

How did FedEx Freight email virus infect my computer?

Installation of the Remcos RAT occurs when recipients download the malicious IMG file ("FedEX Detail.img") and open the malicious EXE file ("fedex detail.exe"). As mentioned, the names of these malicious files can differ in other emails from the same malspam campaign.

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 "FedEx Freight email virus" attachment, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the FedEx Freight malspam email:

Subject: Shipping Arrival Notice

Hello customer,
Please find the shipping documents for your current port in the attachment.
Shipping customers suggest that we contact you ******** for information about the upcoming shipment.
The estimated arrival time of the goods is also included in the attachment.
Thank you for choosing FedEx Freight.
Do not reply to this message as any reply sent cannot be received.
Best Regards
FedEx Redstar Express

Malicious executable detected as a threat by multiple detection engines 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 FedEx Freight 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.

▼ Show Discussion