Avoid having your email account stolen via Debt Settlement scam email

What is the "Debt Settlement" scam email?

"Debt Settlement email scam" refers to a spam campaign - a large-scale operation during which thousands of deceptive emails are sent. The letters sent through this campaign - notify recipients of a paid debt. It must be emphasized that the information provided by these scam emails - is false.

The spam campaign's aim is to promote a phishing website, which requests users to validate their email accounts by providing their log-in credentials (i.e., email addresses and passwords). Phishing sites operate by recording data entered into them.

Therefore, by trusting the "Debt Settlement" letters, recipients can have their email accounts stolen.

The "Debt Settlement" scam emails (subject/title "Settlement letter"; may vary) informs recipients that the debt has been settled and the account was paid for by the debtor. The emails also state that the payment letter has been sent, as per the recipients' request.

The "OPEN PAYMENT" button in these deceptive letters redirects to a phishing website. The page asks recipients to verify their email accounts by entering the log-in credentials.

Should this information be provided to the site - it will be recorded and sent to the scammers behind the "Debt Settlement" emails, thereby allowing them to steal the corresponding mail accounts.

Emails are of particular interest to scammers and cyber criminals, as they are typically connected to other accounts, platforms, and services (e.g., registered through the mail). Hence, through stolen email accounts - those associated with them can be likewise hijacked.

To elaborate on how this can be used, communication platforms (e.g., emails, social networking, social media, messengers, etc.) can be employed to proliferate malware by sharing malicious files or links.

Alternatively, through these platforms, scammers can ask contacts/friends/followers for loans - under the guise of the real owner. Finance-related accounts (e.g., banking, online money transferring, e-commerce, digital wallets, etc.) can be used to make fraudulent transactions and/or online purchases.

To summarize, by trusting the "Debt Settlement" scam letters, users can experience severe privacy issues, financial losses, and even identity theft.

If attempts to log in through the phishing webpage have already been made - it is strongly advised to immediately change the passwords of potentially compromised accounts. It is also recommended to contact the official support of the endangered platforms.

Threat Summary:

Name	Debt Settlement Email Scam
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Scam emails claim a debt has been settled.
Related Domains	detestorband[.]com
Detection Names (detestorband[.]com)	CRDF (Malicious), Webroot (Malicious), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
Serving IP Address (detestorband[.]com)	185.143.145.9
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. ▼ 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.

"cPanel email scam", "Monthly Email Validation", "Kaspersky email scam", and "Upgrade Account" are some examples of phishing spam campaigns. The information targeted by these deceptive letters - varies.

Typically, scammers aim to obtain the usernames/passwords of various accounts and users' names, addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, banking accounts details, credit card numbers, etc. Spam emails are usually presented as "official", "urgent", "important", "priority", and similar.

Aside from phishing and other scams, these letters are also used to spread malware (e.g., trojans, ransomware, cryptominers, etc.). Due to how widespread spam mail is, it is important to exercise caution with incoming emails.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Systems are infected via virulent files distributed through spam campaigns. The emails can contain download links of such files, and/or they can be attached to the letters. Infectious files can be in a variety of formats, e.g., Microsoft Office and PDF documents, archives, executables, JavaScript, etc.

When the files are executed, run, or otherwise opened - the infection chain (i.e., malware download/installation) is jumpstarted. For example, Microsoft Office documents cause infections by executing malicious macro commands.

This process begins the moment a document is opened - in Microsoft Office versions released before 2010. Later versions have "Protected View" mode that prevents automatic execution of macros. Instead, users are asked to enable editing/content (i.e., macro commands) and alerted of the potential risks.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Dubious and irrelevant emails must not be opened - especially any attachments or links present in them. It is recommended to use Microsoft Office versions released after 2010.

Malware is also distributed via untrustworthy download channels (e.g., unofficial and free file-hosting websites, Peer-to-Peer sharing networks, etc.), illegal activation ("cracking") tools, and fake updates. Therefore, it is important to only perform downloads from official and verified sources.

Additionally, all programs must be activated and updated with tools/functions provided by genuine developers. To ensure device and user safety, it is crucial to have a reputable anti-virus/anti-spyware suite installed and kept updated.

Furthermore, this software has to be used to run regular system scans and remove detected/potential threats. If you've already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the "Debt Settlement" scam email letter:

Subject: Settlement letter

 

Good Day ********

 

Please note this account has been paid up by the debtor.

OPEN PAYMENT

 

A paid up letter has been requested for ********.

 

PJB is the most trusted company in integrated power plant business with world class standard. Established in 1995, PJB has more than 20 percent market share in Indonesia. For further information visit : www.ptpjb.com.

 

This message contains confidential information and is intended only for the individual named. If you are not the named addressee you should not disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail. Please notify the sender immediately by e-mail if you have received this e-mail by mistake and delete this e-mail from your system.

Screenshot of the phishing website promoted through the "Debt Settlement" spam campaign:

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Quick menu:

• What is Debt Settlement 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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