How to avoid installation of FormBook via email sent by cybercriminals?

What is Vecchia Brianza Chocolab email virus?

Malspam is used to trick recipients into downloading and opening a malicious file designed to infect a computer with malicious software. Their emails contain a malicious attachment or download link for a malicious file.

In most cases, cybercriminals pretend to be legitimate companies, organizations, or other entities and disguise their emails as urgent letters regarding some invoice, shipment delivery, purchase order, etc.

This email is disguised as a letter from the company called Vecchia Brianza Chocolab. Cybercriminals use it as a channel to deliver FormBook malware.

Chocolab Vecchia Brianza is the name of a chocolate factory based in Italy. Cybercriminals use its name to trick recipients into opening a malicious attachment. They claim that the file attached to this email is an invoice and it needs to be reviewed and paid immediately.

As mentioned in the introduction paragraph, cybercriminals behind this email seek to trick recipients into opening a file designed install Formbook. This malicious software can log keystrokes (record keyboard input/pressed keys), take screenshots, collect clipboard data.

Also, it can gather saved login credentials (usernames, email addresses, passwords), and other sensitive information. As a rule, cybercriminals use such features to steal personal accounts (e.g., social media, email, banking accounts) and use them to deliver malware, steal identities, make fraudulent transactions, purchases, send spam, spread various scams, and so on.

Additionally, they could sell stolen accounts (or the whole data) to third parties (other cybercriminals) on the darknet. In conclusion, the file attached to this email can lead to problems like monetary loss, stolen accounts, identity theft, and other issues related to finances, online privacy, browsing safety. Therefore, this email has to be ignored (the file attached to it should not be opened).

Threat Summary:

Name	Vecchia Brianza Chocolab spam
Threat Type	Trojan, password-stealing virus, banking malware, spyware.
Hoax	Email has an important invoice attached to it
Attachment(s)	ZIP (.zip) file containing malicious executable (.exe) file
Detection Names	Avast (FileRepMetagen [Malware]), BitDefender (Gen:Variant.Jacard.221474), ESET-NOD32 (A Variant Of Win32/Injector.EPHK), Kaspersky (HEUR:Backdoor.Win32.Remcos.gen), Microsoft (Trojan:Script/Phonzy.B!ml), 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	FormBook
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.

To summarize, malspam campaigns are used by cybercriminals as channels to deliver malicious programs.

More examples of malspam campaigns that are or were used to trick recipients into installing one or another malicious software on their computers are "Palladium Email Virus", "Agos Email Virus", and "Spring Marine Management S.A. Email Virus".

What most of them have in common is that they pretend to be letters from well-known or at least legitimate existing companies or other entities.

How did Vecchia Brianza Chocolab email virus infect my computer?

Recipients infect their computers via emails when they open malicious files (attachments or files downloaded via links in emails). In most cases, recipients fall for such emails because cybercriminals disguise them as important, official, urgent letters.

A couple of examples of files that can be used to deliver malware via email are Microsoft Office, PDF documents, ZIP, RAR or other archive files, EXE and other executable files, JavaScript files. It is important to mention that malicious documents opened with Microsoft Office 2010 or later versions ask users for permission to enable macros commands (editing, content).

Those documents cannot install malware without permission to run malicious macros. However, it does not apply to malicious documents opened with older MS Office versions - those versions do not have the "Protected View" mode and install malware without needing additional interference.

This particular email has a ZIP file attached to it. That archive contains a malicious executable (.exe) file. It installs malware if users execute it.

How to avoid installation of malware?

It is strongly recommended not to open files (or website links) in irrelevant emails, especially if such emails are received from some unknown, suspicious addresses. It is worthwhile to mention that cybercriminals disguise their emails as important, official.

Software (and files) should be downloaded from official, trustworthy websites and through direct links. Other sources that are mentioned in the previous paragraph can often be used to distribute malware.

Installed programs must be updated and activated properly - it should be done using tools or functions that their official developers provide. Also, it is not legal to activate licensed programs with unofficial tools.

And finally, computers should be regularly scanned for threats with a reputable antivirus or anti-spyware software, installed security suite should always be up to date. If you've already opened "Vecchia Brianza Chocolab email virus" attachment, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the "Vecchia Brianza Chocolab email virus" email letter:

Subject: Nuovo ordine, molto urgente

Buongiorno,

Allegato è un nuovo ordine,
inviare fattura proforma per il pagamento,

Saluti,
Responsabile acquisti,
Silvia Meneghini,
Chocolab Vecchia Brianza,
Indirizzo: Via XXV Aprile, 1, 20845 Sovico MB, Italia
Numero di telefono: +390395972879
E-mail: info@chocolabvb.com

Vecchia Brianza CHOCOLAB

Screenshot of different detection engines having detected file deliver via this email as malicious:

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 Vecchia Brianza Chocolab 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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