Do not trust the "SECURE YOUR E-MAIL WORLD" phishing emails
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on (updated)
What is the "SECURE YOUR E-MAIL WORLD" scam email?
"SECURE YOUR E-MAIL WORLD scam" refers to a phishing spam campaign. This term describes a mass-scale operation during which thousands of deceptive emails are sent.
The scam letters distributed through this campaign - request recipients to take unspecified steps to secure their email accounts. The aim of these letters is to promote a phishing website, which is disguised as an email account sign-in page.
The site operates by recording the information entered into it, i.e., email account log-in credentials (email addresses and corresponding passwords). By acquiring this data, the scammers behind the "SECURE YOUR E-MAIL WORLD" scam can gain access/control over the exposed email accounts.
The "SECURE YOUR E-MAIL WORLD" scam letters (subject/title "Secure your account now!!!"; may vary) request recipients to take the necessary steps to secure their email accounts. Users can get locked out of their accounts unless they take the recommended precautions.
These emails contain a "Secure your account" button, below which is a warning against mistyping passwords when logging in. When this button is pressed, it opens the previously mentioned phishing site.
Log-in credentials typed into this page will not enable users to access their accounts; instead, this sensitive information will be sent to the scammers behind the spam campaign. Hence, by trusting these fake letters, recipients can have their email accounts stolen.
Emails are of particular interest to cyber criminals, as they are typically connected to other accounts, platforms, and services. For example, emails are often used to register different accounts.
Through hijacked emails - access/control may be gained over content associated with them. To elaborate on how this unauthorized access can be misused, stolen 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.
Scammers can also assume the identity of email, social networking, social media, messenger, and other communication account owners and ask their contacts/friends for loans. Platforms that offer content-sharing features can be used to proliferate malware through shared infectious files or malicious website links.
To summarize, the "SECURE YOUR E-MAIL WORLD" scam emails can lead to severe privacy issues, financial losses, and identity theft. If attempts to sign in through the phishing website have already been made - it is strongly advised to immediately change the log-in credentials of the potentially compromised accounts.
Additionally, it is recommended to contact the official support of all endangered platforms.
Name | SECURE YOUR E-MAIL WORLD Scam |
Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud |
Fake Claim | Scam letters claim that recipients have to secure their email accounts to avoid getting locked out. |
Related Domains | societyrevolution[.]ro |
Detection Names (societyrevolution[.]ro) | Bfore.Ai PreCrime (Malicious), CRDF (Malicious), Fortinet (Phishing), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal) |
Serving IP Address (societyrevolution[.]ro) | 172.67.143.199 |
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. |
"E-mail Blacklist", "Emails Rejected On Admin Server", "Account Missing Or Incomplete", and "System Administrator Quota Update" are some examples of spam campaigns similar to "SECURE YOUR E-MAIL WORLD". Deceptive emails can have a wide variety of disguises; they can even mimic messages from legitimate institutions, authorities, companies, service providers, and other entities.
However, spam campaigns are not used exclusively for scams and phishing, they are also employed to spread malware (e.g., trojans, ransomware, cryptominers, etc.). Due to how prevalent spam mail is, it is highly recommended to exercise caution with incoming emails.
How do spam campaigns infect computers?
Spam campaigns distribute malware via infectious files sent through them. These files can be attached to the scam emails, or the letters can contain download links of such content.
Virulent files can be in various formats, e.g., archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), PDF and Microsoft Office documents, JavaScript, and so forth. When opened, these files trigger malware download/installation.
For example, Microsoft Office documents cause infections by executing malicious macro commands. In Microsoft Office versions released before 2010, this process begins the moment a document is opened. Newer versions have "Protected View" mode that prevents automatic execution of macros. Instead, users can manually enable editing/content (i.e., macro commands).
How to avoid installation of malware?
To avoid infecting the system via spam mail, it is advised against opening dubious and irrelevant emails - especially any attachments or links present in them. It is recommended to use Microsoft Office versions released after 2010. However, malware is not spread just through spam campaigns.
Malicious software is also proliferated via untrustworthy download channels (e.g., unofficial and free file-hosting websites, Peer-to-Peer sharing networks, and other third-party downloaders), illegal activation tools ("cracks"), and fake updates. Therefore, it is important to only download from official and verified sources.
Additionally, all programs must be activated and updated using tools/functions provided by legitimate developers. It is crucial to have a dependable anti-virus/anti-spyware suite installed and updated.
This software has to be used to perform regular system scans and remove detected threats and issues. 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 "SECURE YOUR E-MAIL WORLD" scam email letter:
Subject: Secure your account now!!!
SECURE YOUR E-MAIL WORLD
For you not to be locked out of your e-mail.
Take this very necessary step to secure
your account. And you are 100% assured
the bad guys can’t get in.
Secure your account
Never you attempt to mistype your password with the above button "Secure your account".
701 First Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94089 © 2021 All Domains Media. All Rights Reserved.
Screenshot of the phishing website promoted by the "SECURE YOUR E-MAIL WORLD" spam campaign:
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Quick menu:
- What is SECURE YOUR E-MAIL WORLD 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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