Avoid malware distributed via "Baldur" scam emails

What is "Baldur email virus"?

"Baldur email virus" refers to a malware-spreading spam campaign. The scam emails distributed through this campaign are presented as purchase orders. The "Baldur" spam campaign aims to infect recipients' devices with the Agent Tesla RAT (Remote Access Trojan).

"Baldur email virus" overview

The "Baldur" scam emails request recipients to provide a price quotation for the attached purchase order. The letters have two attachments; one is a PDF document containing the fake company's logo, the other - a 7z file that supposedly has the order details archived inside it. Instead, when the latter is opened and the malicious executable run - Agent Tesla's download/installation is triggered.

Agent Tesla malware functionalities

RAT-type malware is designed to allow remote access and control over infected machines. This applies to Agent Tesla as well. This trojan can perform various functions/commands on devices, yet its primary functionality is data theft.

The RAT has keylogging (keystroke recording) abilities, and it can also extract information from various browsers, download manners, as well as email, messaging, VPN, and FTP clients. Targeted data includes: personally identifiable information, online account usernames and passwords, banking account details, credit card numbers, and so on.

In summary, Agent Tesla infections can lead to severe privacy issues, financial losses, and identity theft. Therefore, it is crucial to use an anti-virus to remove the malware immediately.

Threat Summary:

Name	Baldur spam
Threat Type	Trojan, password-stealing virus, banking malware, spyware.
Hoax	Scam emails are disguised as purchase order inquiries.
Attachment(s)	MARCA-baldur Order.pdf.7z and 20210906123636.pdf (filenames may vary)
Detection Names (7z archive)	Avast (Win32:PWSX-gen [Trj]), Combo Cleaner (Trojan.GenericKD.37559872), ESET-NOD32 (A Variant Of MSIL/Injector.VSA), Kaspersky (HEUR:Trojan-PSW.MSIL.Agensla.gen), Microsoft (Trojan:MSIL/AgentTesla.KGO!MTB), 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	Agent Trojan
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.

Spam campaigns in general

"Interhydro Email Virus", "US$51,000.00 Had Been Transferred Into Your Account", "Taxve Inc. Email Virus", "The Best Price List", and "Adobe Acrobat Email Virus" are some examples of malware-proliferating spam campaigns.

Aside from the distribution of malicious software, deceptive emails are also used to facilitate phishing and various other scams. Due to how widespread spam mail is, it is strongly advised to exercise caution with incoming emails and messages.

How did "Baldur email virus" infect my computer?

Systems are infected via malicious files attached to or linked inside spam emails. These files can be in various formats, e.g., archives (RAR, ZIP, 7z, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), Microsoft Office and PDF documents, JavaScript, and so on. When the files are opened - the infection process is initiated.

For example, Microsoft Office documents cause infections by executing malicious macro commands. This occurs the moment a document is opened in Microsoft Office versions released prior to 2010. Later versions have "Protected View" mode that prevents it; instead, users can manually enable editing/content (i.e., macros commands).

How to avoid installation of malware?

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

Untrustworthy download channels (e.g., Peer-to-Peer sharing networks, unofficial and freeware sites, etc.), illegal activation tools ("cracks"), and fake updates are used to spread malware as well. Therefore, it is advised to download only from official/verified sources and activate/update programs with functions provided by genuine developers.

It is paramount to have a dependable anti-virus installed and kept up-to-date. This software has to be used to run regular system scans and to remove threats. If you've already opened "Baldur email virus" attachment, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the "Baldur" scam email letter:

Subject: First Order from Baldur with (BUSINESS CARD)

 

Hello,

 

The same business card that I shared in the attachment will be made with the new logo of Baldur which is our new company name, I shared in the attachment.

 

Could you please send the draft for price quotation for attached Order?

 

Thanks in advance

 

Best regards/ Best Regards/ Saludos Cordiales
 
Hande Esen
Purchasing Responsible/Purchasing Responsible/Responsable de Compras

 

BALDUR SUSPENSION PRODUCTION IND. VE TİC. Inc.
Sekerpinar Mah. Tepe Sok. No: 1 Cayirova/Kocaeli
Tel : +90 262 658 12 41-42-43-44

Fax : +90 262 658 12 15

Email: hande.erkan@baldur.com.es 

 

Antes de imprimir este e-mail piense bien si es necesario hacerlo: El medioambiente es cosa de todos.
La información contenida en este mensaje es confidencial y está dirigida exclusivamente a su destinatario, estando prohibida su divulgación parcial o total. Si usted no es el destinatario designado en este mensaje, le informamos de que su lectura, copia y uso le están prohibidos. En caso de news recibido este mensaje por error, le rogamos que lo comunique lo antes posible al remitente y proceda a su destrucción total.
This message contains confidential information exclusively addressed to the designated recipient, and any disclosure of this message, whether partial or total, is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, we inform you that the reading, copying and use of this message is prohibited. In such case, please notify the sender immediately and proceed to destroy the message entirely.

Appearance of the "Baldur" scam email (GIF):

Screenshot of the PDF attachment distributed via "Baldur" spam campaign ("20210906123636.pdf"):

Screenshot of VirusTotal detections of the malicious attachment distributed via "Baldur" spam campaign ("MARCA-baldur Order.pdf.7z"):

An example of Baldur-themed spam email distributing an HTML file designed to steal user input:

Text presented within:

Subject: Payment Confirmation

 

Hello

Payment has been made as discussed this morning. Kindly proceed as advised.
See attached proof of payment.

Best Regards/ Saludos Cordiales
 
Hande Esen
Purchasing Responsible/Purchasing Responsible/Responsable de Compras

BALDUR SUSPENSION PRODUCTION IND. VE TİC. Inc.
Sekerpinar Mah. Tepe Sok. No: 1 Cayirova/Kocaeli
Tel : +90 262 658 12 41-42-43-44

Fax : +90 262 658 12 15

Email: hande.erkan@baldur.com.es

Screenshot of the promoted HTML file:

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Quick menu:

• What is Baldur 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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