How to recognize phishing scams like WalletConnect scam?

What is WalletConnect email scam?

Phishing emails are mainly used to trick unsuspecting recipients into providing personal information (credit card details, usernames, passwords, or other details). Scammers disguise them as letters from legitimate companies. This particular phishing campaign is used to steal WalletConnect login credentials.

WalletConnect email scam in detail

Scammers behind this phishing email attempt to trick recipients into believing that someone has tried to sign into their WalletConnect account. Their goal is to lure WalletConnect users into opening the attached HTML file (which redirects to a fake WalletConnect login page) and entering their login credentials.

It is important to know that WalletConnect does not offer support. Thus, this and any other similar email claiming to be from WalletConnect is a scam. By providing information on fake crypto-related pages, users are likely to lose cryptocurrency.

Threat Summary:

Name	WalletConnect Email Scam
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Someone has tried to access WalletConnect account
Related Domain	syncwalilet-connectionservices[.]digital, polygensales[.]live, verify-wallet[.]info
Detection Names (syncwalilet-connectionservices[.]digital)	Avira (Phishing), Emsisoft (Phishing), Fortinet (Phishing), Netcraft (Malicious), Sophos (Phishing), Webroot (Malicious), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
Attachment	NFTSEA (NS) Token Airdrop-1.htm
Detection Names (NFTSEA (NS) Token Airdrop-1.htm)	Cyren (HTML/Redir.B.gen!Camelot), DrWeb (JS.Redirector.431), Ikarus (Win32.Outbreak), Microsoft (Trojan:HTML/Phish.PLRK!MTB), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
Disguise	Letter from WalletConnect customer support
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.

Phishing emails in general

Companies, organizations, or other entities mentioned in phishing scams have nothing to do with them. Scammers behind these scams usually try to extract banking information, login credentials, or other details that could be misused for malicious purposes. It is important to mention that email can be used as a channel for malware distribution.

More examples of phishing emails are "You Have Used Up Your Mail Storage Email Scam", "Norton Cloud Subscription Activated Email Scam", and "Email Removal Notice Email Scam".

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Emails used to distribute malicious software contain attachments (for example, PDF, MS Office documents, executable files, JavaScript files) or website links. Recipients infect computers by opening/executing malicious files. There are cases where opening a malicious file is not enough.

For example, malicious documents opened with MS Office 2010 or later cannot infect computers until editing or content (macros commands) are enabled. Older MS Office versions do not have the "Protected View" mode - malicious files opened with them infect computers without asking any permission.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Avoid downloading files and programs from unofficial web pages or other questionable sources. Use official websites and direct links for that. Do not open files (attachments) or links present in irrelevant emails received from suspicious or unknown addresses.

Also, update and activate programs with tools, functions provided by their official developers. Have a reputable antivirus (or anti-spyware) software installed on a computer and scan the system for threats with it regularly.

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 WalletConnect email scam:

Subject: Bitcoinwallet Alert!

Dear -,

We have noticed an unexpected sign-in attempt by someone trying to access your coin wallet from an unknown location using Mobile device (Dallas, Texas) IP: -, if this is not you, follow these steps to Unlock your account.

Find attached and update your wallet via our online secured WalletConnect web server.

We are committed to protecting your identity.

Thanks for helping us to maintain your Wallet's security

Screenshot of the fake WalletConnect page:

An example of another WalletConnect-themed phishing site:

Another example of Wallet Connect-themed spam email distributing a malicious HTML file used for phishing purposes:

Text presented within:

Subject: Claim $250 BNB Token Airdrop on your wallet

WalletConnect
Open protocol for connecting Wallets to Dapps

Claim $250 BNB Token Airdrop on your wallet.

Hi there,
We are happy to announce that Trust Wallet and Binance have teamed up to provide $250 BNB Token for 500 Active users.

Kindly follow the instructions on the attached (Claim_$250BNB TOKEN) to participate in airdrops and select your wallet to Synchronized.

Best,
Wallet Connect Team

Screenshot of the malicious HTML attachments:

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Quick menu:

• What is WalletConnect 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.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Why did I receive this email?

Scammers behind phishing emails pick their potential victims randomly - they send the same email to a number (usually, more than a few) of people hoping that at least someone will fall for their scam. These emails are never personal.

I have provided my personal information when tricked by this email, what should I do?

Password used to log into WalletConnect account, and other accounts should be changed immediately. Also, the website used to steal login credentials should be reported to SafeBrowsing phishing service (provided by Google).

I have downloaded and opened a file attached to this email, is my computer infected?

The file attached to this email is not malicious. It is designed to open a fake website but not to infect computers with some malware.

I have read the email but didn't open the attachment, is my computer infected?

Opening emails is completely harmless. Recipients infect computers by executing (opening) malicious attachments or files downloaded via the received website links.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections that were present in email attachment?

Yes, Combo Cleaner can detect and eliminate almost all known malware infections. Keep in mind that high-end malware usually hides deep in the operating system. Therefore, the system should be scanned using a full scan feature.

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