How to spot fake letters like "Whats App - Missed Voice Message"

What is "Whats App - Missed Voice Message" email scam?

After examining this email, we found that it is sent by scammers who aim to trick recipients into opening various scam websites. It is disguised as a letter from WhatsApp regarding a missed voice message. This and similar emails must be ignored.

More about the "Whats App - Missed Voice Message" email scam

The email states that there is a missed voice message received via WhatsApp. It provides message information such as receiving date and duration. It also has the "Play" hyperlink in it. Clicking that button opens various scam pages. One of the scams promoted via this spam campaign is the "Amazon Loyalty Program".

Scam websites promoted via this email can be used to trick visitors into providing passwords, credit card details, ID card information, social security numbers, and other sensitive information. Also, they can be used to extract money, sell fake/shady (or unnecessary) products and services, distribute malware, and for other purposes.

Threat Summary:

Name	Whats App - Missed Voice Message Email Scam
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Recipients have missed a voice message
Promoted Scam	"Amazon Loyalty Program" and similar scams
Disguise	Letter from WhatsApp
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.

Similar emails in general

Scammers behind emails of this type pretend to be legitimate organizations, companies, and other entities. In most cases, their gol is to trick recipients into providing personal information or sending money. Suspicious emails containing links or attachments can be used to deliver malware.

More examples of email scams are "Your Group Sent You A Message Email Scam", "Message Failure Receiving Notice Email Scam", and "Mechatronics Industrial Equipment Email Virus".

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

When cybercriminals use email to distribute malware, they aim to trick recipients into opening malicious links or attachments (into executing malware by themselves). Most commonly used files to deliver malware via email are MS Office, PDF documents, archives containing malicious files, executables, and JavaScript files.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Do not use questionable sources (for example, P2P networks, third-party downloaders, unofficial websites, etc.) to download software. Always download it from official pages. Keep the operating system and installed software up to date. Update (and activate) it using tools provided by the official developer.

Do not trust irrelevant emails sent from unknown (or suspicious) addresses, especially when such emails contain links or attachments. Emails of this kind often contain malicious files/links.

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 "Whats App - Missed Voice Message email scam" email letter:

Subject: Missed voicemail - 12:03

Whats App

Missed voice message.

Information

Date: Jul 2 12:03
Duration: 06 seconds

Play

© 2022 Whats App

Screenshot of the scam website promoted via this email:

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▼ 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 Whats App - Missed Voice Message scam?
• 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?

The only reason you have received this email is that scammers have your email address in their database. Emails of this type are not personal. Scammers send the same letter to all addresses they have.

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

If you provided your username, email address, passwords, or other login credentials on the opened page, change your passwords as soon as possible. Contact the corresponding authorities if you have provided credit card details, ID card information, or other information.

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

It depends on the file type. Typically, malicious executables infect computers right after they are opened/executed. However, other files (e.g., archives, MS Office documents) do not inject malware until additional steps are performed (e.g., macros commands are enabled).

I have read the email but did not open the attachment, is my computer infected?

No, emails cannot infect computers. Infections are caused by opening links or attachments in emails.

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

Yes, Combo Cleaner eliminates malware. It can detect almost all known malware. Since high-end malware usually hides deep in the system, it is required to scan computers infected with it using a full scan.

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