How to spot phishing emails like the Webmail Manager email

What is Webmail Manager email scam?

After examining this email, we found that it is a deceptive email masquerading as a letter from an email service provider. Scammers behind it attempt to trick recipients into opening the provided website link. Their goal is to extract sensitive information via a phishing website.

More about the Webmail Manager email scam

Scammers behind this email attempt to trick recipients into believing that their email accounts will be suspended if they do not restore their domain server. They instruct recipients to click the "Server Request" button to reset DNS. Clicking that button opens a fake login page asking to provide an email address and password.

Providing email account login credentials on that phishing page can lead to loss of access to an email account and to other accounts. Typically, scammers try to access more than one account to get the most of the obtained information. They succeed when victims use the same password for more than one account.

Threat Summary:

Name	Webmail Manager Email Scam
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Email account will be suspended
Disguise	Letter from an email service provider
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

Phishing emails are used to extract personal/sensitive information (e.g., credit card details, login credentials, ID card information, social security numbers). Usually, scammers behind such emails pretend to be legitimate entities. They aim to trick recipients into providing information on the received website or via email.

Examples of similar emails are "Correos Email Scam", "Meeting Reminder Email Scam", and "Server Configuration Manager Email Scam". Cybercriminals use email not only to extract sensitive information but also to deliver malware.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Emails that threat actors send to proliferate malware contain malicious attachments or links. Recipients infect computers after downloading and executing a malicious file. Usually, threat actors send malicious MS Office or PDF documents, ISO files, archives (e.g., ZIP, RAR), JavaScript files, or executables.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Do not open website links and attachments presented in irrelevant emails sent from unknown, suspicious addresses. Examine suspicious emails before downloading and opening files from/through them. Also, always use official sites and stores to download software and files.

Keep all installed software and the operating system up to date. Note that the only safe way to update and activate the installed software is to use implemented functions (or tools) provided by its developer.

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 Webmail Manager email:

Subject: ******** Server Update!!

Webmail Manager

Dear Valued Customer,
********,

Your e-mail account address is important to us.

This is to inform you that your account will be suspended.

Server IMAP Address (POP3) : ********,

Your domain server (DNS) default must be Restored.

Click below button for your DNS account reset:

Server Reset

This is an automated reply to your email and shall get back to you shortly.

Thank you for choosing webmail domain.

Do not reply to this automated message.

Copyright© 2022 cPanel, LLC

Screenshot of the phishing website:

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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 Webmail Manager phishing email?
• 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 use email addresses obtained after data breaches, through fake websites, etc. They send the same email to all addresses (their emails are not personal). Scammers aim to trick as much people as possible into falling for their scam.

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

If you have provided your password on a fake website, change your passwords immediately and never use the same password for two or more accounts in the future (if you have been doing so before falling for this scam).

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

Not all files infect computers in the same manner. For example, malicious MS Office documents cannot cause any harm until editing is enabled (until macros commands are enabled). Executable files infect computers right after users execute them. It depends on the type of file you opened.

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

No, it is harmless to open emails even if they contain malicious links or attachments.

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

Yes, Combo Cleaner can detect and eliminate almost all known malware. Since high-end malware usually hides deep in the operating system, it cannot be detected without running a full system scan.

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