How to spot fake emails like HR (Human Resources) scam email

What is "HR (Human Resources)" scam email?

Our team analyzed this email letter and found that it is a scam email written by scammers who aim to trick recipients into providing sensitive information. Emails of this type are called phishing emails. Scammers behind this particular email aim to lure recipients into opening the provided link and entering the requested info on the opened page.

"HR (Human Resources)" scam email in detail

This email is disguised as a letter from Human Resources (HR) department regarding a memo. It requests recipients to check the selected names on the provided website. Clicking the link in this email opens a phishing website requiring visitors to sign in.

That deceptive website asks visitors to provide their email addresses and passwords. Thus, it is clear that scammers aim to steal login credentials from email recipients/website visitors. It is important to mention that they could steal all accounts that can be accessed with the entered email address and password.

Depending on the types of stolen accounts, scammers could use them to steal identities, send spam or deliver malware, make fraudulent purchases/transactions, and more. Thus, it is strongly recommended not to trust emails of this type and, more importantly, not to provide any personal information on suspicious pages.

Threat Summary:

Name	HR (Human Resources) Email Scam
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Link in this email opens a memo.
Disguise	Letter from Human Resources deparment
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

Most scammers behind phishing emails pretend to be legitimate entities (e.g., companies or organizations). They aim to extract sensitive information (e.g., passwords, credit card details, ID card information, social security numbers, or other details). After inspecting many emails of this type, we noticed that they usually contain a link to a deceptive/fake website.

Examples of phishing emails are "AMERICAN GLOBAL TRADE Email Scam", "New Order Email Scam", and "Your Password Has Been Changed Email Scam". Another way to use email for malicious purposes is to send emails used to deliver malware.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Emails used to distribute malware contain malicious attachments or links. Such emails are used to trick recipients into opening malicious MS Office or PDF documents, JavaScript files, ISO files, executable files, archives (like ZIP and RAR), or other files. Recipients infect computers via email by executing malicious files or opening malicious pages.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Do not open attachments and links in suspicious emails (e.g., irrelevant emails sent from unknown addresses). Do not use untrustworthy sources (like P2P networks, unofficial pages, etc.) to download software or files. Always use official pages and stores to download them.

Keep your computer and installed software updated. Use reputable antivirus software for computer protection. 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 "HR (Human Resources)" scam email:

Subject: Approval Announcement

Dear All,

Kindly check below memo referring to the above subject from HR approval for your selected.

Memostaffportal/ ******** /staffolder/********/announcements/annual-ticket2022

Please do note that all names highlighted in  Red are the ones approved.

Kindly return your response to verify date onbefore the month end.

Please let me know,should you have further questions.

Thanks & Regards,

Director of Human Resources

HR Manager for ********

Email : ********
Web   : ********

Message to ******** delivered approval memo form 18/10/2022 09:10:37

Screenshot of the phishing website:

Another example of HR (Human Resources)-themed spam email promoting a phishing site:

Text presented within:

Subject: Notice: Important Information To All Employees

 

Requested by : HR Department
Position : Director of Human Resources

Dear All,

Kindly check the staff memo referring to the above subject from HR department regarding low compliance to the Annual Vacation Plan for year 2022.

-

Please do note that all names highlighted in red are those who have used less than 30% of their annual leave for 2022.

Terminated/exited employees, marked in yellow color are to be reconfirmed by each line manager/supervisors so kindly return your comments before Tuesday 15/11/2022.

Please let me know,should you have further questions.

Thanks & Regards,
Director of Human Resources
HR Manager
-

Email :- -
Web   :- -

Screenshot of the promoted phishing site designed to imitate the website of user's email provider:

Yet another example of HR (Human Resources)-themed spam email promoting a phishing site:

Text presented within:

Subject: Announcement/Open-Annual-Vacation/

 

Dear Gents,

Please check the Memo:

Refer to the above topic from the HR approval announcement for annual open vacation plan.
note that all the names highlighted in red are the approved listed.

A nnouncement/Open-Annual-Vacation/

Please request a return response by  Nov 28th maximum, please kindly take your time before marking the planned date, as indicated under the name label area in red on the record-sheet.

Continue to Stay Safe.

Human Resources
Announcement
********

HR Director

Human Resource Department
********

Screenshot of the promoted phishing site:

Yet another example of an email from "HR (Human Resources)" spam campaign:

Text presented within:

Subject: Month's Employees Performance Report, for September

 

Requested by  : HR Department
Position           : Director of Human Resources

Dear All,

Kindly check staff memo referring to the above subject from HR approval announcement
for our annual open vacation plan.
Please do note that all names highlighted in red are the ones approved for open vacation.

Terminated employees, marked in yellow color indicates staff status to be approved. Kindly return your response to verify date on/before next week.

Please let me know, should you have further questions.

NB: Please do not click on the link more twise. If you get an error, An updated link will be shared in an alternate email

Thanks & Regards,

Director of Human Resources

HR Manager

Screenshot of the attached HTML document designed for phishing purposes:

Yet another example of an email from "HR (Human Resources)" spam campaign:

Text presented within:

Subject: CV / Resume IT Engineer

 

Good Morning, please forward my Resume to the Human Resources Responsible in the case of any open position matching my profile was available, thank you. Buenos días, ruego reenvíe mi CV al responsable de RRHH por si les surgiera alguna vacante de mi perfil. Gracias. Marcos

Screenshot of the attached PDF document:

Yet another example of an email from "HR (Human Resources)" spam campaign:

Text presented within:

Subject: Annual Leave Compliance Report for 2023

 

Memo Desk : HR Department
Endorsed by : Director of Human Resources

Dear *********,

The HR Department has released the Annual Leave Compliance Report for 2023. You can access it via the following link:

hxxps://*********/Annual-Leave-Compliance-Report-2023

Employees highlighted in red have not yet complied with the 2023 Annual Leave plan, while those in green have met all requirements.

If you have any questions, please reply to this email.

Thanks & Regards,

Pcrisk Human Resources

HR@*********>

Yet another example of an email from "HR (Human Resources)" spam campaign:

Text presented within:

Subject: Annual Leave Vacation Compliance Report for 2024

 

Memo Desk : HR Department
Endorsed by : Director of Human Resources

Dear -,

Please find the attached 2024 March staff leave compliance report. You can access this document below:

-
If you have any questions, please reply to this email.
 

Thanks & Regards,

Director Human Resources

Yet another example of an email from "HR (Human Resources)" spam campaign:

Text presented within:

Subject: Encrypted Message Received

 

- HR has sent you a protected message.

Read the message

Learn about messages protected by Microsoft Purview Message Encryption.
Privacy Statement
Unsubcribe
Learn More on email encryption.
Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052

Instant automatic malware removal: Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced IT skills. Combo Cleaner is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
▼ 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 HR (Human Resources) 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?

Your email has likely been leaked or provided on an untrustworthy website. Scam emails are not personal - scammers send them to all addresses they have.

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

If you provided your password on the phishing website received via this email, change your passwords as soon as possible.

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

It depends on the type of that file. Executable files infect computers right after they are opened. However, other files (e.g., MS Office documents, archives) are harmless until additional steps are performed (e.g., macros commands are enabled or extracted files are executed).

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

No, it is safe to open emails used to deliver malware without clicking links or opening attachments.

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

Yes, Combo Cleaner can detect and eliminate almost all known malware. Typically, high-end malware hides deep in the system. For this reason, the operating system must be scanned using a full scan.

▼ Show Discussion