How to spot scams like "Mail Error" emai scam

What kind of scam is "Mail Error"?

We have analyzed this letter and determined that it is written by fraudsters hoping to obtain personal information from recipients. This email contains a link to a phishing website. It is disguised as a letter from an email service provider. It should be marked as spam and deleted.

More about the "Mail Error" scam email

The subject of this email implies that it is a letter regarding undelivered mail. It claims that the recipient has pending incoming emails stuck on the server. Allegedly, those emails got stuck due to an error with the recipient's current session authentication. This scam email instructs the recipient to use the portal below to fix the problem.

The "Repair [recipient's email address] and "Re-authenticate your session" buttons in this email open a fake email account login page requesting to enter an email address and password. This page is used to steal login credentials that could be used to hijack email accounts and other accounts that can be accessed with the same login details.

Providing information on phishing websites can lead to identity theft, monetary loss, and other problems. Depending on the hijacked accounts, scammers could also use them to make fraudulent purchases and transactions, send spam, deliver malware, and other purposes.

Threat Summary:

Name	Mail Error Scam
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Incoming messages are "stuck" on the mail server.
Related Domain	mitex.uvasi[.]site
Detection Names	Avira (Phishing), Combo Cleaner (Malware), ESET (Phishing), Kaspersky (Phishing), Sophos (Phishing), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
Disguise	Letter from an email service provider
Symptoms	Unauthorized online purchases, changed online account passwords, identity theft, monetary loss.
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 scam emails in general

Phishing emails usually are disguised as letters from various companies, organizations, or other entities. They contain links designed to open deceptive/fake websites or ask to provide personal information directly via email. Scammers use phishing emails and pages to extract credit card details, passwords, ID card information, and other sensitive details.

More examples of phishing emails are "YоuTubе Suppоrt Shared An Item", "FIFTH THIRD BANK", and "Email Security Update". Crooks can also use email to trick recipients into infecting their computers with malware.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Emails used to trick recipients into infecting computers with malware contain malicious attachments or links. Threat actors behind them aim to trick recipients into opening malicious MS Office or PDF documents, JavaScript files, executables, archives (like ZIP, RAR), ISO files, or other files or malicious pages.

Users infect computers when they execute malware (or open malicious pages) by themselves.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Do not click links or open files received via email without being sure that it is safe. Examine emails before opening their contents (especially when they are irrelevant and sent from unknown/suspicious addresses).

Keep the operating system and installed software updated. Use reputed antivirus software. Download software from official pages and stores (avoid using other sources). Do not trust advertisements on questionable websites. Never use third-party tools to update or activate any software.

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 "Mail Error" scam email:

Subject: Undelivered Email

Mail Error
Dear ******** user.

You have pending incoming emails stuck on the mail server.

An error occured with your current session authentication.

We suggest that you kindly use the portal below to repair and authenticate.

failed ******** mailbox.

Repair ********
Re-authenticate your session

This is an automated email for pcrisk.com users only.Please do not reply

Thank you,

******** SUPP0RT ADMIN.

Screenshot of the fake email account login page:

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 Mail Error 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?

Phishing emails usually are non-targeted. Scammers send the same email to all recipients. Their emails are not personal.

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

Change your passwords immediately. Especially if the password (and email address) provided on the phishing page can be used to access more than one account.

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

Malicious executables infect computers right after opening them. Malicious MS Office documents are harmless until macros commands are enabled. It depends on the type of the opened file. Not all malicious files infect computers once they are opened.

Was my computer actually hacked and does the sender have any information?

No, your computer was not actually hacked (or infected). Scammers could have old passwords retrieved from databases containing leaked information.

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

A computer cannot be infected by an email.

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

Combo Cleaner can detect almost all known malware. It detects threats and removes them. A computer infected with high-end malware must be scanned using a full system scan. Typically, malware of this kind is designed to hide deep in the operating system.

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