How to avoid falling for scams like "Societe Generale (SG)" email scam

What is kind of scam "Societe Generale (SG)" email scam?

Upon inspection of this email, it has been determined that it is a scam email. Scammers wrote it with the intention of obtaining sensitive information from the recipients. The email is written in French and includes a link to a phishing site. It is recommended that recipients disregard this email and others like it.

More about the "Societe Generale (SG)" scam email

This letter is a phishing email designed to trick the recipient into clicking on a hyperlink. It begins with a friendly greeting and asks if the recipient makes money transfers over the Internet.

It then claims that regulations require reinforced protection for online transactions and that the standard ceiling for daily transfers will be reduced to €500 unless the recipient clicks on a link to "Conserver mes plafonds" ("Keep my limits"). During our examination, the provided page was down.

The email stresses the importance of the recipient's security pass and provides a phone number for assistance. The overall tone of the email is urgent and manipulative, attempting to create a sense of urgency in the recipient to click on the link and provide personal information.

It is worth noting that this fraudulent email is designed to appear as if it were from Société Générale S.A. (SocGen), which is a legitimate multinational financial services company based in France. This company has no connection to this scam email.

Threat Summary:

Name	Societe Generale (SG) Email Scam
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Daily transfers will be reduced to €500
Disguise	Letter from Société Générale S.A. (SocGen)
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 scam emails in general

Phishing emails commonly employ tactics that generate a feeling of urgency and present links that direct the recipient to a fraudulent login page or a website contaminated with malware. These emails typically request sensitive information from the recipient, such as social security numbers, passwords, credit card information, ID card details, or other info.

Examples of phishing emails are "Automatically Generated Invoice Email Scam", "Requested Information Or Content Email Scam", and "Your Domain And/Or Service Requires Upgrade Email Scam". Email can also serve as a delivery method for malicious software by threat actors.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Malicious actors can embed files infected with malware into an email, luring the recipient into downloading and opening the attachment. Additionally, they can insert links within their emails that direct to malware-laden websites. Their objective is met when the recipient unknowingly downloads and activates the malware or accesses the infected website.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Be cautious when clicking on links or downloading attachments in unexpected emails or messages, especially if they come from unknown or suspicious sources. Avoid visiting untrustworthy or malicious websites, and only download software from reputable sources.

Avoid clicking shady ads. Keep your operating system, software, and antivirus programs up-to-date with the latest security patches and updates. If you have already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the "Societe Generale (SG)" email letter:

Subject: SOCIETE GENERALE

SG

SG Crédit du Nord, SG Grand Est, SG Société Générale... 10 nouvelles marques dès 2023

Bonjour,
 
Vous  réalisez occasionnellement ou régulièrement des virements par internet ?
 
Conformément à la règlementation, la protection de vos opérations en ligne se renforce .

ATTENTION : à partir d'aujourd'hui, le plafond standard des virements journaliers sera de 500€.
 
Pour vous permettre de conserver vos plafonds actuels  veuillez cliquer sur:-->Conserver mes plafonds

Votre sécuripass ainsi que votre numéro sont les premières conditions essentielles pour rester connecté. Pour toute question, vous pouvez contacter le numéro d'assistance 01 43 63 23 00 (appel local non surtaxé).

À très bientôt,
Crédit Agricole

Sécurité | Assistance | Engagement de confidentialité
Copyright © 2023

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Quick menu:

• What is Societe Generale (SG) 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 often send phishing emails in bulk to many email addresses, hoping that some people will fall for their tricks. Their emails are not personalized.

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

If you have provided your password, change the password for any accounts that may have been compromised, especially if you use the same password for multiple accounts. If you provided credit card or bank account information, contact your financial institutions immediately to alert them.

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

It depends on the file type. If you download and run a malicious executable, it can do serious damage to your computer. On the other hand, a document file (such as a .docx or .pdf file) is less risky than an executable because it does not have the same level of direct access to your computer.

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

If you received an email with a malicious attachment (or link) but did not open the attachment (or link), your computer is not infected with malware.

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

Combo Cleaner has the ability to identify and remove nearly all known malware infections. However, it is important to note that advanced malware can often conceal itself deeply within a system. Therefore, performing a comprehensive system scan is necessary to ensure all potential threats are detected and eliminated.

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