How to avoid falling for scams like "Documents Inquiry" email scam
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on
What kind of scam email is "Documents Inquiry"?
After inspecting the email, we have confirmed that it is a phishing scam disguised as a letter regarding some important inquiry. The scammers aim to deceive the recipients into giving away their personal information. Therefore, we recommend marking the email as spam and deleting it.
More about the "Documents Inquiry" scam email
The email is a brief message titled "Important enquiry." It is short and asks the recipient to "see below documents our inquiry and advise at the earliest." The letter does not provide any additional context or information about the nature of the inquiry or what kind of documents are attached.
Files attached to this email lead to a phishing website asking to enter an email address and password to sign in. Therefore, it is evident that the scammers who sent this email are attempting to deceive the recipients into disclosing their login information.
Scammers can misuse login credentials obtained through phishing attacks by using them to gain unauthorized access to various accounts. They may use this access to steal sensitive information, such as financial or personal data, and use it for fraudulent purposes, such as identity theft or financial fraud.
Scammers can also use the login credentials to send spam or phishing emails to the victim's contacts, perpetuating the scam further. Additionally, they can sell login credentials on the dark web to other cybercriminals, who can then use them for a range of illegal activities.
| Name | Documents Inquiry Email Scam |
| Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud |
| Fake Claim | Recipients should review the attached inquiry |
| Disguise | Letter regarding important inquiry |
| 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. |
Similar scam emails in general
Typically, phishing emails ask recipients to provide personal login credentials (e.g., usernames and passwords), credit card numbers, social security numbers, or other details. They often create a sense of urgency or panic, urging the recipient to act immediately. It is common for such emails to be disguised as letters from legitimate entities or real people.
Examples of phishing emails are "ACCOUNT SHUT-DOWN Email Scam", "Your Email Access Will Be Removed Email Scam", and "Societe Generale (SG) Email Scam". Threat actors can also use emails to trick users into infecting their computers.
How do spam campaigns infect computers?
Users can inadvertently infect their computers through email by opening malicious attachments or clicking on links sent by cybercriminals. These attachments can take various forms, including malicious MS Office or PDF documents, archives containing other harmful files, ISO files, JavaScript files, or executables.
The attackers aim to deceive users into downloading and executing the malware on their own. It is important to mention that not all malicious files infect computers immediately upon being opened. For example, with malicious MS Office documents, the user may need to enable macros commands for the malware to execute.
How to avoid installation of malware?
Exercise caution when receiving emails containing files or links, particularly if the sender is unfamiliar or the message seems irrelevant. Download software only from official websites and verified app stores, and avoid clicking on advertisements or links on suspicious websites or notifications from such pages.
Regularly update the operating system and installed software, and conduct antivirus scans to detect and remove potential threats. For added protection, use reputable security 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 "Documents Inquiry" email letter:
Subject: Important enquiry;
Dear info,
Please see below documents our inquiry and advise at the earliest.
Waiting for your reply.
Regards
Pernilla2 attachments — Scan and download all attachments
Inquiry Doc1.pdf
146K View as HTML Scan and download
Inquiry Doc2.pdf
129K View as HTML Scan and download
Screenshot of the phishing page promoted via this email:
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Quick menu:
- What is Documents Inquiry phishing 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?
This email is not personal. However, sometimes, phishing emails may be personalized to make them appear more legitimate.
I have provided my personal information when tricked by this email, what should I do?
Change your password immediately. Go to a legitimate website and change your password as soon as possible. It is advisable to change all passwords.
I have downloaded and opened a file attached to an email, is my computer infected?
It is possible that your computer could be infected if you have opened a file attached to an email, especially if it was a phishing email or if you were not expecting the attachment.
I have read the email but did not open the attachment, is my computer infected?
Simply opening an email is safe and poses no harm.
Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections that were present in email attachment?
Combo Cleaner can identify and remove almost all known malware infections. It is important to note that sophisticated malware may be deeply embedded in the system, which is why performing a full system scan is necessary.
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