How to spot scams like "Bank Slip Email Scam"

What kind of scam is "Bank Slip"?

While examining this email, we learned it is a phishing letter claiming to contain a copy of a remittance. The link in this email leads to a phishing page - a deceptive site designed to steal personal information from visitors. Thus, recipients of this email should not open the provided page and disclose any details on it.

More about the "Bank Slip" scam email

The letter appears to be related to a remittance (a money transfer from one account to another). The subject line of the letter reads "Remittance Copy..." suggesting that it includes a copy of a remittance document.

It also claims that the sender of this letter has been verified from a safe senders list, implying that recipients can trust the source of the message. It instructs recipients to check their bank slips for payment, which implies that the remittance has been initiated and the funds are on their way.

The letter further states that the payment will reach recipients (their accounts) by the end of the day, indicating that the transfer is expected to be completed quickly. Recipients are also advised to review the payment details.

Clicking the "Review payment details" button/hyperlink opens a fake One Drive page offering to sign in with Outlook, AOL, Office 365, Yahoo!, or other Mail. The purpose of this site is to lure visitors into choosing one of the sign-in options and providing their email addresses and passwords.

If scammers obtain someone's email address and password, they can use that information to gain unauthorized access to the victim's email account. Once they have access to the victim's email account, they can use it to carry out a range of malicious activities, including accessing other accounts that use the stolen password.

Threat Summary:

Name	Bank Slip Email Scam
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	The email includes a copy of a remittance document
Disguise	Letter from a "safe senders list"
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 are fraudulent messages designed to trick the recipient into revealing sensitive information, such as login credentials, credit card details, or personal information. These emails are typically sent by scammers who impersonate a trustworthy organization to gain the recipient's trust and convince them to take action.

Phishing emails often include links or attachments that are designed to trick the recipient into visiting a fake website. Examples of phishing emails are "Webmail Security Changes Email Scam", "DHL - A Parcel Was Sent To You Email Scam", and "Product Availability Confirmation Email Scam". Emails can also be used to proliferate malware.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Threat actors send emails with attachments that contain malware. These attachments usually are disguised as legitimate files, such as PDF or Word documents, but once opened, they can install malware on the victim's computer. In other cases, they include links that lead to infected websites in their emails.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Avoid opening suspicious emails or clicking on links from unfamiliar senders. Before clicking on any links or downloading attachments, it is advisable to verify the authenticity of emails. Make sure to keep your operating system and software current with the latest security patches and updates.

Only download software from official websites, and avoid using P2P networks, unreliable websites, or similar sources to obtain programs or files. Use a reputable antivirus solution. Additionally, avoid clicking on advertisements displayed on suspicious websites.

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 "Bank Slip" email letter:

Subject: Remittance Copy ********

This sender has been verified from safe senders list.

Please check bank slip for payment,.
Payment will reach your account by the end of today.

Review payment details

Phishing page requesting for login credentials (GIF):

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 Bank Slip 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 are typically sent out in large numbers to a broad audience to trick at least someone into providing sensitive information or taking an action that benefits the sender. It is possible that you received a phishing email because your email address was obtained through a data breach or was part of a list purchased by the attacker.

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

If you have provided your login credentials in response to a phishing email, change your passwords immediately. If you cannot access the account anymore, contact the service provider.

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

In case the file was executable, it is highly likely that you have been infected. However, if it was a document in formats such as .pdf or .doc, you might have prevented the infiltration of malware since merely opening the document does not always result in a system infection.

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

Merely opening an email is entirely safe. The action of clicking on links within the email or opening attachments is what puts the system at risk of infection.

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. It is important to note that sophisticated malware often conceals itself deeply within the system. For this reason, performing a complete system scan is necessary.

▼ Show Discussion