How to spot fake emails like "Email Account Has Been Used To Spread Malicious Content"

What is "Email Account Has Been Used To Spread Malicious Content"?

While investigating this email, we learned that it is a phishing letter disguised as a warning from an email service provider. The purpose of this scam email is to deceive recipients into opening a fake website and providing personal information on it. Thus, recipients should ignore this letter.

More about the "Email Account Has Been Used To Spread Malicious Content" scam email

The email claims that the recipient's email account has been used to spread malicious content, which is against the email provider's terms and conditions and could blacklist their server. The email suggests that the recipient may have been hacked and provides a link to authenticate the email.

It threatens that the email account will be disabled within 28 hours if the recipient fails to authenticate their account. The email also advises the recipient not to reply to the automated message and includes a copyright notice with the current year.

During our examination, the website that opens via the "Authenticate" button/hyperlink was down. However, there is a high chance that this phishing email is an attempt to steal login credentials by tricking recipients into clicking on the link and providing their personal information on a fake website.

Scammers can use stolen email account login credentials for a variety of malicious activities. For instance, they can gain unauthorized access to the victim's personal and sensitive information, such as financial details, login credentials for other online accounts, and personal correspondence.

Additionally, they may use the compromised email account to send phishing emails to the victim's contacts or to spread malware. In some cases, scammers may use the stolen credentials to reset passwords and take control of other online accounts associated with the victim's email address.

Threat Summary:

Name	Email Account Has Been Used To Spread Malicious Content Scam
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Malicious content has been spread using the recipient's email account
Disguise	Warning letter from an email service provider
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

Typically, phishing emails create a sense of urgency or fear to motivate the victim to take immediate action. They may also contain a call-to-action, such as clicking on a link or downloading an attachment, that leads the recipient to a fake website or malicious software.

Phishing emails may also use social engineering techniques to trick the target into disclosing personal information, such as login credentials or financial details. Finally, they often use tactics such as impersonating a reputable organization or person to appear legitimate.

Examples of such emails are "Messages Are Restrained Due To Low Bandwidth Email Scam", "Authentication Required Email Scam", and "HR Added You To The Working Group Email Scam". In addition to using email to extract sensitive information, cybercriminals can use it to deliver malware.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Threat actors deceive users into infecting computers via email by sending them emails that contain a malicious file or a link that leads to a fake website or malware. Some common examples of files used to trick users into infecting computers include malicious MS Office or PDF documents, JavaScript files, executables, ISO files, and archive files such as ZIP or RAR.

Once victims click on the link or download the attachment, the malware can infect their computers, either by exploiting vulnerabilities in operating systems or by tricking victims into granting the malware permission to install itself.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Be careful when opening attachments or clicking on links in suspicious emails, especially if they are irrelevant and from unknown addresses. Use reputable antivirus and anti-malware software and keep it up to date. Keep the operating system and all software up to date. Download programs and files from official pages and verified stores. Avoid using other sources.

Do not trust ads on shady pages. 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 "Email Account Has Been Used To Spread Malicious Content" email letter:

Subject: Warning: Verify Mail Account

This email account has been used to spread malicious content. This is an abuse of our terms and conditions and can blacklist our sever.

We understand you may have been hacked and we advice you follow the below link to Authenticate your email.
Authenticate

This Email ID "********" will be disabled in less than 28 hours without authentication.

Do not reply to this automated message.

The system generated this warning 3/26/2023 5:27:49 p.m.

Copyright © ******** 2023 All rights Reserved.

Screenshot of a phishing site designed to imitate recipient's email service provider website:

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Quick menu:

• What is Email Account Has Been Used To Spread Malicious Content 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?

Scammers send generic emails to thousands of people with no personalization, hoping that at least a few individuals will fall for their scam.

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

In case you have shared your account credentials, it is recommended that you change all your passwords as soon as possible. Additionally, if you have shared any other sensitive personal information, such as credit card details or ID card information, it is advisable to inform the relevant authorities immediately.

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

Opening an executable file attached to an email may infect the computer with malware. However, opening a document file like a PDF or DOC may not necessarily lead to infection since simply viewing the document may not be enough for malware to infiltrate the system.

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

Merely opening an email is not harmful in itself. However, clicking on links embedded within the email or opening attached files can result in a system infection.

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

Combo Cleaner can detect and remove almost all known malware infections, but i is important to note that some high-end malware can hide deeply within the system. Therefore, performing a full system scan is necessary to ensure complete removal.

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