How to spot fake emails like "Sales Contract" scam email

What kind of scam is "Sales Contract"?

Upon reviewing this letter, we have determined that it is a phishing email aimed at obtaining sensitive information from its recipients. The email includes an attachment that leads to a fraudulent website. It is disguised as a letter regarding a sales contract from the Sea Map Group.

More about the "Sales Contract" scam email

This phishing email appears to be from a sales representative named Bohdan Danilo, who is supposedly part of a company called Sea Map Group. The email asks recipients to review a PDF document containing a trial order and to arrange a sales contract accordingly.

The email also requests the FOBa price and lead time for production and states that the best-selling price is needed as they are evaluating offers from other companies. The email contains a hyperlink ("Download the file from the PDF" button) which opens a fake login form designed to lure users into providing sensitive information.

The fake page displays a message claiming that the file is protected by AdobeDoc® Security and prompts users to enter their email and password to access the document. However, entering the requested information and clicking on the "View PDF Document" button does not provide access to the document. It results in sensitive information being compromised.

Scammers can use the entered email address and password on a fake page to gain access to the victim's email account and any other accounts that use the same login credentials. They can then use this access to steal sensitive information, such as personal and financial information, or to conduct further phishing attacks on the victim or their contacts.

Additionally, scammers may sell login credentials on the dark web to other criminals.

Threat Summary:

Name	Sales Contract Email Scam
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	The file attached to the email contains details regarding a trial order
Disguise	Letter from a representative of the Sea Map Group
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 often share certain similarities, such as urgent requests for personal information or actions, generic greetings, grammatical errors, and suspicious sender email addresses or domains. They may also try to create a sense of legitimacy by using logos and branding of reputable companies or organizations.

Additionally, phishing emails often contain malicious links or attachments that, when clicked, can install malware or lead to fake login pages designed to steal login credentials. Examples of similar emails are "Improvements To All Our e Mail Servers Scam", "Reconfirm Shipping Documents Email Scam", and "Your Account Expiry Email Scam".

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Threat actors rely on recipients to download and execute malware by opening malicious attachments or clicking on links in emails to infect computers. However, it should be noted that not all malicious files infect computers right away (e.g., malicious documents infect computers after enabling macros commands).

Cybercriminals use various file types to spread malware, such as malicious MS Office or PDF documents, executables, JavaScript files, archives, ISO files, etc.

How to avoid installation of malware?

In order to avoid malware infections, it is important to avoid opening links or attachments in emails from unknown sources, particularly if they appear irrelevant. Only download software from trustworthy sources like verified stores and official websites, and avoid clicking on advertisements on suspicious websites.

Keep your operating system and software up-to-date, use reliable antivirus software, and conduct regular system scans for potential threats. 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 "Sales Contract" email letter:

Subject: REQUEST ORDER

Dear Sir/ Ma

Kindly go through the request below.

I shared with you on  PDF our trial order for your reference.
 
Review the details on the list, please arrange a sales contract according to the order for our approval & proceeding.

Please give me the FOBa price and latest lead time for this production as we will like it to be delivered soonest.

Your best selling price is needed as we are already evaluating price offers from other companies.

Download file from PDF

Hope to get your quick response.

Kind Regards
Bohdan Danilo

Sales Representative
Sea Map Group

Screenshot of the fake login form opened via the attached file:

Another example of an email from "Sales Contract" spam campaign:

Text presented within:

Subject: Final ******** Sales Contract

 

******** Portal
 
FYI.
********, attached is the final sales Contract. Sign and return by email.

******** SALES CONTRACT   Approved

Open Document

Screenshot of the phishing site promoted via this email:

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Quick menu:

• What is Sales Contract 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 send out identical letters to thousands of individuals in the hope that one of them will be deceived. Such scam emails are always impersonal.

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

In the event that you have disclosed any account credentials (e.g., username and password), it is advisable to change all your passwords as soon as possible. If you have also shared other personal details such as credit card information, ID card details, etc., it is important to reach out to the relevant authorities immediately.

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

The file likely infected your computer if it was an executable. However, in the case that it was a document (.pdf, .doc, or a similar format), there is a possibility that you may have evaded the infection, as in certain instances, merely opening the document may not be sufficient for the malware to penetrate the system.

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

Simply opening an email alone does not pose any risk to the system. It can happen when you click links embedded in the email or open attached files.

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

Combo Cleaner has the capability to identify and remove nearly all malware. However, it is important to note that sophisticated malware is often deeply concealed within the system. Therefore, it is imperative to conduct a complete system scan to ensure its detection and removal.

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