Avoid losing your email via fake "Payment Proforma Invoice / Contract" emails
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on (updated)
What kind of email is "Payment Proforma Invoice / Contract"?
After inspecting the "Payment Proforma Invoice / Contract" email, we determined that it is spam. This letter operates as a phishing scam; it makes false claims regarding a received voice message to trick recipients into attempting to sign in via a fake website. This spam campaign targets email account log-in credentials.
"Payment Proforma Invoice / Contract" email scam overview
The spam email with the subject "New Voicenote" (may vary) informs the recipient that a contact from their address book has sent them an audio note. After we clicked the "Listen to VoiceMessage" button, it resulted in a redirect to a phishing site. This website mimics the recipient's email account sign-in webpage; however, despite its potentially legitimate appearance – it is fake.
Phishing pages are designed to record the information (e.g., email passwords, etc.) provided to them. Hence, by trusting this scam letter – users can have their email accounts stolen and potentially the content registered through them.
To expand upon this, scammers can steal the identities of social account owners (e.g., emails, social networking, social media, etc.) and ask the contacts/friends/followers for loans or donations, promote scams, and proliferate malware by sharing malicious files/links.
Furthermore, hijacked finance-related accounts (e.g., online banking, money transferring, e-commerce, etc.) can be used to perform unauthorized transactions or online purchases.
To summarize, victims of spam emails like "Payment Proforma Invoice / Contract" can experience system infections, serious privacy issues, financial losses, and identity theft.
If you have already entered your log-in credentials into a phishing website – immediately change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and contact their official support.
| Name | "Payment Proforma Invoice / Contract" phishing email |
| Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud |
| Fake Claim | Recipient has been sent a voice message. |
| 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. |
Phishing spam campaign examples
"Microsoft Corporation - Email Account Update", "Email Access Is Set To Expire", "Sales Contract", and "Improvements To All Our e Mail Servers" are just a few examples of phishing emails that we have examined recently.
Spam mail is used to promote a wide variety of scams and to distribute malware. These letters can wear various disguises, including as messages from legitimate service providers, companies, organizations, authorities, and other entities.
Due to how widespread spam mail is – we strongly recommend being vigilant with incoming emails, PMs/DMs, SMSes, and other messages.
How do spam campaigns infect computers?
Spam campaigns spread malware by distributing malicious files. These files can be attached to or linked inside the emails/messages. Infectious files come in various formats, e.g., documents (Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, PDF, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), JavaScript, and so forth.
When such a file is executed, run, or otherwise opened – the infection process (i.e., malware download/installation) is initiated. For example, Microsoft Office documents infect systems by executing malicious macro commands, while virulent OneNote files need users to click on embedded content (i.e., files, links, etc.).
How to avoid installation of malware?
We strongly advise against opening attachments or links found in dubious/irrelevant mail (e.g., emails, DMs/PMs, SMSes, etc.), as they can be malicious and cause infections. It is important to use post-2010 Microsoft Office versions since they have the "Protected View" mode that prevents automatic macro execution.
It must be mentioned that malware is not spread exclusively via spam mail. Therefore, we also recommend exercising caution while browsing since fake and dangerous online content usually appears ordinary and harmless.
Additionally, all downloads must be performed from official and trustworthy sources. Another recommendation is to activate and update programs by using legitimate functions/tools, as illegal activation ("cracking") tools and third-party updates can contain malware.
We must stress the importance of having a dependable anti-virus installed and kept up-to-date. This software must be used to run regular system scans and to remove threats and issues. 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 "Payment Proforma Invoice / Contract" spam email letter:
Subject: New Voicenote
Payment Proforma Invoice / Contract
Dear paulius, You received a new audio note from a contact in your address book
Listen to VoiceMessage
Date: 1 May 2023
Time: 3:24:46 A.m.
Copyright © 2023 Voicemail-Box, All rights reserved.
Screenshot of the phishing website promoted by the "Payment Proforma Invoice / Contract" spam campaign:
Another example of Proforma contract-themed spam email promoting a phishing site:
Text presented within:
Subject: A new contract document has been shared with you on Microsoft Sharepoint.
Dear -,Find enclosed contract for Proforma from our office in Berlin.
If we(headquarters) are to make payment, please make a new Proforma.Get Your Files
Another example of proforma invoice-themed spam email:
Text presented within:
Subject: REQUIRE PROFIT SHARE // JOB NO-23240468 // Quotation
Dear Sir/Madame,
PFA proforma invoice, kindly confirm the same.
Best Regards,
Vishakha
+917304055466
B&N Logistics Pvt. Ltd.
101, Devshanker Soc, Archarya Tulsi Marg, Pingle Chowk,
Near Sarvesh Mangal Karyalay, Dombivli East.
Thane 421201, India
www.bnlogistics.co.in
# Services Unlimited #
Yet another example of an email from "Payment Proforma Invoice / Contract" spam campaign:
Text presented within:
Subject: new order 994750
HTML Editor - Full Version
Dear -,
Attached you can find our new order 994750.
We kindly ask you to send us your proforma invoice as order confirmation.
For any questions don't hesitate to contact me.
Best Regards,Jason Cheng.
Attachment(1 )
Ordinary Attachment (Has been scanned by the computer manager cloud scan engine)
NEW FRESH P0#994750-9488-[ China ].xlsx (23.68K)
Download Open
Screenshot of the promoted phishing site:
Yet another example of an email from "Payment Proforma Invoice / Contract" spam campaign:
Text presented within:
Subject: PO # DPS/PO017587
PO # DPS/PO017587
Dear -,
Please find attached Click to View PO # DPS/PO017587 and kindly send us Performa Invoice for the same to arrange PDC and also provide ETA for the same.
Thanks.
Shafqat Hussain
Procurement Coordinatordesk :
mobile : +966 53 539 2852
eMail : Shafqat.Hussain@Action-is.com
Screenshot of the promoted phishing site:
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Quick menu:
- What is "Payment Proforma Invoice / 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?
Spam emails are not personal. They are distributed in massive operations – hence, thousands of users receive identical messages.
I have provided my personal information when tricked by this spam email, what should I do?
If you have disclosed your account credentials – change the passwords of all potentially compromised accounts and inform their official support without delay. And if you've provided other private information (e.g., ID card details, credit card numbers, etc.) – immediately contact the appropriate authorities.
I have read a spam email but didn't open the attachment, is my computer infected?
Devices are infected when malicious attachments or links are opened/clicked; merely opening/reading an email will not trigger malware download/installation processes.
I have downloaded and opened a file attached to a spam email, is my computer infected?
Whether an infection occurred might depend on the opened file's format. If it was an executable (.exe, .run, etc.) – most likely, yes – your device was compromised. However, you might have avoided this if it was a document (.doc, .xls, .pdf, .one, etc.) since these formats may require additional interaction (e.g., enabling macro commands, clicking on embedded content, etc.) to start downloading/installing malware.
Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?
Yes, Combo Cleaner is designed to detect and remove threats. It is capable of eliminating nearly all known malware infections. It must be emphasized that since sophisticated malicious software typically hides deep within systems – performing a full system scan is essential.
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