How to avoid falling for scams like "Payment List By The Board Of Directors"

What is "Payment List By The Board Of Directors"?

Based on our investigation, it has been confirmed that this email has been falsified by individuals intending to engage in malicious activities. The main goal of these scammers is to trick recipients into sharing confidential information via a fraudulent page. Such pages are referred to as phishing sites.

More about the "Payment List By The Board Of Directors" scam email

The phishing email begins with a greeting and aims to grab attention by claiming to provide access to the June Payment list by the Board of Directors. It urges recipients to review the document and keep it for their records. A clickable link is provided to entice recipients to take action, suggesting that it leads to the viewable version of the June payroll.

By clicking on the provided link, users are directed to a fraudulent webpage designed to resemble a legitimate login site. This deceptive page prompts recipients to enter their email account login credentials (and possibly other information). The scammers behind this email intend to unlawfully acquire email addresses and passwords and (or) other information from unsuspecting victims.

With the login credentials, scammers can gain unauthorized access to the victim's email account. They can read, delete, or manipulate emails, potentially compromising sensitive information. Scammers may also use the stolen credentials to impersonate the victim, send fraudulent emails or engage in other forms of identity theft.

Moreover, scammers may search the compromised email account for valuable information, such as financial details, personal documents, or login credentials for other platforms. They can then use or sell this information on the dark web, leading to further privacy breaches and potential financial harm.

If the victim uses the same login credentials for other online accounts, scammers can attempt to access those accounts as well. This puts the victim's financial accounts, social media profiles, and other online services at risk.

Threat Summary:

Name	Payment List By The Board Of Directors Email Scam
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	The email contains a payment list
Disguise	Letter from an undisclosed company
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 commonly exhibit a sense of urgency or alarm, use deceptive sender information, contain suspicious links or attachments, and request personal information. These emails aim to manipulate recipients into taking immediate action or revealing sensitive data by creating a false sense of urgency, disguising the sender's identity, and utilizing malicious elements.

It is important to stay cautious and be wary of these common traits in order to protect oneself from phishing attacks. Examples of similar emails are "Apple Mobile Promo Draw Email Scam", "American Express Security Team Email Scam", and "Boxes Of Money Email Scam". It is important to know that emails of this kind can be used to distribute malware.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Malware is disseminated through email by incorporating malicious files or links within the messages. These files encompass a range of formats, such as archives (e.g., ZIP and RAR), executables (e.g., .exe and .run), documents (e.g., PDF and Microsoft Office), JavaScript files, ISO files, and others.

The infection occurs when a user executes, runs, or opens one of these files. For instance, malware can be deployed via Microsoft Office documents by executing harmful macro commands, whereas other files may necessitate additional actions to initiate the malware deployment.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Keep your software and operating system up to date. Be careful when opening email attachments or clicking on links, especially if they come from unknown or suspicious sources. Install reputable antivirus software and keep it updated. Refrain from downloading software from untrusted sources, and be cautious when interacting with pop-ups or advertisements on dubious sites.

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 List By The Board Of Directors" email letter:

Greetings -

Find June Payment list by the Board Of Directors.  Please review and keep your records.

VIEW JUNE PAYROLL

- Server.

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▼ 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 Payment List By The Board Of Directors 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 identical letters to numerous recipients, aiming for someone to fall victim to their schemes. These spam emails lack personalization and are sent en masse in the hope of deceiving unsuspecting individuals.

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

If you have shared any account credentials, it is crucial to change all passwords. Additionally, if you have disclosed other personal information, such as credit card details or ID card information, it is important to contact the relevant authorities immediately.

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

If the file was an executable, then it is highly likely that your computer may have been infected. However, if the file was a document (.pdf, .doc, or similar), you might have managed to avoid the infection since, in certain cases, simply opening the document is not sufficient for malware to infiltrate the system.

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

No, merely opening an email poses no harm on its own. It is the act of clicking links within the email or opening attached files that can result in system infections.

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. However, it is important to note that advanced malware often conceals itself deeply within the system. Therefore, performing a full system scan is highly recommended to ensure thorough detection and removal.

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