Do not trust fake "American Express Credit/Refund Adjustment Message" email

What kind of email is "American Express Credit/Refund Adjustment Message"?

Our examination of the "American Express Credit/Refund Adjustment Message" email revealed that it is a phishing scam targeting account credentials. The letter makes false claims regarding a refund – to receive which the recipient must verify their account ownership via the attached file. The attachment is a phishing file designed to record entered information.

"American Express Credit/Refund Adjustment Message" email scam overview

The email with the subject "You Have Pending Credit/Refund on Your Account" (may vary) informs the recipient that a refund has been issued to their American Express account. The spam letter instructs to download its attachment. Afterward, the recipient is to update and verify their account ownership via the attached file – thus enabling the refund transfer.

It must be emphasized that all these claims are fake. Furthermore, this email is in no way associated with the actual American Express Company.

The attachment ("Account_Payment_Message.html") is an HTML file used for phishing. It requests the user to sign into their American Express account. Log-in credentials (ID and password) entered into this file will be recorded and sent to the scammers behind this spam campaign.

The stolen account can then be used to perform fraudulent transactions, online purchases, or other finance and identity related misdeeds.

To summarize, victims of scams like "American Express Credit/Refund Adjustment Message" can experience severe privacy issues, significant financial losses, and even identity theft.

If you have already entered your log-in credentials into the phishing file – change the passwords of all potentially exposed accounts and inform their official support without delay. It may also be necessary to contact the appropriate authorities.

Threat Summary:

Name	"American Express Credit/Refund Adjustment Message" phishing email
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Recipient needs to verify their account to receive a refund.
Disguise	American Express
Attachment(s)	Account_Payment_Message.html (filename may vary)
Detection Names	Avast (HTML:PhishingBank-ECD [Phish]), Combo Cleaner (Trojan.HTML.Phishing.CAX), ESET-NOD32 (HTML/Phishing.Agent.EDK), Kaspersky (HEUR:Trojan.Script.Generic), Microsoft (Trojan:HTML/Phish.AL!MTB), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
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.

Phishing spam campaign examples

"American Express Security Team" is a spam email that bears a close similarity to "American Express Credit/Refund Adjustment Message", and "DHL Express Notification", "Asian Continental Lottery", "Bank Draft", "Webmail Password Center" – are just a few examples of phishing emails we have analyzed recently.

Spam mail promotes various scams and proliferates malware (e.g., trojans, ransomware, etc.). These letters can also be disguised as messages from legitimate companies, institutions, organizations, service providers, authorities, and other entities.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Spam emails can include infectious files as attachments or download links. These files can be documents (e.g., PDF, Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), JavaScript, and so forth.

When a virulent file is executed, run, or otherwise opened – the malware download/installation chain is triggered. For example, Microsoft Office documents infect devices by executing malicious macro commands, while infectious OneNote files need users to click on embedded files or links.

How to avoid installation of malware?

It is essential to treat incoming emails and other messages with caution. We advise against opening attachments or links present in dubious/irrelevant mail, as they can be virulent. Another recommendation is to use post-2010 Microsoft Office versions since they have the "Protected View" mode that prevents automatic macro commands.

It must be mentioned that malware is not distributed exclusively through spam mail. Therefore, we also advise being vigilant when browsing since fake and malicious online content usually appears legitimate and harmless.

Furthermore, all downloads must be performed from official and verified sources. It is just as important to activate and update software using genuine functions/tools, as illegal activation tools ("cracks") and third-party updaters can contain malware.

We must emphasize that having a dependable anti-virus installed and kept up-to-date is crucial to device integrity and user safety. Security programs must be used to run regular system scans and to remove detected 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 "American Express Credit/Refund Adjustment Message" spam email letter:

Subject: You Have Pending Credit/Refund on Your Account

AMERICAN EXPRESS

Credit/Refund Adjustment Message

Dear Card Member,

Merchant credit/refund was issued to your account.

For safety reasons, Please download attachment to review payment.
Update and verify your account ownership is required as a means to accept the incoming payment.

Message

This is an electronically generated notice.
-

Notice:  Account wlll be credited within 24hrs after you verify your ownership

Sincerely,
American Express Customer Service Team.

Screenshot of the phishing file distributed by this spam campaign ("Account_Payment_Message.html"):

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Quick menu:

• What is "American Express Credit/Refund Adjustment Message" 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. Cyber criminals distribute this mail by the thousand.

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

If you've provided your log-in credentials – change the passwords of all possibly compromised accounts and inform their official support without delay. And if you have disclosed other private information (e.g., ID card details, passport photos/scans, credit card numbers, etc.) – immediately contact relevant authorities.

I have read a spam email but didn't open the attachment, is my computer infected?

Devices are infected when malicious attachments/links are opened; merely reading an email is not enough to trigger infection processes.

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

If the opened file was an executable (.exe, .run, etc.) – most likely, yes – your device was infected. And if it was a document (.doc, .xls, .one, .pdf, etc.), you might have avoided triggering an infection. These formats may need additional user interaction, such as enabling macro commands, clicking embedded files/links, or other actions – to start downloading/installing malware.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Yes, Combo Cleaner is designed to detect and remove all manner of threats. It is capable of eliminating practically all known malware infections. Keep in mind that since sophisticated malicious software usually hides deep within systems – running a full system scan is paramount.

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