Avoid getting scammed by fake "Your Outlook Is Full" emails
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on (updated)
What kind of email is "Your Outlook Is Full"?
After examining the "Your Outlook Is Full" email, we determined that it is spam. The letter makes false claims regarding the recipient's Outlook storage having reached capacity. The goal is to trick users into disclosing their account log-in credentials. It must be stressed that this mail is fake, and it is in no way associated with the actual Microsoft Outlook.
"Your Outlook Is Full" email scam overview
The email with the subject "Your Outlook storage is full" (may vary) states that the recipient's Outlook has reached its storage capacity. Due to this, Outlook cannot sync between devices. The email instructs to upgrade the storage or remove unwanted files.
As mentioned in the introduction, all these claims are fake, and they are in no way associated with Outlook or the Microsoft Company.
After we pressed the "Get more storage" button, it resulted in a redirect to a nonfunctional website – likely one intended to operate as a phishing site. It is most probable that it was designed to appear as an official account sign-in page. It must be mentioned that potential future releases of the "Your Outlook Is Full" spam campaign could redirect to a fully functional phishing webpage.
Phishing websites record the information provided to them. To elaborate, emails are of particular interest to cyber criminals since they are used to register other content, which could be accessed via a stolen email account.
Scammers can steal the identities of social account owners (e.g., emails, social networking, social media, messengers, etc.) and ask the contacts/friends/followers for loans or donations, promote scams, and even proliferate malware by sharing malicious files/links.
Finance-related accounts can be used to make unauthorized transactions and online purchases. Furthermore, the content obtained through file storage and transferring platforms could be used for blackmail.
To summarize, by trusting an email like "Your Outlook Is Full" – users can experience serious privacy issues, financial losses, and identity theft.
If you have already provided your log-in credentials – change the passwords or all potentially exposed accounts and inform their official support.
| Name | "Your Outlook Is Full" phishing email |
| Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud |
| Fake Claim | Outlook storage is full and needs to be expanded. |
| Disguise | Microsoft Outlook |
| 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
We have investigated thousands of spam emails; "The Bored Ape Pixel Club", "American Express Credit/Refund Adjustment Message", and "DHL Express Notification" are merely a few examples.
This mail can promote a wide variety of scams and even proliferate trojans, ransomware, and other malware. These letters can be variously disguised, including as messages from companies, service providers, organizations, institutions, and other entities.
Due to how widespread and potentially well-crafted spam mail can be – we strongly recommend exercising caution with incoming emails, PMs/DMs, SMSes, and other messages.
How do spam campaigns infect computers?
Spam campaigns distribute malware through attached or linked malicious files. These files can be in various formats, e.g., archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), documents (PDF, Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, etc.), JavaScript, and so forth.
When a virulent file is executed, run, or otherwise opened – the malware download/installation process is triggered. To expand upon this, Microsoft Office files infect devices by executing malicious macro commands, while infectious OneNote documents require users to click on embedded files/links.
How to avoid installation of malware?
We strongly recommend being careful with incoming emails and messages. Attachments or links found in suspicious/irrelevant mail must not be opened, as they can be malicious and cause infections. It is essential to use Microsoft Office versions released after 2010 since they have the "Protected View" mode that prevents automatic macro execution.
However, malware is not proliferated exclusively via spam mail. Therefore, we also advise being vigilant while browsing since fake and malicious content usually appears legitimate and harmless.
Additionally, all downloads must be performed from official and trustworthy channels. It is just as important to activate and update software using legitimate functions/tools, as illegal activation tools ("cracks") and third-party updates can contain malware.
We must emphasize that having a dependable anti-virus installed and kept up-to-date is paramount to device and user safety. Security software 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 "Your Outlook Is Full" spam email letter:
Subject: Your Outlook storage is full
Your Outlook is full
Your - Outlook storage is full. While your Outlook storage is full the documents, photos, and mails won’t sync to Outlook or your devices. Also, new documents and photos can’t be added.
To keep using Oulook, upgrade your storage or remove files you no longer use.
Get more storage
This email was sent from an unmonitored mailbox.
You are receiving this email because you have a Microsoft Outlook account.
Privacy Statement
Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052 USA
Another example of an email from "Your Outlook Is Full" spam campaign:
Text presented within:
Subject: Your mailbox is full
Outlook Mail
Hi ********
Your mailbox is 99% full.
Once your mailbox is full, sending, receiving and saving of messages will deallocate.
We notify you about this, to help regain your full access. Clean Up Mail.
This email was sent to ********
| HeIp | Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2023 ******** Microsoft Server Inc.
AIl rights reserved.
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Quick menu:
- What is "Your Outlook Is Full" 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 in mass-scale campaigns – 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 log-in credentials – immediately change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and inform their official support. And if you've provided other private information (e.g., ID card details, credit card numbers, etc.) – contact the appropriate authorities without delay.
I have read a spam email but didn't open the attachment, is my computer infected?
No, merely opening an email will not initiate any malware download/installation processes. Devices are infected when virulent files or links are opened.
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 system was infected. However, document formats (.doc, .xls, .one, .pdf, etc.) may need additional user interaction (e.g., enabling macro commands, clicking embedded content, etc.) to start malware download/installation processes.
Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?
Yes, Combo Cleaner is designed to scan systems and detect threats. It can eliminate practically all known malware infections. Note that performing a full system scan is essential since high-end malicious software typically hides deep within systems.
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