Avoid having your email account stolen via fake "MailBox Warning" emails

What kind of email is "MailBox Warning"?

Our inspection of the "MailBox Warning" email revealed that it is fake. This spam letter falsely claims that irregular activity was detected on the recipient's email account. The goal of this phishing mail is to trick recipients into disclosing their account credentials.

"MailBox Warning" email scam overview

The email with the subject "You have [7] undelivered mails" (may vary) informs that suspicious activity was detected on the recipient's email account. The recipient is instructed to verify their "Email Identity" to secure the account. It must be emphasized that this scam email is in no way associated with any real entities or service providers.

When we investigated this email, the link presented in it redirected to a dead webpage. However, potential future releases of this mail could promote a functional site.

Based on the theme of this spam letter, it is clear that it was intended to redirect to a phishing website. The page was likely presented as an email account sign-in page. Alternatively, it could have outright imitated the recipient's email sign-in webpage.

Information provided to phishing websites (e.g., email account address and corresponding password) is recorded and sent to scammers. In addition to stealing the exposed emails, cyber criminals may also hijack the content registered through them.

To expand upon the potential abuse, finance-related accounts (e.g., online banking, money transferring, cryptocurrency wallets, etc.) can be used to make fraudulent transactions and online purchases.

Scammers can also steal the identities of social account owners (e.g., emails, social media/networking, messengers, etc.) and ask the contacts/friends/followers for loans, promote scams, and proliferate malware by sharing malicious files/links.

To summarize, by trusting an email like "MailBox Warning" – users can experience severe privacy issues, financial losses, and identity theft.

If you have disclosed your account credentials – immediately change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and inform their official support without delay.

Threat Summary:

Name	"MailBox Warning" phishing email
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Irregular activity has been detected on the recipient's email account.
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

"Account Status At Risk", "Microsoft Outlook Account Will Be Disconnected", and "Webmail Action Required" are merely a few examples of phishing emails we have examined recently.

Aside from phishing, spam mail is also used to promote sextortion, tech support, callback, refund, lottery, inheritance, and various other scams. Furthermore, deceptive emails are utilized in malware proliferation.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

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

Once a virulent file is executed, run, or otherwise opened – the infection chain is triggered. However, some formats may need additional interaction to begin malware download/installation processes. For example, Microsoft Office documents require users to enable macro commands (i.e., editing/content), while OneNote files need them to click on embedded content (e.g., files, links, etc.).

How to avoid installation of malware?

We highly recommend being cautious with incoming emails and messages. Attachments or links present in dubious/irrelevant mail must not be opened, as they can be malicious and cause infections. Another recommendation is to use post-2010 Microsoft Office versions since they have the "Protected View" mode that prevents automatic macro command execution.

It must be mentioned that malware is not proliferated only through spam mail. Therefore, we advise downloading from official and trustworthy channels.

Additionally, all programs must be activated and updated using legitimate functions/tools, as illegal activation ("cracking") tools and third-party updaters can contain malware.

Furthermore, it is essential to be vigilant when browsing since fake and malicious content usually appears ordinary and harmless.

We must emphasize the importance of having a reputable anti-virus installed and kept updated. Security software must be used to run regular system scans and to remove detected 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 "MailBox Warning" spam email letter:

Subject: You have [7] undelivered mails

MailBox Warning

Dear -

Our server detected some irregular activities in your email today!

For your account security, we need you to verify your Email Identity immediately.
Please click the link below to secure your account.

Verify Email Account -

Please note that if you ignore this notice, your account will be shut down without further warning.

Thanks
mailbox Security Team

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Quick menu:

• What is "MailBox Warning" 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 mail is not personal. It is sent in massive operations – hence, thousands of users receive identical emails.

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 possibly compromised accounts and inform their official support without delay. And if your other private information has been exposed (e.g., ID card details, passport photos/scans, card numbers, etc.) – immediately contact the appropriate authorities.

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

No, just reading an email will not initiate any system infection processes. Devices are infected when malicious attachments or links are opened/clicked.

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

Whether your device was infected might depend on the opened file's format. If it was an executable (.exe, .run, etc.) – most likely, yes. However, document formats (.doc, .xls, .one, .pdf, etc.) may need additional interaction (e.g., enabling macro commands, clicking embedded files/links, etc.) to start downloading/installing malware.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Yes, Combo Cleaner is capable of detecting and eliminating most of the known malware infections. Note that performing a full system scan is crucial since sophisticated malicious software usually hides deep within systems.

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