Avoid losing your email via fake "Mail Account Deactivation Notice" messages

What kind of email is "Mail Account Deactivation Notice"?

After inspecting the "Mail Account Deactivation Notice" letter, we determined that it is a phishing email. This mail states that the recipient's account will be deactivated, and to prevent this – an authentication process using the email password is necessary. However, all these claims are fake and merely used to trick users into exposing their email accounts.

"Mail Account Deactivation Notice" email scam overview

The spam email informs the recipient that their account will be deactivated within 24 hours. The process can be canceled by using the email account password for authentication. It must be stressed that all these claims are false, and this mail is in no way associated with any genuine service providers.

Once we clicked the "CANCEL DEACTIVATION" button, it resulted in a redirect to a phishing site that mimics the recipient's email account sign-in webpage. Phishing websites operate by recording entered information.

Cyber criminals can not only steal the exposed emails but may also gain access to the content registered through them. To expand on the potential abuse: finance-related accounts (e.g., online banking, money transferring, e-commerce, cryptowallets, etc.) can be used to make fraudulent transactions and online purchases.

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

While any vulnerable, confidential, or compromising content discovered on hijacked storage platforms could be used for blackmail or other nefarious purposes.

To summarize, by trusting an email like "Mail Account Deactivation Notice" – users can experience severe privacy issues, financial losses, and even identity theft.

If you have already provided your log-in credentials to a phishing site – immediately change the passwords of all potentially compromised accounts and inform their official support.

Threat Summary:

Name	"Mail Account Deactivation Notice" phishing email
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Recipient's email account will be deactivated within 24 hours.
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

"Final Release Waiver", "Blockchain.com - Your Account Is Locked", and "HelpDesk Mail Delivery Failure" are merely a couple examples of phishing emails we have investigated recently.

Aside from various scams, spam mail is also used to proliferate malware. These emails can be basic or elaborately disguised as messages from legitimate service providers, companies, institutions, organizations, authorities, or other entities.

Due to how prevalent and possibly 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 emails/messages can include malicious files as attachments or download links. These files can be documents (Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, PDF, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), archives (RAR, ZIP, etc.), JavaScript, and so forth. When a virulent file is executed, run, or otherwise opened – the malware download/installation process is triggered.

However, some formats may need extra interaction to jumpstart these processes. For example, Microsoft Office documents require users to enable macro commands (i.e., content/editing), while OneNote files need them to click on embedded files/links.

How to avoid installation of malware?

We strongly recommend approaching incoming emails and other messages with care. Attachments or links found in dubious mail must not be opened, as they can be infectious. Another recommendation is to use post-2010 Microsoft Office versions since they have the "Protected View" mode that prevents automatic macro execution.

Since malware is not proliferated only through spam mail, we also advise being vigilant when browsing, as fake and malicious online content usually appears harmless.

Additionally, all downloads must be performed from official and trustworthy channels. It is just as important to activate and update software by using legitimate functions/tools, as illegal activation tools ("cracks") and fake updates can contain malware.

We must emphasize that having a dependable anti-virus installed and kept updated is essential to device/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 "Mail Account Deactivation Notice" spam email letter:

Subject: - Deactivation Notice for “-”

Client Configuration settings for "*********".
    
Mail Account Deactivation Notice!!

 

Secure  SSL/TLS Settings (Recommended)

 

Username:    *********

Password:    Use the email account's password to cancel.

Incoming Server:    mail.*********
IMAP Port: 993  POP3 Port: 995

Outgoing Server:    mail.*********
SMTP Port: 465
IMAP, POP3, and SMTP require authentication.

 

Deactivation process will begin in 24hours:
Cancel deactivation if ********* is still in use!

CANCEL DEACTIVATION

This notice is the result of a request made by a computer with the  IP address of "95.179.144.86" through the "cpanel" service on the server to deactivate service.

The system generated this notice on 7/19/2023 11:19:32 p.m.
Do not reply to this automated message.

Screenshot of the phishing website promoted by the "Mail Account Deactivation Notice" spam campaign:

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Quick menu:

• What is "Mail Account Deactivation Notice" 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. This mail is distributed in massive 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 account credentials – change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and inform their official support without delay. And if you've provided other private data (e.g., ID card details, credit card numbers, etc.) – immediately contact the corresponding authorities.

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

No, merely opening/reading an email will not initiate any system infection chains. Devices are infected when malicious attachments 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, you might have avoided this if it was a document (.doc, .xls, .one, .pdf, etc.). These formats may require additional user interaction (e.g., enabling macro commands, clicking embedded content, 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 essential since high-end malicious programs typically hide deep within systems.

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