How to spot scams like "Your Mailbox Will Be Temporarily Blocked"
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on
What is "Your Mailbox Will Be Temporarily Blocked"?
Our investigation revealed that this email is a phishing attempt, cleverly disguised as a letter from an email service provider. The scammers intend to deceive recipients into divulging sensitive personal information. To achieve this, they utilize a phishing website.
More about the "Your Mailbox Will Be Temporarily Blocked" scam email
The email claims that a mailbox will be temporarily blocked and prompts recipients to log into their portal to prevent any disruptions to their mailbox. It further suggests that recipients should log in for assistance if they encounter unresolved issues.
The email aims to trick recipients into clicking on the provided link and entering their login credentials on a deceptive website designed to steal their information.
With stolen email account login credentials, scammers can gain unauthorized access to the victim's email account. This enables them to monitor the victim's incoming and outgoing emails and potentially intercept sensitive information or data.
Scammers can also use the compromised email account to send phishing emails to the victim's contacts, spreading the attack further and increasing the chances of additional victims falling into their traps.
Moreover, they may use the stolen email credentials to access other accounts linked to the victim's email address, such as social media, online banking, or other sensitive platforms, causing significant privacy breaches and potential financial losses.
| Name | Your Mailbox Will Be Temporarily Blocked Email Scam |
| Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud |
| Fake Claim | Recipient's mailbox will be temporarily blocked |
| Disguise | Letter from an email service provider |
| 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. |
Similar scam emails in general
Most phishing emails share common characteristics, such as a sense of urgency or fear to prompt quick action from recipients. They often contain suspicious links or attachments, aiming to redirect users to fake websites or deliver malware to their systems.
Phishing emails frequently impersonate trusted organizations, using logos, graphics, and email addresses that resemble legitimate sources, attempting to deceive recipients into divulging sensitive information, such as login credentials, financial data, or personal details.
Examples of phishing emails are "Mail Account Deactivation Notice", "Final Release Waiver", and "Blockchain.com - Your Account Is Locked".
How do spam campaigns infect computers?
Users can inadvertently infect their computers via email by clicking malicious links or downloading and opening infected email attachments. Usually, cybercriminals distribute emails that carry infected files in formats such as .exe, .doc, .xls, .pdf, or .zip. However, not all files trigger infections in the same way.
For instance, malware can be embedded in macros within documents, such as Word or Excel files. If the user enables macros, the malware is executed. Executable files infect computers after running them.
How to avoid installation of malware?
Regularly update your operating system, software applications, and security tools to patch vulnerabilities. Avoid opening email attachments or clicking links from unknown or suspicious addresses, especially when emails are unexpected or irrelevant. Only download software and files from official and trustworthy websites (or app stores).
Be skeptical of ads on dubious websites and avoid granting notification permissions to questionable sites. Install and maintain up-to-date antivirus and anti-malware software. 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 Mailbox Will Be Temporarily Blocked" email letter:
Subject: #Your password will expire in 1 day(s) ! 7/19/2023 11:55:46 p.m.
Verification Required !Your mailbox will be temporarily blocked to continue using Webmail
Please log into your portal and follow the instructions in order to avoid any interruption to your mailbox.
If you are having issues that you can’t resolve using the articles in the support site you should
LOG IN
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Quick menu:
- What is Your Mailbox Will Be Temporarily Blocked 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?
Cybercriminals send identical messages to a large number of recipients in the hopes that someone will be deceived. These spam emails are never personalized and are mass-distributed to reach a broader audience.
I have provided my personal information when tricked by this email, what should I do?
If you have provided your personal information, such as email account login credentials, to a phishing email, change the password for the email account. Also, change the passwords of linked accounts and accounts that use the same passwords.
I have downloaded and opened a malicious file attached to an email, is my computer infected?
Opening an executable file poses a higher risk of infection, so the chances of malware infiltration are more likely if the file is executable. On the other hand, if the file is a document like .pdf or .doc, the risk of infection may be lower since merely opening such documents might not be sufficient for the malware to infiltrate the system in certain cases.
I have read the email but didn't open the attachment, is my computer infected?
Merely opening an email on its own does not pose any harm. However, engaging with the email by clicking links or opening attached files can potentially lead to system infections.
Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections that were present in email attachment?
Combo Cleaner possesses the ability to detect and remove nearly all known malware infections effectively. It is essential to know that sophisticated malware often conceals itself deeply within the system. Consequently, a thorough full system scan is strongly recommended for comprehensive malware detection and removal.
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