Do not trust fake "Your Account Has Been Temporarily Disabled" emails

What kind of email is "Your Account Has Been Temporarily Disabled"?

"Your Account Has Been Temporarily Disabled" is a phishing email. This mail aims to trick recipients into disclosing the email account log-in credentials by falsely claiming that their account has been blocked for the time being.

"Your Account Has Been Temporarily Disabled" email scam overview

The spam email with the subject "Fix Error Authentication Problem ..." (may vary) informs the recipient that their account has been disabled due to "Terms of User and Legal Agreement" violations. Therefore, the email was temporarily blocked as a precaution. The letter instructs to accept the new terms and conditions, and if the recipient fails to do so – their incoming messages will be lost.

It must be stressed that all of the information provided by this email is false, and this mail is in no way associated with any genuine service providers.

By clicking "RESOLVE ISSUE NOW", the user accesses a phishing website. Not only does the promoted site mimic the recipient's email account sign-in page, but it is also hosted on a legitimate website that was compromised. Phishing operates by recording the information provided by victims and sending it to the cyber criminals behind the scam.

In addition to stealing the exposed emails, scammers can also hijack the content registered through them. To expand on the potential misuse: criminals can steal the identities of social account owners (e.g., emails, social networking, social media, messengers, etc.) and ask the contact/friends for loans all donations, promote scams, and even spread malware by sharing malicious files/links.

Finance-related accounts (e.g., online banking, e-commerce, cryptocurrency wallets, etc.) can be used to make fraudulent transactions and/or online purchases. Should any sensitive, compromising, or confidential information be found on file storage accounts – it could be used for blackmail or other nefarious purposes.

In summary, victims of scam mail like "Your Account Has Been Temporarily Disabled" – can experience serious privacy issues, financial losses, and even identity theft.

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

Threat Summary:

Name	"Your Account Has Been Temporarily Disabled" phishing email
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Recipient's email account has been temporarily blocked due to term violations.
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 campaigns examples

"Account Violation Detected", "Your Email Has Used Up It Inbox Space", and "Mail Account Deactivation Notice" are merely a couple examples of phishing emails that we have inspected recently.

Spam letters are used to promote a wide variety of scams and even to proliferate malware (e.g., trojans, ransomware, cryptominers, etc.). These emails can be plain or elaborately disguised as messages from legitimate service providers, companies, institutions, authorities, or other entities.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Spam campaigns are commonly used in malware distribution. Deceptive emails/messages can include malicious files as attachments or download links. These files come in various formats, e.g., documents (PDF, Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, etc.), archives (RAR, ZIP, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), JavaScript, and so on.

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

How to avoid installation of malware?

It is important to treat incoming emails and other messages with caution. Attachments or links found in suspicious/irrelevant mail must not be opened, as they can be malicious. We recommend using Microsoft Office versions released after 2010 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 also advise downloading only from official and verified channels.

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

Another recommendation is to be vigilant while browsing since fake and dangerous online content usually appears ordinary and harmless.

It is paramount to have a reputable anti-virus installed and kept up-to-date. This software must be used to perform 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 "Your Account Has Been Temporarily Disabled" spam email letter:

Subject: Fix Error Authentication Problem ...

Good day ********,

Your ******** account has been temporarily disabled due to violation of our Terms of User and Legal Agreement. As precautionary measure, we have temporarily blocked your account

Please login now to accept our 2023 terms and conditions for new improvements on your account.

RESOLVE ISSUE NOW

Failure to login  and upgrade to the  ******** will destruct your incoming messages.

This procedure is automatic and aims to strengthen the security of our infrastructure.

Screenshot of the phishing website promoted by the "Your Account Has Been Temporarily Disabled" spam campaign:

Instant automatic malware removal: Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced IT skills. Combo Cleaner is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
▼ DOWNLOAD Combo Cleaner By downloading any software listed on this website you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. 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.

Quick menu:

• What is "Your Account Has Been Temporarily Disabled" 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 distributed in massive operations – 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 provided your log-in credentials – immediately change the passwords of all potentially compromised accounts and inform their official support. And if you have disclosed other private data (e.g., ID card details, credit card numbers, etc.) – contact the corresponding authorities without delay.

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

Devices are infected when malicious attachments or links are opened; reading an email is not enough to trigger system 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. However, you might have avoided it if it was a document (.doc, .xls, .pdf, .one, etc.). These formats may require additional actions (e.g., enabling macro commands, clicking embedded files/links, etc.) to begin malware download/installation chains.

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. It must be stressed that since sophisticated malicious programs tend to hide deep within systems – running a complete system scan is crucial.

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