How to spot scams like "Authentication Failure"

What kind of scam is "Authentication Failure"?

After assessing this email, our team has concluded that its purpose is to mislead recipients into revealing their personal information. Such emails are commonly referred to as phishing emails, and the scammers behind this specific email are attempting to entice recipients to provide sensitive information on a fake website.

More about the "Authentication Failure" scam email

This phishing email is designed to create a sense of urgency in the recipient. The email claims that there has been an authentication failure for the recipient's email account related to IMAP/POP3 mail server settings. It warns that failure to address this issue could result in the disruption of outgoing and incoming mail delivery through the recipient's mail client.

To resolve the purported issue, the email instructs the recipient to click on a link labeled "Email Account Settings". This link leads to a fake website that imitates a legitimate email service provider's login page. The site is carefully designed to closely resemble the legitimate login page of the recipient's email service provider.

If the recipient uses Gmail, for instance, the phishing page would be designed to look almost identical to the actual Gmail login page. The purpose of this phishing page is to steal email account login credentials.

After acquiring the login credentials of an email account, scammers have the capability to carry out a range of harmful actions. They might leverage the compromised account to dispatch phishing emails to individuals in the victim's contact list to elicit confidential details or disseminate malware.

Furthermore, scammers can access personal and sensitive emails, facilitating activities such as identity theft, financial scams, or unauthorized entry into other online accounts associated with the compromised email and any accounts sharing the same login credentials.

Threat Summary:

Name	Authentication Failure Email Scam
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	There has been an authentication failure in mail server settings
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. ▼ 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.

Similar scam emails in general

Phishing emails are deceptive messages composed to trick recipients into disclosing sensitive information, such as login credentials, financial details, or personal data. These emails often appear legitimate, mimicking trusted sources like banks, social media platforms, or online services.

Phishers commonly use tactics like urgent requests, fear-inducing scenarios, or enticing offers to manipulate recipients into clicking on malicious links or downloading harmful attachments. Examples of phishing emails are "Webmail Account Upgrade Email Scam", "New Version For Your Mailbox Email Scam" and "Funds Has Been Credited To Your Account Email Scam".

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Users can introduce malware to their computers through email by engaging with malicious attachments or clicking on links embedded in phishing emails. Phishing emails frequently trick recipients by presenting themselves as authentic and may incorporate diverse file formats, including documents (such as PDF or DOC), executable files (like EXE), JavaScript files, or compressed archives (for example, ZIP).

Upon opening or executing these files, concealed malware within them becomes operational, leading to computer infection and the potential for harm, data loss, or unauthorized access to sensitive information.

How to avoid installation of malware?

To mitigate the risk of encountering malware, adopt secure internet practices, including refraining from opening email attachments or website links from unfamiliar and suspicious addresses. Limit software downloads to trusted and verified sources. Maintain the security of your system by consistently updating both your operating system and software with the latest security patches.

Deploy a trustworthy antivirus or anti-malware application and carry out routine system scans to identify and eliminate potential threats. Furthermore, exercise caution when encountering pop-ups or advertisements on questionable websites.

If you have already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the "Authentication Failure" email letter:

Subject: Action Required: Reconfirm Your Account

Authentication failure for -

Attention: -,

Error with your IMAP/POP3 mails server.

RESOLVE THIS ERROR NOW
Note: This will cause failure in outgoing and incoming mail delivery through your mail client.

You are required to use the below link to sign in to your email account for automatic update/repair.

Email Account Settings

Sincerely,
- Automated IT Message!

Screenshot of the fake Gmail page presented in this email:

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▼ 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 Authentication Failure phishing scam?
• 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?

Criminals distribute identical letters to thousands of recipients, banking on the chance that someone will be deceived. Such spam emails are devoid of personalization.

I have provided my personal information when tricked by this email, what should I do?

If you have shared your login credentials, promptly update the passwords for all potentially compromised accounts and notify their official support. In the event that different personal information, like ID card details or credit card numbers, is divulged, take immediate action to reach out to the relevant authorities.

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

Your computer might be compromised if you have accessed an executable file (such as .exe). On the other hand, other file types (like MS Office documents) typically do not infect computers immediately unless further actions are taken (such as enabling macros commands).

I have read the email but did not open the attachment, is my computer infected?

Emails themselves can be opened safely. Potential harm arises only when malicious links or attachments within those emails are opened.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections that were present in email attachment?

Combo Cleaner is designed to conduct a comprehensive scan of your computer and eliminate malware. This application is capable of identifying nearly all well-known forms of malware. Performing a full system scan is crucial to effectively eliminate advanced malware, as this type of malware tends to embed itself deeply within the system.

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