Avoid having your email account stolen via fake "Signed Agreement" emails

What kind of email is "Signed Agreement"?

"Signed Agreement" is a phishing email. It attempts to lure the recipient into providing their email account log-in credentials into the attachment (phishing file) by claiming that it contains remittance information. Victims of this spam mail can lose their emails and experience other serious issues.

"Signed Agreement" email scam overview

The subject of this spam email informs that ACH (Automated Clearing House) / EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) has been deposited and requires review and signing. The body of the letter requests to review the attached "Signed Agreement". It also states that the payment will be deposited on the next business day.

As indicated in the introduction, all the claims made by this email are false, and this mail is in no way associated with any legitimate service provider or other entities.

The attachment – "ACH_EFT_Signed_Agreement.html" (filename may vary) – is presented as a "Secure Email Encryption Service" through which the user is to sign in by entering their email account credentials. This HTML document is a phishing file – hence, information typed into it is recorded and sent to scammers.

Emails are typically used to register other accounts/platforms – meaning that cyber criminals may also hijack the connected content.

To expand upon the potential misuse, scammers can steal the identities of social-oriented account owners (e.g., emails, social networking, social media, messengers, etc.) and ask the contacts/friends/followers for loans or donations, promote scams, and even proliferate malware by sharing malicious files/links.

Finance-related accounts (e.g., online banking, e-commerce, cryptocurrency wallets, etc.) can be used to make unauthorized transactions and online purchases.

Should any confidential or compromising content be found on data storage or similar platforms – it could be used for blackmail or other nefarious purposes.

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

If you have already disclosed your log-in credentials – change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and contact their official support without delay.

Threat Summary:

Name	"Signed Agreement" phishing email
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Recipient is requested to review the attachment containing payment information.
Attachment(s)	ACH_EFT_Signed_Agreement.html (filename may vary)
Detection Names	Avast (HTML:Phishing-CQY [Phish]), Combo Cleaner (Trojan.GenericKD.69031100), ESET-NOD32 (HTML/Phishing.Agent.DTT), Ikarus (Phishing.HTML.Doc), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
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

"View And Upload Required Documents", "Emails Did Not Reach Your Inbox", "American Express - Update Your Account Information", and "You Mailbox Failed 2 Security Test" are just some examples of phishing emails we have inspected recently.

Spam mail is used to promote various scams and even to spread malware. These emails may be disguised as messages from legitimate companies, service providers, institutions, organizations, authorities, and other entities.

Due to how prevalent spam mail is and how well-made it can be – we strongly recommend exercising caution with incoming emails, DMs/PMs, SMSes, and other messages.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Spam emails can have virulent files attached to or linked inside them. These files can be executables (.exe, .run, etc.), archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), documents (PDF, Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, etc.), JavaScript, and so on. Once opened, malicious files initiate malware download/installation processes.

However, some formats may need additional interaction to jumpstart infection chains. To elaborate, Microsoft Office files require users to enable macro commands (i.e., editing/content), while OneNote documents need them to click on embedded files/links.

How to avoid installation of malware?

We highly recommend being vigilant with incoming emails and other messages. Attachments or links found in suspect mail must not be opened, as they can be infectious. Another recommendation is to use post-2010 Microsoft Office versions since their "Protected View" mode prevents automatic macro command execution.

However, malware is also proliferated using other methods. Therefore, we advise exercising caution while browsing, as fraudulent and malicious online content usually appears legitimate and harmless.

Additionally, all downloads must be performed from official and verified channels. Another recommendation is to activate and update software by using genuine functions/tools, as illegal activation tools ("cracks") and fake updates may contain malware.

We must emphasize the importance of having a reputable anti-virus installed and kept up-to-date. 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 "Signed Agreement" spam email letter:

Subject: Completed: ACH/EFT Deposited: Please review and Sign

Please review attached Signed Agreement, remittance information for payment which will be deposited on the next business day

Screenshot of the phishing file attached to this spam email ("ACH_EFT_Signed_Agreement.html"):

Another example of an email from "Signed Agreement" spam campaign:

Text presented within:

Subject: ******** Final Agreement

All parties finished signing.
Open Agreement

The agreement is completed:

You can open the final agreement to review it's activity history or download a copy for reference.

© 2024 ******** . All rights reserved.

Screenshot of the promoted phishing site:

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 "Signed Agreement" 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. These emails are distributed in massive campaigns – therefore, 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 account credentials – immediately change the passwords of all potentially compromised accounts and inform their official support. And if you've 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?

Systems are infected when malicious attachments or links are opened – hence, reading an email is harmless.

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

Whether your device was infected depends on the file's purpose (i.e., phishing vs. malware download/installation), and it might be impacted by the format. To elaborate, executables (.exe, .run, etc.) infect devices almost without fail once opened. Documents (.doc, .xls, .pdf, .one, etc.), on the other hand, may need additional interaction to trigger infection chains (e.g., enabling macro commands, clicking embedded content, etc.).

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Yes, Combo Cleaner is designed to detect and eliminate threats. It can remove nearly all known malware infections. Keep in mind that performing a full system scan is paramount since high-end malicious software typically hides deep within systems.

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