Do not trust fake "HR Department Shared A File With You" emails

What kind of email is "HR Department Shared A File With You"?

Our inspection of the "HR Department Shared A File With You" email revealed that it is spam. This fake mail aims to trick recipients into visiting a phishing website that mimics their email account sign-in page by claiming that HR (Human Resources) has shared a file.

"HR Department Shared A File With You" email scam overview

This spam email states that Human Resources (HR) has shared a file with the recipient. The alleged document has the word "Payslip" in its filename. It must be stressed that these claims are false, and this mail is not associated with any legitimate entities.

After we pressed the "Open" button, it resulted in a redirect to a phishing site that imitates the recipient's email sign-in webpage. Log-in credentials entered into this page will be recorded and sent to the scammers. In addition to stealing the exposed emails, the cyber criminals may also steal the content registered through them.

To expand upon this, 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.

Furthermore, finance-related accounts (e.g., online banking, e-commerce, cryptocurrency wallets, etc.) can be used to make fraudulent transactions and online purchases. What is more, should sensitive/compromising content be discovered on hijacked data storage or similar platforms – it could be used for blackmail or other nefarious purposes.

To summarize, by trusting an email like "HR Department Shared A File With You" – users can experience serious privacy issues, financial losses, and even identity theft.

If you have disclosed your log-in credentials – immediately change the passwords of all possibly compromised accounts and contact their official support.

Threat Summary:

Name	"HR Department Shared A File With You" phishing email
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	File was shared with the recipient by HR.
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

"A New Sign-in On Windows", "Bank Of America - Fund Transfer", "A Payment Has Been Posted On Your Card", and "Expiry Notice" are just some examples of phishing emails we have analyzed recently.

Aside from scams, spam mail is used to distribute malware. These emails can be full of grammatical/spelling errors or be competently disguised as messages from legitimate companies, organizations, institutions, service providers, authorities, and other entities.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Spam campaigns are often used to spread malware. These emails/messages can contain infectious files as attachments or download links. Malicious files can be documents (Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, PDF, etc.), archives (RAR, ZIP, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), JavaScript, and so forth.

When a virulent file is opened – the infection chain is triggered. However, some formats may need additional interaction to initiate malware download/installation. For example, Microsoft Office documents require users to enable macro commands (i.e., editing/content), while OneNote files need them to click embedded files/links.

How to avoid installation of malware?

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

However, malware is not proliferated exclusively via spam mail. Hence, we advise being vigilant when browsing since fake and dangerous 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 programs using functions/tools provided by genuine developers, as illegal activation ("cracking") tools and third-party updaters can contain malware.

We must emphasize the importance of having a reputable anti-virus installed and kept up-to-date. Security software 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 "HR Department Shared A File With You" spam email letter:

Subject: New Swift Scanned document from ******** HR Printer

HR Department shared a file with you

Here's the document that HR Department shared with you.

From: office-printer@********
To: ********
File Name: Payslip 0733.pdf
Date: 10/6/2023 5:25:56 a.m.
Pages: 1.7 pages (88 KB)

Attachment is sent for ********

Open

Screenshot of the phishing website promoted by the "HR Department Shared A File With You" spam campaign:

Another example of an email from "HR Department Shared A File With You" spam campaign:

Text presented within:

Subject: HR shared 2023 staff-doc

 

Human Resources Administrator has shared a secured file with you.

Please complete your benefit package/2023 report and sign it.
New 2024 Staff Benefits/promotion enrolment & 2023 report Booklet.pdf
This link only works for the direct recipients of this message.
REVIEW DOCUMENTS

Privacy Statement

Screenshot of the promoted phishing site:

Another example of an email from "HR Department Shared A File With You" spam campaign:

Text presented within:

Subject: Annual Leave Nofication

 

Requested HR Department
Position : Director of Human Resources

Leave Application #00000723 (Approved)

Hello ********

An internal share file document link has been shared with you below.

Staff Revised _Decemenber.pdf

Annual Leave_Forum_2024/2025.pdf

Thanks Regards,

Human Resources

HR Manager

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Quick menu:

• What is "HR Department Shared A File With You" 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?

Cyber criminals send spam mail in mass-scale 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 the provided data were log-in credentials – change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and inform their official support without delay. However, if the disclosed information was of a different personal nature (e.g., ID card details, passport scans/photos, credit card numbers, etc.) – immediately contact the appropriate authorities.

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

No, merely reading an email is harmless. Systems 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 device was infected. However, you might have avoided this if it was a document (.doc, .xls, .pdf, .one, etc.). These formats may need additional actions (e.g., enabling macro commands, clicking embedded files/links, etc.) to jumpstart malware download/installation processes.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Yes, Combo Cleaner is designed to scan devices and eliminate all manner of threats. It is capable of detecting and removing most of the known malware infections. Note that running a full system scan is paramount since sophisticated malicious programs tend to hide deep within systems.

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