Do not trust fake "Process Of Enhancing Our Webmail Software" emails

What kind of email is "Process Of Enhancing Our Webmail Software"?

After examining the "Process Of Enhancing Our Webmail Software" email, we determined that it is a phishing scam. The mail urges the recipient to upgrade their email service to avoid any interruptions. This spam letter promotes a bogus email sign-in page through which victims can lose their accounts.

"Process Of Enhancing Our Webmail Software" email scam overview

The scam email informs the recipient that their mail service is undergoing "enhancement". The recipient is requested to approve and perform the upgrade. Failing to do so may result in service interruptions.

It must stressed that all the claims made by this email are false, and this mail is in no way associated with any legitimate service providers.

Once the "Email Update" button is pressed, it results in a redirect to a phishing website. It is disguised as an email account sign-in page. Information entered into phishing sites is recorded and sent to cyber criminals. In addition to losing their emails, victims of this scam can have the accounts and platforms registered through them stolen as well.

To elaborate, scammers can steal the identities of social account owners (e.g., emails, social networking, social media, messengers, etc.) and ask the contacts/friends for loans or donations, promote scams, and even spread malware by sharing malicious links or files.

Hijacked finance-related accounts (e.g., online banking, e-commerce, digital wallets, etc.) can be used to make fraudulent transactions and online purchases. While any sensitive/confidential/compromising content discovered on compromised data storage or similar platforms can be used for blackmail or other nefarious purposes.

To summarize, by trusting an email like "Process Of Enhancing Our Webmail Software" – users can experience severe privacy issues, financial losses, and even identity theft.

If you have already typed your log-in credentials into a phishing website – immediately change the passwords of all potentially exposed accounts and inform their official support.

Threat Summary:

Name	"Process Of Enhancing Our Webmail Software" phishing email
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Recipient needs to upgrade their email account to avoid service interruptions.
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

"Chan & Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI)", "Account And Service(s) Scheduled For Deletion", and "HR Department Shared A File With You" are merely a few examples of phishing emails that we have inspected recently.

Aside from log-in credentials, spam mail commonly targets finance-related information (e.g., online bank credentials, banking account details, credit card numbers, etc.) and personally identifiable data.

Deceptive emails promote various scams, and they are even used to proliferate malware. This mail can be basic and full of errors or be elaborately disguised as messages from genuine companies, corporations, organizations, service providers, authorities, and other entities.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

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

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

How to avoid installation of malware?

We strongly recommend treating incoming emails, PMs/DMs, SMSes, and other messages with caution. The attachments or links present in suspicious/irrelevant mail must not be opened, as they can be infectious.

Another recommendation is to use Microsoft Office versions released after 2010 since they have the "Protected View" mode that prevents automatic macro execution.

However, malware is not distributed only through spam mail. Therefore, we advise downloading only from official and trustworthy sources. Additionally, all programs must be activated and updated using legitimate functions/tools, as illegal activation tools ("cracks") and third-party updates can contain malware.

It is essential to be careful while browsing since fraudulent and malicious online content usually appears legitimate and innocuous.

We must stress the importance of having a dependable anti-virus installed and kept updated. Security software must be used to perform 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 "Process Of Enhancing Our Webmail Software" spam email letter:

Subject: IMPORTANT! Verify your contact information for - Email

Valued:- ,

We are in the process of enhancing our webmail software.

We're in the process of enhancing our webmail software, and we need your assistance to complete the upgrade for your email.

To ensure uninterrupted email service, please perform the webmail upgrade 10/9/2023 7:25:14 a.m..

Email Update

Sincerely,
©  -  . All Rights Reserved

Screenshot of the phishing website promoted by the "Process Of Enhancing Our Webmail Software" spam campaign:

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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 "Process Of Enhancing Our Webmail Software" 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 emails are not personal. Cyber criminals distribute this mail in massive operations – hence, thousands of users receive identical emails.

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

If you have disclosed your account credentials – immediately change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and inform their official support. And if you have provided other private information (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/clicked; merely 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 might depend on the opened file's format. If it was an executable (.exe, .run, etc.) – most likely, yes. However, you might have avoided an infection if it was a document (.doc, .xls, .one, pdf, etc.). These formats can require additional actions (e.g., enabling macro commands, clicking embedded files/links, etc.) – to initiate malware download/installation processes.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

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

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