How to avoid falling for phishing attempts like "Confirm If The Prices Are Still Valid"

What is "Confirm If The Prices Are Still Valid"?

Upon examining the email, we found that it intends to deceive recipients into disclosing personal information through a fraudulent website. This email is disguised as a quotation for an order and falls under the category of phishing emails. Recipients should ignore emails of this type.

More about the "Confirm If The Prices Are Still Valid" scam email

The phishing email, masquerading as a reply to an order inquiry from Kontrollmetod AB, presents itself as a courteous follow-up regarding a previously issued price offer. The sender, Magnus Brandt, expresses regret over a prolonged period of silence and references an enclosed price offer issued by the recipient's company the previous year.

Claiming that the customer was unable to make payment due to economic constraints, the email asserts readiness to proceed with the order and payment. It requests confirmation of the validity of the prices provided in the enclosed order quotation. The email concludes with contact information for Magnus Brandt and AB Kontrollmetod.

However, the true intent of the email is to deceive recipients into divulging personal information through a fake website. Clicking the "Order Quotation" button opens a deceptive page masquerading as the Gmail login page. This site is designed to trick individuals into providing their email account login credentials (email address and password).

With access to the victim's email account, scammers can launch phishing attacks by sending deceptive emails to the victim's contacts, attempting to lure them into revealing sensitive information or opening malicious links. Additionally, scammers may exploit the compromised email account to perpetrate identity theft.

Moreover, stolen email account credentials grant scammers the ability to hijack online accounts linked to the compromised email address or accounts using the same login credentials, potentially gaining access to a wide range of services, including social media platforms, online banking accounts, and e-commerce websites.

Threat Summary:

Name	Confirm If The Prices Are Still Valid Email Scam
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	A price offer has been issued by the recipient's company
Disguise	Letter from AB Kontrollmetod
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.
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Similar emails in general

Scammers behind such emails employ urgent or enticing language to prompt immediate action from the recipient, such as claiming an account has been compromised or offering an unexpected reward or opportunity.

Moreover, these emails often mimic legitimate organizations or individuals, utilizing logos, branding, or email addresses that closely resemble those of trusted entities to deceive recipients into divulging sensitive information or performing actions that compromise their security.

Additionally, these emails frequently contain suspicious links or attachments that, when clicked or opened, lead to fraudulent or malicious websites or inject malware into the recipient's device.

Examples of phishing emails are "DHL Global Express Shipping", "Publishers Clearing House", and "Asian Welfare Lottery".

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Malware can infiltrate computers via email through deceptive actions like clicking on malicious links or opening infected attachments. It is important to note that not all files infect computers immediately upon opening. Some files require additional actions from users for malware to be activated and cause damage.

Malicious files distributed through email come in various formats, including executable files (.exe), script files (.js or .vbs), document files (.docx or .pdf), compressed files (.zip or .rar), and shortcut files (.lnk). These files can harbor malicious code or payloads that, upon execution, can infect the user's system with different types of malware.

How to avoid installation of malware?

To stay safe, exercise caution when dealing with email attachments or links, particularly in irrelevant emails from unknown senders. Stick to downloading programs and files from official websites or reputable app stores. Do not download pirated software or software cracks.

Be vigilant against pop-ups, ads, and download buttons on suspicious websites, and keep your operating system and apps up to date. Utilize reliable antivirus or anti-malware software, ensuring it is regularly updated to detect and remove potential threats. 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 "Confirm If The Prices Are Still Valid" email letter:

Subject: Re: Re: Order 232024 from Kontrollmetod AB

Hello,
 
We are very sorry for the long silence.

The enclosed price offer was issued by your company last year. Due to the negative economic impact, our customer was unable to make payment. But now we are ready to go ahead with the order and payment. So please confirm if the prices are still valid.

Order Quotation
 
Please confirm.
 
Thanks,
 
Med vänliga hälsningar/Kind regards
 
Magnus Brandt
Phone: +46 (0)31 740 52 52
magnus.brandt@kontrolmetod.se
 
AB Kontrollmetod | kontrollmetod.se
Södra Långebergsgatan 18 ▪ SE-436 32 Askim

Fake website presented in this phishing email:

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Quick menu:

• What is Confirm If The Prices Are Still Valid phishing campaign?
• 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?

Scammers distribute the same email to numerous recipients, banking on the chance that a few will take the bait. They source email addresses from public directories or data breaches. Your email may also have been compromised if you have entered it on dubious websites.

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

Immediately change your passwords for the affected accounts and enable two-factor authentication where possible. Additionally, monitor your accounts closely for any suspicious activity and consider informing the respective service providers about the potential breach.

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

Opening an executable file poses a significant risk of infection, while document files like .pdf or .doc are less likely to cause harm. It depends on the type of the file.

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

Simply opening an email is not risky in itself. However, clicking links or opening attached files can infect computers with malware.

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

Combo Cleaner is proficient in detecting and eliminating most known malware infections. However, it is important to acknowledge that sophisticated malware often hides deeply within the system. Therefore, conducting a thorough system scan is essential to remove concealed threats.

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