Avoid having your account stolen via fake "Webmail Verification" emails

What kind of email is "Webmail Verification"?

This "Webmail Verification" email is spam. It is a phishing letter that targets Spanish-speaking users. It claims that the recipient's email account has been blocked due to suspicious sign-in attempts. By attempting to remove the suspension, the user is deceived into disclosing their email log-in credentials (i.e., password).

"Webmail Verification" email scam overview

The spam email with the subject "Webmail | Correo - Su Correo electrónicos [recipient's_email_address] está bloqueada. Confirme su identidad para seguir recibiendo correos." (may vary) is presented as a notification regarding an email account.

According to a rough translation, this letter claims that the recipient's mail account has been blocked due to multiple failed sign-in attempts. The fake notification lists details of the device through which the sign-ins were attempted. The recipient is warned that unless they verify/activate their account, it will be suspended in 48 hours.

It must be stressed that the information provided by this email is false, and this mail is not associated with any legitimate service providers.

When a user clicks the "Verifique Su Correo" button presented in the letter, they are redirected to a phishing site. It is disguised as an email account sign-in page. If a user enters their log-in credentials into this website – they inadvertently expose their email account.

In addition to stealing the email, the cyber criminal might also hijack the accounts and platforms registered through it. To elaborate some on the potential misuse, scammers may steal the identities of social account owners (e.g., emails, social media, messengers, etc.) and ask the contacts/followers for loans or donations, promote scams, and proliferate malware (by sharing malicious files/links).

Furthermore, cyber criminals can use stolen finance-related accounts (e.g., online banking, money transferring, e-commerce, digital wallets, etc.) to make fraudulent transactions and online purchases.

To summarize, victims of scam emails like "Webmail Verification" can experience severe privacy issues, financial losses, and even identity theft.

If you have already provided your log-in credentials to a phishing site – change the passwords of all possibly compromised accounts and contact their official support without delay.

Threat Summary:

Name	"Webmail Verification" phishing email
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Multiple failed sign-in attempts to the recipient's email account have occurred.
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

"Webmail - Low Storage Space", "Voicemail Transcript", and "You Have Shared Files On OneDrive" are just a couple examples of phishing campaigns we have written about recently. These emails can target log-in credentials of various online accounts, personally identifiable data (e.g., ID card details, passport photos/scans, etc.), and finance-related information (e.g., banking account details, credit card numbers, etc.).

Furthermore, spam mail is used to facilitate other types of scams and even to spread malware. Spam emails may also be competently disguised as messages from genuine service providers, companies, organizations, institutions, authorities, and other entities.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Spam campaigns are often used in malware distribution. Deceptive emails/messages can include infectious files as attachments or download links. The files can be documents (Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, PDF, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), archives (RAR, ZIP, etc.), JavaScript, and so forth.

Once a malicious file is opened – the malware download/installation chain is initiated. Some formats may need extra actions to jumpstart these processes. For example, Microsoft Office files require users to enable macro commands (i.e., editing/content), while OneNote documents need them to click embedded files/links.

How to avoid installation of malware?

We strongly recommend exercising caution with incoming emails and other messages. Attachments or links present in suspect mail must not be opened, as they can be virulent. It is important to use Microsoft Office versions released after 2010 since they have the "Protected View" mode that prevents automatic macro execution.

Note that malware is not proliferated only via spam mail. Therefore, we also advise being careful while browsing, as fraudulent and dangerous online content usually appears legitimate and innocuous.

Furthermore, all downloads must be made from official and verified sources. Another recommendation is to activate and update programs using genuine functions/tools, as illegal activation tools ("cracks") and third-party updaters can contain malware.

We must emphasize that having a dependable anti-virus installed and kept updated is essential to device and user safety. Security software must be used to perform regular system scans and to remove 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 "Webmail Verification" spam email letter:

Subject: Webmail | Correo - Su Correo electrónicos ******** está bloqueada. Confirme su identidad para seguir recibiendo correos.

Webmail
Verificación

Estimado cliente,
Por qué has recibido este correo electrónico?

Su cuenta ha sido deshabilitada debido a varios intentos fallidos de inicio de sesión desde el dispositivo que se detalla a continuación.

Correo electrónico ********
Fecha 01/03/2024 11:48:50
User Agent Chrome/74.0.3729.169 Safari/537.36
Actividad 3 intentos fallidos de inicio de sesión

Verifique Su Correo

Si no se activa dentro de las 48 horas, se suspenderá.

Screenshot of the phishing website promoted by the "Webmail Verification" 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 "Webmail Verification" 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, even if they include details relevant to the recipients. Cyber criminals distribute this mail by the thousand with the hopes that at least some recipients will fall for the scams.

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

If you have disclosed your account credentials – change the passwords of all potentially exposed accounts and inform their official support. And if you've provided other private data (e.g., ID card details, passport scans/photos, 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?

No, opening/reading an email will not initiate any malware download/installation processes. Systems are infected when malicious attachments or links are opened/clicked.

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 compromised. However, you might have avoided an infection if it was a document (.doc, .xls, .pdf. etc.). These formats may require additional user interaction (e.g., enabling macro commands, clicking embedded files/links, etc.) to begin malware download/installation processes.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Yes, Combo Cleaner can scan computers and remove all manner of threats. It is capable of detecting and eliminating most of the known malware infections. It must be stressed that running a complete system scan is essential since high-end malicious software usually hides deep within systems.

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