Avoid having your email account stolen via fake "Remittance Slip" emails

What kind of email is "Remittance Slip"?

Upon checking out the "Remittance Slip" email, we determined that it is spam. This mail aims to trick recipients into visiting a phishing website targeting email account log-in credentials through vague claims regarding a payment.

"Remittance Slip" email scam overview

The spam email with the subject "MT103" (may vary) states that it has an attachment containing a remittance slip. The payment, which the attached document details, will be reflected on the email recipient's bank account after a couple of days.

It must be stressed that this letter is fake, and it is in no way associated with any genuine individuals or entities. The phishing website promoted by this scam mail displays a fake blurred PDF document that is supposedly opened in Adobe Acrobat. Atop the bogus file is a pop-up requesting user verification. The window asks the visitor to provide their email account log-in credentials.

Information entered into such sites is recorded and sent to scammers. The risk of falling for this scam exceeds the loss of a single account, as emails are typically used to register other accounts and platforms. Therefore, through a stolen email, cyber criminals may be able to hijack linked content.

To elaborate some on the potential misuse, scammers may steal the identities of account owners (e.g., emails, social networking, social media, messengers, etc.) and ask the contacts/friends/followers for loans or donations, endorse scams, and spread malware.

Furthermore, finance-related accounts (e.g., online banking, e-commerce, money transferring, digital wallets, etc.) can be used to make fraudulent transactions or online purchases. What is more, confidential/compromising content found on data storage or similar platforms could be used for blackmail or other nefarious purposes.

To summarize, victims of scam mail like "Remittance Slip" can experience severe privacy issues, financial losses, and even identity theft.

If you have provided your log-in credentials – immediately change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and inform their official support.

Threat Summary:

Name	"Remittance Slip" phishing email
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Email has a remittance slip attached to it.
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

"Donation To Charity Home", "Incoming Mails Suspended", "Webmail Verification", and "Webmail - Low Storage Space" are merely some examples of phishing emails we have investigated recently.

Spam is used to promote various scams and even to proliferate malware. While the commonly held belief that these emails are full of errors is not inaccurate, they may be competently made and even believably disguised as messages from legitimate companies, institutions, service providers, authorities, and other entities.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Cyber criminals commonly use spam campaigns to spread malware. These emails/messages can have malicious files attached to or linked inside them. Virulent files can be documents (Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, PDF, etc.), archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), JavaScript, and so on.

When an infectious file is opened – the malware download/installation process begins. Some formats may require additional actions to initiate infection chains. For example, Microsoft Office files need users to enable macro commands (i.e., editing/content), while OneNote documents require them to click on embedded links or files.

How to avoid installation of malware?

We recommend caution with incoming emails, PMs/DMs, SMSes, and other messages. Attachments or links found in suspicious/irrelevant mail must not be opened, as they can be malicious. Another recommendation is to use post-2010 Microsoft Office versions since their "Protective View" mode prevents automatic macro execution.

However, malware is distributed using various techniques. Therefore, we also advise being careful while browsing, as fake and dangerous online content usually appears legitimate and innocuous.

Furthermore, all downloads must be made from official and verified channels. It is just as important to activate and update software using genuine functions/tools, as illegal activation tools ("cracks") and third-party updaters may contain malware.

We must emphasize that having a reputable anti-virus installed and kept up-to-date is paramount to device integrity and user safety. Security programs must be used to run regular system scans and to remove threats/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 "Remittance Slip" spam email letter:

Subject: MT103

Good morning,

Please find attached remittance slip, the payment will reflect on you account in two working days depending on your bank.

Best Regards.

Screenshot of the phishing website promoted by the "Remittance Slip" spam campaign:

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Quick menu:

• What is "Remittance Slip" 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?

Regardless of any relevant details that they may include, spam emails are not personal. Cyber criminals distribute this mail in mass-scale campaigns – 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 provided your account credentials – change the passwords of all possibly compromised accounts and inform their official support. However, if you've disclosed other private information (e.g., ID card details, passport scans, 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, merely reading an email will not trigger any system infection processes. Devices 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 system was compromised. However, you might have avoided triggering an infection if it was a document (.doc, .xls, .one, .pdf, etc.). Said formats may require additional actions (e.g., enabling macros, clicking embedded content, etc.) to initiate malware download/installation chains.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Yes, Combo Cleaner is designed to scan computers and eliminate all manner of threats. It can detect and remove most of the known malware infections. It must be stressed that since sophisticated malicious programs typically hide deep within systems – performing a complete system scan is essential.

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