Do not trust fake "Mailbox Flagged For Unusual-Activities" emails

What kind of email is "Mailbox Flagged For Unusual-Activities"?

Upon inspection of the "Mailbox Flagged For Unusual-Activities" email, we determined that it is spam. It states that due to the suspicious activity noted on the recipient's email account, it will likely be deactivated. This scam mail encourages authenticating the email and redirects to a phishing website that seeks log-in credentials.

"Mailbox Flagged For Unusual-Activities" email scam overview

This spam email states that the recipient's mailbox has been flagged because of unusual activities detected on it. The account requires human verification to be authenticated again. If the recipient fails to do so, their email account may be suspended, deleted, or infected.

As mentioned in the introduction, all the claims made by this scam email are false, and this mail is not associated with any genuine service providers.

After a user presses the "AUTHENTICATE" button, they are redirected to a phishing website disguised as an email account sign-in page. Attempting to sign in via this webpage will expose the email account.

In addition to stealing the email, scammers may also hijack the accounts and platforms registered through it. For example, scammers can steal the identities of social account owners (e.g., emails, social networking, social media, messengers, chats, etc.) and request loans or donations from contacts/friends/followers, promote scams, and proliferate malware by sharing malicious files/links.

What is more, hijacked finance-related accounts (e.g., online baking, e-commerce, money transferring, digital wallets, etc.) can be used to make unauthorized transactions or online purchases.

In summary, victims of scam mail like "Mailbox Flagged For Unusual-Activities" can experience severe privacy issues, financial losses, and even identity theft.

If you have provided your log-in credentials – change the passwords of all potentially exposed accounts and inform their official support without delay.

Threat Summary:

Name	"Mailbox Flagged For Unusual-Activities" phishing email
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Recipient's email account risks suspension/termination due to being flagged for suspicious activity.
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

We have investigated thousands of spam emails; "cPanel Mail Server IMAP/POP3 Error", "Your Invoice Is Ready", and "INCOMING FAX" are merely a couple of examples.

Various scams are promoted through this mail, and it is also used to proliferate malware. These emails can either be full of errors or competently made. They can even be disguised as messages from legitimate service providers, companies, organizations, institutions, authorities, and other entities.

Due to how widespread spam mail is and how well-crafted it can be – we highly recommend exercising caution with incoming emails and other messages.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

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

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

How to avoid installation of malware?

It is important to treat incoming emails, PMs/DMs, SMSes, and other messages with caution. Attachments or links found in suspect mail must not be opened, as they can be malicious. We recommend using post-2010 Microsoft Office versions since they have the "Protected View" mode that prevents automatic macro execution.

However, malware is not distributed exclusively via spam mail. Therefore, we advise being careful when browsing, as fraudulent and dangerous online content usually appears legitimate and harmless.

Furthermore, all downloads must be performed from official and verified channels. Another recommendation is to activate and update software using functions/tools provided by legitimate developers, as illegal activation tools ("cracks") and third-party updaters can contain malware.

We must emphasize the importance of having a dependable anti-virus installed and kept updated. 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 "Mailbox Flagged For Unusual-Activities" spam email letter:

Subject: ******** WARNING: Final Warning before De-activation

Attention ********,

Your mailbox has been flagged for unusual-activities and human-verification is required for re-authentication.

Your security is currently under risk and failure to authenticate may lead to suspension, termination and vulnerability to threats and email-viruses.

To validate, click the button below

AUTHENTICATE

***You will be redirected to ******** if authentication is successful.***

Subscription information
Subscription ID: c3325cc0-a8de-41233-b575-e7a9e51db261

Screenshot of the phishing website promoted by the "Mailbox Flagged For Unusual-Activities" spam campaign:

Instant automatic malware removal: Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced IT skills. Combo Cleaner is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
▼ 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 "Mailbox Flagged For Unusual-Activities" 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 can acquire general or personal information in a variety of ways (e.g., by scouring publicly available online data, purchasing information in bulk from legitimate/illegitimate data brokers, etc.) – however, the inclusion of any such details does not make spam mail personal. This mail is distributed in massive operations – hence, thousands of users receive identical (or incredibly similar) emails.

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

If you have disclosed your login credentials – immediately change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and inform their official support. And if you've provided your other private data (e.g., ID card details, passport photos/scans, credit card numbers, etc.) – contact the appropriate authorities without delay.

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

No, merely reading an email is harmless. Infections are triggered when malicious attachments or links are opened.

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 format of the opened file. 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 users to perform additional actions to begin downloading/installing malware (e.g., enabling macro commands, clicking embedded content, etc.).

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Yes, Combo Cleaner can detect and eliminate practically all known malware infections. Note that running a complete system scan is paramount since sophisticated malicious software usually hides deep within systems.

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