Avoid losing your Discover account via fake "Card Payment On Hold" emails

What kind of email is "Discover Card Payment On Hold"?

After inspecting the "Discover Card Payment On Hold" email, we determined that it is fake. This spam letter is presented as an alert from Discover Bank. It informs the recipient of a suspicious charge pending on their account. This phishing email aims to lead users to a fake Discover website, thus obtaining their log-in credentials.

It must be emphasized that all the claims made by this email are false, and this mail is not associated with Discover Financial Services.

"Discover Card Payment On Hold" email scam overview

The spam email with the subject "Your Discover Card is Temporarily Blocked" (may vary) states that the recipient's Discover card payment is on hold. One card billing attempt has not been recognized; the pending charge is $950.00, and the charging merchant is identified as eBay.

It must be stressed that all the information provided by this email is false, and this message is in no way associated with Discover Financial Services, eBay, or any other legitimate entities.

When a recipient attempts to accept/decline the payment by clicking the button in the scam email, they are redirected to a fake Discover website. This phishing page mimics the design of the official site. Trying to sign in through this webpage will expose the account's log-in credentials to scammers.

Hence, the cyber criminals can steal the compromised Discover accounts and use them to make fraudulent transactions or online purchases.

In summary, by trusting an email like "Discover Card Payment On Hold" – users can experience serious privacy issues and significant financial losses.

If you have already disclosed your log-in credentials – change the passwords of all potentially compromised accounts and inform their official support. Depending on the sensitivity of the exposed data, it may be necessary to contact the appropriate authorities.

Threat Summary:

Name	"Discover Card Payment On Hold" phishing email
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	An unrecognized charge of $950 is pending on the card.
Disguise	Discover Financial Services
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 phishing emails; "ShareFile - Invoice Copy", "Email Failed To Sync", and "Account Shutdown Notification" are but a few examples of our latest finds.

Phishing mail predominantly targets the log-in credentials of various accounts (e.g., emails, social networking/media, e-commerce, online banking, cryptowallets, etc.), personally identifiable information, and finance-related data. However, spam is used to promote other types of scams and to distribute malware.

While these emails are often riddled with mistakes, they may also be competently crafted and even disguised as messages from genuine companies, service providers, organizations, authorities, and other entities.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Cyber criminals commonly use spam campaigns to proliferate malware. Malicious files are spread as attachments or download links through this mail. The files come in various formats, e.g., documents (PDF, Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), JavaScript, and so on.

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

How to avoid installation of malware?

It is crucial to be careful with incoming emails, PMs/DMs, SMSes, and other messages. Attachments or links present in suspect mail must not be opened, as they can be malicious. We recommend using Microsoft Office versions released after 2010 since their "Protected View" mode prevents automatic macro execution.

However, malware is not spread exclusively through spam mail. Hence, we also advise vigilance when browsing, as fraudulent and dangerous online content usually appears genuine and innocuous.

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

We must emphasize the importance of having a dependable anti-virus installed and kept up-to-date. Security programs must be used to run 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 "Discover Card Payment On Hold" spam email letter:

Subject: Your Discover Card is Temporarily Blocked

Account Center — Last 4 #: xxxx
Discover

Dear -, your online Discover card payment on hold.

We notice unrecognised card billing attempts of $950.00 on your Discover Card Kindly authorize the transaction if this was made by you or please Login below and verify your details to stop the transaction if you dont initiate this charges..

Payment Info
Amount: $950.00
Payment Post Date: March 20, 2024
Confirmation #: 2BW8-AWE-7QWD
Charging Attempt Merchant: Ebay Secure Online Merchant Gateway.

Click Below to Login and verify your details to secure your account.

Log In to Accept or Decline the transaction here

Appearance of the "Discover Card Payment On Hold" spam email (GIF):

Screenshot of the fake Discover website promoted by the "Discover Card Payment On Hold" spam email:

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 "Discover Card Payment On Hold" 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 in large-scale campaigns – hence, thousands of users receive essentially identical messages.

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

If you have provided your log-in credentials – change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and inform their official support without delay. However, if the disclosed data was of a different personal nature (e.g., ID card details, passport scans/photos, credit card numbers, etc.) – immediately contact the corresponding authorities.

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; 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 compromised might depend on the format of the opened file. If it was an executable (.exe, .run, etc.) – most likely, yes – since these files cause infections almost without fail. However, you might have avoided an infection if it was a document (.doc, .xls, .pdf, .one, etc.). These formats may need extra actions to start downloading/installing malware (e.g., enabling macros, clicking embedded content, etc.).

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Yes, Combo Cleaner can detect and eliminate most of the known malware infections. It must be emphasized that performing a complete system scan is key since sophisticated malicious programs typically hide deep within systems.

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