Do not trust fake "Email Sending Has Been Temporarily Suspended" emails

What kind of email is "Email Sending Has Been Temporarily Suspended"?

After inspecting "Email Sending Has Been Temporarily Suspended", we determined that it is spam. This fake letter claims that the recipient's email account was suspended due to suspicious activity. This spam mail aims to trick users into providing their account log-in credentials to a phishing website.

"Email Sending Has Been Temporarily Suspended" email scam overview

The spam email with the subject "Email sending from [recipient's_email_address] has been temporarily suspended.." (may vary) states that the recipient's account has been blocked from sending emails.

The reason given for the bogus suspension is the detection of suspicious activity, such as sending spam or malicious messages. This could have been due to a compromised connected piece of software or device. The suspension will ensure email security and protect the owner's reputation, as well as prevent the account from getting on global blocklists.

It must be emphasized that all the information in this email is false, and this mail is not associated with any genuine service providers or other entities.

After the "Reactivate Account" button is clicked, the user gets redirected to a phishing site. It imitates an email sign-in page. Log-in credentials (passwords) entered into this website are recorded and sent to cyber criminals. This can enable them to steal the exposed accounts and variously abuse the unauthorized access.

Emails can contain incredibly sensitive information, which could be used for blackmail or other nefarious purposes. Furthermore, through a stolen email – access might be gained to the accounts and platforms registered through it.

Scammers can 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 proliferate malware. What is more, finance-related accounts (e.g., e-commerce, online banking, digital wallets, etc.) can be used to make fraudulent transactions or online purchases.

To summarize, by trusting an email like "Email Sending Has Been Temporarily Suspended" – users can experience serious privacy issues, financial losses, and even identity theft.

If you have already entered your log-in credentials into a phishing webpage – change the passwords of all possibly affected accounts and inform their official support without delay.

Threat Summary:

Name	"Email Sending Has Been Temporarily Suspended" phishing email
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Recipient's email account has been suspended due to 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

"Wells Fargo - Direct Deposit", "Pass-code Expires Today", and "Roundcube Found Several Undelivered Messages" are merely a couple examples of phishing emails.

Spam mail is used to promote various scams and to spread malware. These emails can be plain and full of mistakes or be competently crafted and even disguised as messages from legitimate service providers, companies, organizations, institutions, authorities, or other entities.

Due to how widespread spam mail is and how well-made it can be – we highly recommend treating incoming emails, PMs/DMs, SMSes, and other messages with caution.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Spam campaigns proliferate malware by distributing malicious files as attachments or links. They come in various formats, e.g., archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), executables (.exe, run, etc.), documents (Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, PDF, etc.), JavaScript, etc.

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

How to avoid installation of malware?

We strongly recommend approaching incoming emails and other messages with care. Attachments or links present in suspicious mail must not be opened, as they can be infectious.

However, malware is not distributed only through spam mail. Therefore, we also advise caution while browsing, as fake and malicious online content typically appears genuine and harmless.

Furthermore, all downloads must be made from official and verified channels. Another recommendation is to activate and update software using legitimate functions/tools, as illegal activation ("cracking") tools and fake updaters can contain malware.

It is essential to have a dependable anti-virus installed and kept up-to-date. Security programs 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 "Email Sending Has Been Temporarily Suspended" spam email letter:

Subject: Email sending from ******** has been temporarily suspended..

 

Email sending has been temporarily suspended

We have temporarily suspended email sending from your account ******** due to continuous suspicious activities from your account, such as sending spam-like or harmful emails. This may suggest a potential compromise through one of your connected applications or devices.

With this suspension, we aim to protect your email account security, and reputation – sending spam, malware, or other harmful content, could get your account on global block lists.

To resolve this issue, click the button below and follow the steps to reactivate your account.

Reactivate Account

You have received this email because you are registered at ********, to ensure the implementation of our Terms of Service and (or) for other legitimate matters.

Privacy Policy

© 2004–2024 ******** International Ltd.

Screenshot of the phishing website promoted by this spam campaign:

Another example of a phishing site promoted via "Email Sending Has Been Temporarily Suspended" 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 "Email Sending Has Been Temporarily Suspended" 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. These message are sent out in mass-scale operations – therefore, 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 already provided your log-in credentials – immediately change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and inform their official support. And if you've disclosed other private information (e.g., ID card details, passport scans/photos, credit card numbers, etc.) – contact relevant authorities without delay.

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

Reading an email is harmless, as 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 – the system was infected. However, you might have avoided this if it was a document (.doc, .xls, .pdf, .one, etc.). These formats may need additional actions (e.g., enabling macro commands, clicking embedded links/files, etc.).

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Yes, Combo Cleaner can scan systems and eliminate practically all known malware infections. It must be stressed that running a full system scan is key – since sophisticated malicious software usually hides deep within systems.

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