Do not trust fake "Your Email Account Needs To Be Re-verified" emails

What kind of email is "Your Email Account Needs To Be Re-verified"?

After inspecting "Your Email Account Needs To Be Re-verified", we determined that this message is spam. It claims that twelve emails are pending and cannot be delivered to the recipient's inbox until it is re-verified. This phishing campaign aims to trick users into revealing their email account log-in credentials.

"Your Email Account Needs To Be Re-verified" email scam overview

This spam letter states that the recipient's email account needs to be re-verified, thus updating it and gaining access to new features.

Until the verification process is completed, the recipient will be unable to receive messages that include attachments. There are currently 12 messages pending delivery to the inbox. If the re-verification is not undertaken, the undelivered emails can be lost, and the account may be shut down.

It must be stressed that all the claims made by this scam email are false, and this mail is not associated with any legitimate service providers or other entities. Clicking the "Update Account Here" button results in a redirect to a phishing website disguised as an email account sign-in page.

Phishing sites record provided information and send it to scammers. Hence, attempts to sign in via this webpage expose the account's log-in credentials (passwords) to cyber criminals. Emails tend to include vulnerable data that can be variously misused, including to blackmail victims. Additionally, a hijacked email can serve as a gateway for gaining control over accounts and platforms registered through it.

To expand upon how the unauthorized access may be abused, scammers can steal the identities of account owners (e.g., emails, social networking/media, messengers, chats, etc.) and ask the contacts/friends/followers for loans or donations, promote scans, and spread malware by sharing malicious files/links.

Furthermore, stolen finance-related accounts (e.g., e-commerce, money transferring, digital wallets, online banking, etc.) can be used to make fraudulent transactions or online purchases.

To summarize, by trusting an email like "Your Email Account Needs To Be Re-verified" – users can experience severe privacy issues, financial losses, and even identity theft.

If you have already disclosed your account credentials – immediately change the passwords of all potentially compromised accounts and contact their official support.

Threat Summary:

Name	"Your Email Account Needs To Be Re-verified" phishing email
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Recipient needs to re-verify their account to receive pending messages.
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 written about countless spam campaigns; "Restore/Confirm Your Email Access", "Review For Your Account", and "A Team Member Shared An Item" are merely a couple of our newest articles on phishing emails. Deceptive letters of this kind primarily target log-in credentials, personally identifiable information, and finance-related data.

However, other scams are promoted through spam mail as well, and it is used to proliferate malware. These emails are often poorly constructed and full of spelling/grammatical errors, but they can be well-crafted and even competently disguised as messages from genuine entities (e.g., service providers, companies, institutions, authorities, etc.).

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Spam campaigns are commonly used in malware distribution. These emails/messages can have malicious files attached to or linked inside them. The files can be archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), documents (Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, PDF, etc.), JavaScript, and so on.

Once a virulent file is opened – the infection chain is initiated. However, some formats require additional user interaction to jumpstart malware download/installation 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?

It is crucial to approach incoming emails, DMs/PMs, SMSes, and other messages with caution. Do not open attachments or links present in suspect/irrelevant mail, as they can be harmful or infectious.

Since malware is not proliferated exclusively via spam mail, download only from official and verified channels. Additionally, activate and update software using functions/tools provided by legitimate developers, as those acquired from third-parties may contain malware.

Furthermore, be vigilant while browsing since fraudulent and dangerous online content usually appears genuine and harmless.

It is paramount for device integrity and user safety to have a reputable anti-virus installed and kept updated. Security programs must be used to perform 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 "Your Email Account Needs To Be Re-verified" spam email letter:

Subject: [Ticket ID 60728]: Your messages are stuck on our server ********

Dear Customer,

Your email account ******** needs to be re-verified to welcome you into our new update and features.

Pending when this is done we have suspended your email from receiving emails with attachment, and this point you
have about (12) messages undelivered to your inbox.

Update your account to enable you to receive all pending messages to avoid losing some important messages
and possible shutdown of account.

Update Account Here

Due date: 7/02/2024 8:13:48 a.m..

Sincerely,
cPanel Customer Support

Screenshot of the phishing website promoted by "Your Email Account Needs To Be Re-verified" 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 "Your Email Account Needs To Be Re-verified" 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. Any such information is typically acquired through publicly available sources or phishing scams. Cyber criminals distribute these emails in large-scale operations – therefore, thousands of users receive identical (or incredibly similar) 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. And if you've disclosed other private information (e.g., ID card details, 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?

Devices are infected when malicious attachments or links are opened/clicked; merely reading an email poses no such threat.

I have downloaded and opened a file attached to a spam email, is my computer infected?

Whether the system was compromised might depend on the opened file's format. If it was an executable (.exe, .run, etc.) – most likely, yes. However, you might have avoided initiating malware download/installation if it was a document (.doc, .xls, .pdf, .one, etc.). These formats may require additional actions (e.g., enabling macros, clicking embedded files/links, etc.) to initiate system infection processes.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Yes, Combo Cleaner is designed to scan systems and eliminate all kinds of threats. It can detect and remove most of the known malware infections. Remember that high-end malicious software typically hides deep within systems – therefore, performing a full system scan is paramount.

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