How to identify fraudulent emails like "Upgrade Your Mailbox Disk-Space"
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on
What is "Upgrade Your Mailbox Disk-Space"?
While examining the email, we found it to be a phishing email disguised as a notification from an email service provider. Scammers crafted this email with the intention of stealing personal information from unsuspecting recipients. Recipients should ignore this email and not open the included link.
More about the "Upgrade Your Mailbox Disk-Space" scam email
The phishing email has the subject line implying that the recipient's inbox is almost full. It claims that the current mailbox size is close to the maximum limit and instructs the recipient to upgrade mailbox disk space by clicking a link labeled "Here". Additionally, the email falsely claims to be from a mail system administrator, attempting to give the message credibility.
This phishing email aims to deceive the recipient into visiting a fraudulent website that mimics the appearance of their actual email service provider. For instance, if the recipient uses Gmail, the phishing site will disguise itself as the official Gmail sign-in page.
On the fake website, visitors are instructed to provide their email address and password (email account login credentials). These login details are then captured by scammers, who can exploit them for malicious activities. For example, scammers might access the victim's email account and use it to send phishing emails or malware to contacts or look for sensitive information.
Also, scammers may try to access other accounts (e.g., banking or social media) using the obtained credentials and sell the stolen information on the dark web. Providing sensitive information to scammers can lead to identity theft, monetary loss, reputational damage, and other issues. Thus, it is important to be careful with suspicious emails.
| Name | Upgrade Your Mailbox Disk-Space Email Scam |
| Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud |
| Fake Claim | The recipient's mailbox is almost full |
| Disguise | Letter from mail system administrator |
| 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. |
Similar scam emails in general
Phishing emails commonly use urgent language to trick recipients into taking immediate action, such as clicking a link or providing sensitive information. They often appear to come from legitimate organizations, companies, or other entities and may include real logos or contact details to deceive recipients into believing the email is legitimate.
Typically, scammers use such emails to steal credit card details, login credentials, or other sensitive information. However, they can also use them to deliver malware. Some examples of similar scam emails are "Disbursement Form", "We Updated Our Policy", and "DHL - Notice For Failed Package Delivery".
How do spam campaigns infect computers?
When threat actors utilize email to distribute malware, they attach malicious files or include malicious links. Opening malicious attachments does not always result in malware infiltration. It depends on the file type. For instance, malicious MS Office documents cannot inject malware until macros commands are enabled. However, malicious executables can deploy malware upon running them.
Malicious links in fraudulent emails can lead users to websites designed to automatically download malware or sites crafted to lure visitors into downloading malicious files or programs.
How to avoid installation of malware?
Avoid opening attachments or links in suspicious (e.g., unexpected or irrelevant) emails from unknown sources/addresses. Be wary of ads, pop-ups, prompts, and similar elements presented on shady websites. Do not download pirated software or tools designed to bypass software activation.
Always use official websites (or app stores) when downloading software and files. Use a reputable security tool to scan your system for threats and keep the operating system and installed software up to date. If you have already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.
Text presented in the "Upgrade Your Mailbox Disk-Space" email letter:
Subject: Your Mailbox Is Almost Full.
******** ,
3840MB 4096 MB
Current size Maximum size
Upgrade your mailbox Disk-space. Here to Upgrade Disk-space automatically.Thanks,
Mail System Administrator
(C) 2024 ********Virus-free. www.avast[.]com
Screenshot of the phishing web page utilized in this scam:
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Quick menu:
- What is Upgrade Your Mailbox Disk-Space 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?
Scammers send identical messages to a large number of people (usually, they obtain email addresses from data breaches or unreliable pages), hoping that someone will be tricked. As a rule, these scam emails lack personalization.
I have provided my personal information when tricked by this email, what should I do?
If scammers have obtained your email account login credentials, contact your email service provider as soon as possible and change all passwords.
I have downloaded and opened a file attached to an email, is my computer infected?
The risk of infection depends on the type of file. Opening a malicious executable file likely means that malware has compromised your system. However, if you opened a malicious MS Office document but did not enable macros, you may have avoided infection.
I have read the email but did not open the attachment, is my computer infected?
No, it is safe to open emails without interacting with their contents (if they are malicious).
Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections that were present in email attachment?
Yes, Combo Cleaner can detect and remove nearly all types of malware. However, sophisticated malware often hides deep within the system, so it is important to perform a full scan to ensure complete removal.
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