Do not trust fake "Financial Statements Has Been Shared With You" emails

What kind of email is "Financial Statements Has Been Shared With You"?

After analyzing the "Financial Statements Has Been Shared With You" email, we determined that it is spam. This letter aims to trick recipients into providing their email log-in credentials to a phishing website by claiming that it is necessary in order to access a financial statement. Victims of this spam campaign risk having their email accounts stolen.

"Financial Statements Has Been Shared With You" email scam overview

The spam email with the subject "SharePoint secure Via HP jet Scanner||" (may vary) notifies the recipient that a Microsoft Excel document titled "Financial Statements" has been shared with them. It must be emphasized that this letter is fake and in no way associated with any legitimate services or entities.

The "View" button in this email redirects to a phishing website. The page is disguised as the Microsoft OneDrive file-hosting service. It states that users must provide their email credentials to access the secure file. Passwords entered into this site are recorded and sent to scammers.

With this information in their possession, the cyber criminals can steal exposed emails. These accounts are of particular interest to criminals, as they often contain confidential data and may also serve as a gateway for infiltrating corporate networks or hijacking the accounts/platforms registered through them.

Scammers can steal the identities of linked account owners (e.g., emails, social networking, social media, messengers, etc.) and request loans or donations from contacts/friends/followers, promote scams, and proliferate malware by sharing malicious links/files.

Sensitive information discovered through compromised emails, data storage platforms, or other accounts can be used for blackmail and other nefarious purposes. What is more, finance-related accounts (e.g., e-commerce, online banking, money transferring, digital wallets, etc.) can be used to make unauthorized transactions and online purchases.

To summarize, victims of scam mail like "Financial Statements Has Been Shared With You" may experience system infections, severe privacy issues, financial losses, and even identity theft.

If you have already provided your log-in credentials to a phishing site – immediately change the passwords of all potentially compromised accounts and contact their official support.

Threat Summary:

Name	"Financial Statements Has Been Shared With You" phishing email
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Document containing financial statements was shared with the recipient.
Related Domains	000-w3b[.]cc
Detection Names (000-w3b[.]cc)	Forcepoint ThreatSeeker (Malicious), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
Serving IP Address (000-w3b[.]cc)	172.67.171.117
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 thousands of spam campaigns; "Upgrade Your Mailbox Disk-Space", "Disbursement Form", "Department For Work And Pension (DWP)", "We Updated Our Policy", and "System Glitch" are just some of our latest articles on phishing emails. They most commonly target log-in credentials, personally identifiable information, and finance-related data.

However, other scams are promoted through spam mail as well. It is also used to distribute malware (e.g., trojans, ransomware, cryptominers, etc.).

Due to how prevalent this mail is and how well-disguised it can be – we strongly recommend exercising caution with incoming emails, PMs/DMs, SMSes, and other messages.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

The use of spam campaigns in malware distribution is standard. Malicious emails/messages can include virulent files as attachments or download links. These files come in various formats, e.g., archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), documents (PDF, Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, etc.), JavaScript, and so forth.

Merely opening such a file can be enough to initiate the malware download/installation chain. However, some formats require additional user interaction to jumpstart system infection processes. For example, Microsoft Office files need users to enable macro commands (i.e., editing/content), while OneNote documents require them to click embedded links or files.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Incoming emails and other messages must be approached with vigilance. Attachments or links present in suspicious/irrelevant mail must not be opened, as they can be harmful or infectious.

However, malware is not distributed only through spam mail. Therefore, we recommend being careful while browsing, as the Internet is rife with well-disguised fake and malicious content.

Another recommendation is to download only from official and trustworthy sources. Additionally, all programs must be activated and updated using functions/tools provided by legitimate developers, as illegal activation ("cracking") tools and third-party updaters may contain malware.

We must stress the importance of having a reputable anti-virus installed and kept up-to-date. Security software must be used to run regular system scans and to remove threats/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 "Financial Statements Has Been Shared With You" spam email letter:

Subject: SharePoint secure Via HP jet Scanner||

Financial Statements has been shared with you.

Attached Is the Financial Statements - #63536

Financial Statements - xlsx

This link will work for - only

View

Privacy Statement

Screenshot of the phishing website promoted by this 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 "Financial Statements Has Been Shared With You" 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. The inclusion of any such information is used to create an impression of legitimacy; the data itself is usually acquired through publicly available sources or phishing scams.

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

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

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

Reading an email does not pose an infection threat; systems are compromised when malicious attachments or links are opened/clicked.

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

Whether the device was infected might depend on the opened file's format. Executables (.exe, .run, etc.) cause infections almost without fail (once opened). Other formats – like documents (.doc, .xls, .pdf, .one, etc.) – require extra interaction to begin downloading/installing malware (e.g., enabling macros, clicking embedded content, etc.).

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Yes, Combo Cleaner is capable of detecting and eliminating practically all known malware infections. It must be mentioned that performing a full system scan is essential since sophisticated malicious programs tend to hide deep within systems.

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