Avoid losing your account via fake "Password Nearing Expiration" emails

What kind of email is "Password Nearing Expiration"?

"Password Nearing Expiration" is a phishing email. This spam message claims that the recipients' email account passwords are going to expire soon. Recipients are urged to authenticate the accounts to avoid losing access; thus, they are lured into disclosing their email log-in credentials (passwords) to scammers.

"Password Nearing Expiration" email scam overview

The spam email with the subject "Email password refresh notice" (may vary) states that the recipient's account password is nearing its expiration. If it expires, they will be unable to access or otherwise interact with their account.

This might be avoided if the recipient's system administrator extends the expiry date. Otherwise, the scam message directs the recipient to authenticate their account by clicking the "KEEP MY PASSWORD" button.

It must be stressed that these claims are false, and this mail is not associated with any genuine service providers or other entities. The button in "Password Nearing Expiration" email redirects to a phishing site that imitates the recipient's email sign-in page.

Phishing websites record provided information and send it to scammers. Emails tend to include sensitive data and work accounts might serve as a gateway for cyber criminals to infect the corporate network. Additionally, scammers might gain access to accounts/platforms registered through a compromised email.

To expand upon the potential abuse, criminals can steal the identities of account owners (e.g., emails, social networking, messengers, etc.) and request loans or donations from contacts/friends/followers, endorse scams, and proliferate malware by sharing malicious links/files.

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

In summary, victims of scam mail like "Password Nearing Expiration" can experience severe privacy issues, financial losses, and even identity theft. If you have already disclosed your log-in credentials to scammers – immediately change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and contact their official support.

Threat Summary:

Name	"Password Nearing Expiration" phishing email
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Recipient's email password will expire soon.
Related Domains	mallox[.]com
Detection Names (mallox[.]com)	Cluster25 (Phishing), CRDF (Malicious), ESET (Phishing), Fortinet (Phishing), G-Data (Phishing), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
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 spam emails; "Messages Have Been Temporarily Held", "Order Details", "MetaMask Log-In Attempt", and "Wells Fargo - Unusual Account Activity" are merely some of our newest articles on phishing campaigns.

This type of spam primarily targets log-in credentials, personally identifiable information, and finance-related data. However, spam mail is used to promote various scams and to distribute malware.

These messages are often riddled with spelling/grammatical errors, but they can also be incredibly competently crafted and even believably disguised as emails from legitimate entities (e.g., companies, service providers, organizations, authorities, etc.).

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Cyber criminals commonly use spam campaigns to spread malware. Infectious files are attached to or linked inside the emails/messages. These files can be executables (.exe, .run, etc.), archives (RAR, ZIP, etc.), documents (Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, PDF, etc.), JavaScript, and so on.

When such a file is opened – the infection chain is triggered. Some formats require extra actions to jumpstart malware download/installation. 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 essential to treat incoming emails, DMs/PMs, SMSes, and other messages with caution. Attachments or links present in suspect/irrelevant mail must not be opened, as they can be virulent.

It must be mentioned that malware is not proliferated exclusively via spam mail. Therefore, we recommend being careful while browsing since fake and malicious online content usually appears legitimate and innocuous.

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

We must emphasize the importance of having a dependable anti-virus installed and kept updated. Security software must be used to run regular system scans and to remove detected 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 "Password Nearing Expiration" spam email letter:

Subject: Email password refresh notice

Email Password Nearing Expiration

Your email ******** password is nearly expired. When it expires, your ability to log in to your email account or read emails depends on your systems administrator extending the password expiry date. To efficiently secure your email password, click below to authenticate your email account.

KEEP MY PASSWORD

Email server alert from ********
Your response is not necessary for this automated notice

Screenshot of the phishing website promoted by the "Password Nearing Expiration" spam campaign:

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Quick menu:

• What is "Password Nearing Expiration" 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, regardless of any relevant information they may include. Cyber criminals distribute this mail in massive operations – hence, 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 disclosed your log-in credentials – change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and inform their official support without delay. And if you've provided information of a different personal nature (e.g., ID card details, passport scans/photos, credit/debit card numbers, etc.) – immediately contact relevant authorities.

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

Reading an email is harmless; devices are infected when malicious attachments or links are opened.

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, .one, .pdf, etc.). These formats may require additional user interaction to start downloading/installing malware (e.g., enabling macro commands, clicking embedded content, etc.).

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Yes, Combo Cleaner can scan devices and eliminate all kinds of threats. It is capable of detecting and removing most of the known malware infections. Keep in mind that performing a full system scan is paramount since sophisticated malicious programs typically hide deep within systems.

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