Do not trust fake "Phone Number Was Added To Your Account" emails

What kind of email is "Phone Number Was Added To Your Account"?

After inspecting the "Phone Number Was Added To Your Account" email, we determined that it is spam. The fake message attempts to imply that the security of the recipient's email account has been compromised. The goal is to get them to disclose their account log-in credentials (password) to a phishing website.

"Phone Number Was Added To Your Account" email scam overview

This scam email is presented as a security alert. It states that a phone number from Pakistan was added to the recipient's mail account. The implication is that the telephone number was added as a recovery option, thus allowing supposed scammers to hijack the account by changing its log-in credentials. The fake notification urges the recipient to press the link in the letter to secure their email account.

It must be emphasized that all the claims made by this message are false, and this mail is in no way associated with any legitimate service providers or entities.

Pressing "CLICK TO SECURE YOUR ACCOUNT" redirects to a phishing website. These webpages record information provided to them; in this case, the deceptive page seeks to steal email account log-in credentials. Stealing emails is a particularly common activity for cyber criminals, as mails often include incredibly sensitive information and may serve as a way to hijack the accounts/platforms/services registered through them.

To expand upon how the linked content could be abused, criminals can steal the identities of account owners (e.g., emails, social media, social networking, messengers, etc.) and ask the contacts/friends/followers for loans or donations, promote scams, and spread malware by sharing malicious files or links.

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

To summarize, by trusting an email like "Phone Number Was Added To Your Account" – users can experience severe privacy issues, financial losses, and even identity theft.

If you have disclosed your log-in credentials – immediately change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and contact their official support.

Threat Summary:

Name	"Phone Number Was Added To Your Account" phishing email
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Phone number from Pakistan was added to the recipient's email account.
Related Domains	ipbchapeco.com[.]br
Detection Names	Fortinet (Phishing), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
Serving IP Address	172.67.141.4
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

"Password Nearing Expiration", "Purchase Order (PO) Confirmation", "Messages Have Been Temporarily Held", and "Order Details" are merely a few of our latest articles on phishing emails. Most commonly targeted data includes log-in credentials, personally identifiable details, and finance-related information.

However, other scams are promoted through spam mail as well. Additionally, these letters are used to proliferate all kinds of malware.

While the widely held belief that spam emails are shoddily crafted and full of grammatical/spelling errors is not untrue, it is not always the case. This mail can be competently put together and even convincingly disguised as messages from legitimate entities (e.g., service providers, companies, institutions, authorities, etc.).

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Spam campaigns proliferate malware by distributing malicious files as attachments or download links. These files can be archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), documents (Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, PDF, etc.), JavaScript, and so on.

Merely opening a virulent file can be enough to initiate malware download/installation. 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 on embedded links or files.

How to avoid installation of malware?

We highly recommend exercising caution with incoming emails, DMs/PMs, SMSes, and other messages. Attachments or links found in dubious mail must not be opened, as they can be infectious.

It must be mentioned that malware is not spread exclusively through spam mail. Therefore, we advise being careful while browsing since the Internet is full of well-disguised fraudulent and dangerous content.

Additionally, 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 third-party updates may contain malware.

It is paramount for device integrity and user safety to have a reputable anti-virus installed and kept up-to-date. Security programs must be used to perform 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 "Phone Number Was Added To Your Account" spam email letter:

Subject: ******** Mail Notifications Kindly Check and Verify

********* Protection

ALERT

Hi ********,
A phone number was added to your (********) account from Pakistan on 7/26/2024 2:14 AM.
If you did this, you can safely disregard this email.
If you didn't do this, please CLICK TO SECURE YOUR ACCOUNT.

Thanks,
The ******** Security Team

Screenshot of the phishing website promoted by this spam campaign:

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Quick menu:

• What is "Phone Number Was Added To Your Account" 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?

Despite any relevant information that they may include, spam emails are not personal. This mail is sent out in large-scale campaigns – 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 provided your log-in credentials – change the passwords of all potentially compromised accounts and inform their official support without delay. And if you've disclosed other private information (e.g., passport photos/scans, ID card details, credit card numbers, etc.) – immediately contact the corresponding authorities.

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

Systems are infected when malicious attachments or links are opened/clicked – hence, reading an email poses no infection threat.

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

Whether your device was compromised might depend on the opened file's format. Executables (.exe, .run, etc.) cause infections almost without fail (once opened). While some other formats – like documents (.doc, .xls, .pdf, etc.) – may need additional actions. For example, the infection chain is triggered after macro commands are enabled, embedded content is clicked, and so on.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Yes, Combo Cleaner can detect and remove practically all known malware infections. Note that high-end malicious software typically hides deep within systems – therefore, performing a complete system scan is crucial.

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