Do not trust fake "Official Notification: Performance Evaluation Access" email
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on
What kind of email is "Official Notification: Performance Evaluation Access"?
After examining the "Official Notification: Performance Evaluation Access" email, we determined that it is spam. Presented as a workplace performance evaluation report, this scam letter aims to trick recipients into visiting a phishing site that targets email account log-in credentials.
"Official Notification: Performance Evaluation Access" email scam overview
The spam letter with the subject "IMPORTANT: Employee's Performance Report - July '07 (Ref: -94173)" (may vary) is disguised as a workplace email. The message notifies the recipient that they can access the personalized review of their performance by following the provided link. The scam letter also indicates that names highlighted in red represent employees that will be terminated.
As mentioned in the introduction, the information in this email is fake, and this mail is not associated with recipients' places of employment or any other legitimate entities.
The spam mail endorses a phishing website bearing the old logo of the Zoho Office Suite. The fake Zoho page targets users' email account log-in credentials.
Emails are widely sought after by scammers, as they often include sensitive information, and this is especially true for workplace mail accounts. Aside from including confidential business information, an avenue might be opened for infecting the corporate network through a hijacked email account.
Additionally, access might be gained to the accounts/platforms/services registered via the email. To expand upon the potential abuse, cyber criminals can steal the identities of account owners (e.g., emails, social media, social networking, messengers, etc.) and request loans or donations from contacts/friends/followers, promote scams, and proliferate malware by sharing malicious links/files.
Stolen finance-related accounts (e.g., e-commerce, digital wallets, money transferring, online banking, etc.) can be used to carry out fraudulent transactions or online purchases.
In summary, victims of scam mail like "Official Notification: Performance Evaluation Access" can experience system infections, 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.
| Name | "Official Notification: Performance Evaluation Access" phishing email |
| Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud |
| Fake Claim | Recipient was sent their performance evaluation review. |
| Related Domains | relevants[.]click |
| Detection Names (relevants[.]click) | Fortinet (Spam), Sophos (Spam), 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. |
Phishing spam campaign examples
We have examined countless spam emails; "Phone Number Was Added To Your Account", "Password Nearing Expiration", "Purchase Order (PO) Confirmation", and "Messages Have Been Temporarily Held" are but a few examples of phishing campaigns.
Spam is used to promote a wide variety of scams, including phishing, tech support, refund, advance fee, sextortion, inheritance, lottery, and so on. Furthermore, these messages are utilized in malware distribution.
Due to how prevalent spam mail is and how well-made it can be – we highly recommend exercising caution with incoming emails, PMs/DMs, SMSes, and other messages.
How do spam campaigns infect computers?
Cyber criminals commonly use spam campaigns to spread malware. These emails/messages can have infectious files attached to or linked inside them. Malicious files come in various formats, e.g., executables (.exe, .run, etc.), archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), documents (Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, etc.), JavaScript, and so forth.
Merely opening such a file can be enough to trigger the infection chain. However, some formats need additional actions to initiate malware download/installation. For example, Microsoft Office files require users to enable macro commands (i.e., editing/content), while OneNote documents need them to click embedded links or files.
How to avoid installation of malware?
Caution is key to safely interacting with emails and other messages. Attachments or links found in dubious/irrelevant mail must not be opened, as they can be harmful or virulent.
However, malware is not proliferated exclusively via spam messages. Therefore, we recommend vigilance while browsing, as fraudulent and dangerous online content usually appears genuine and harmless.
All downloads must be made from official and verified channels. Another recommendation is to activate and update software using functions/tools provided by legitimate developers, as illegal product activation ("cracking") tools and third-party updaters may contain malware.
It is paramount for device integrity and user safety to have a dependable anti-virus installed and kept updated. Security programs must be used to run regular system scans and to remove detected threats. 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 "Official Notification: Performance Evaluation Access" spam email letter:
Subject: IMPORTANT: Employee's Performance Report - July '07 (Ref: -94173)
Official Notification: Performance Evaluation Access
Attn: -,
This communication serves to notify you of the availability of your performance evaluation dated this day: 7/30/2024 10:24:19 p.m.. See your personalized review via the attached document:
inter-recoff.********/news/empl.record/2023-reports/
Note: All names highlighted/marked in red indicate employees to be terminated.
We appreciate your continued service and commitment to our organization.
Sincerely,
Director of HR
******** Human Resources Department
Screenshot of the phishing website promoted by this spam campaign:
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Quick menu:
- What is "Official Notification: Performance Evaluation Access" 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 information relevant to the recipients. This data is primarily acquired through publicly available sources or phishing scams. This mail is distributed 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 disclosed your log-in credentials – change the passwords of all possibly compromised accounts and inform their official support without delay. And if you've provided other private information (e.g., passport scans/photos, ID card details, credit 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 poses no infection threat; devices 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 your device was infected might depend on the opened file's format. Once opened, executables (.exe, .run, etc.) trigger download/installation processes almost without fail. However, some formats need additional interaction to initiate system infection chains. For example, malicious documents (.doc, .xls, .one, .pdf, etc.) might require users to enable macro commands, click embedded links/files, and so on.
Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?
Yes, Combo Cleaner is capable of detecting and eliminating practically all known malware infections. Remember that sophisticated malicious programs usually hide deep within systems – hence, running a complete system scan is essential.
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