Avoid having your account stolen via fake "Adobe Cloud Service" emails
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on
What kind of email is "Adobe Cloud Service"?
After inspecting the "Adobe Cloud Service" email, we determined that it is spam. The phishing letter falsely claims that the recipient was sent a business contract related document. By attempting to view the bogus file, recipients are lured into disclosing their email log-in credentials – thus exposing their accounts.
"Adobe Cloud Service" email scam overview
The spam email with the subject "New Order" (may vary) is presented as a notification from "Adobe Cloud Service". It states that the recipient has been sent a contract document via "PDF Online Storage". The letter lists details of the nonexistent file, such as its name – "Company Profile/Product Description/RFQ", date, and size.
It must be emphasized that the information provided in this email is false, and this mail is not associated with Adobe Inc. or any other legitimate products, services, or entities.
This spam letter promotes a phishing website that targets email log-in credentials. The purpose of such pages is to record the entered data. Emails are of particular interest to scammers as they tend to include highly sensitive information. What is more, they may serve as a gateway to hijacking the accounts, platforms, and services registered through the emails.
To elaborate on the potential abuse of the unauthorized access, cyber criminals can steal the identities of account owners (e.g., emails, social networking, social media, messengers, chats, etc.) and request loans or donations from contacts/friends, endorse scams, and spread malware by sharing malicious links or files.
Confidential or compromising content discovered on hijacked accounts can be used for blackmail or other nefarious purposes. Stolen finance-related accounts (e.g., e-commerce, money transferring, digital wallets, online banking, etc.) can be used to make fraudulent transactions and online purchases.
In summary, by trusting an email like "Adobe Cloud Service" – users can experience serious privacy issues, financial losses, and even identity theft.
If you have already provided your log-in credentials to a phishing site/file – change the passwords of all potentially exposed accounts and contact their official support without delay.
| Name | "Adobe Cloud Service" phishing email |
| Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud |
| Fake Claim | Recipient was sent a contract document. |
| Disguise | Adobe |
| 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 written about countless spam campaigns; "MailBox De-activation", "Invoice For Our Recent Order", and "Email Account Requires Verification" are just a couple of our newest articles on phishing emails.
This mail is used to promote a wide variety of scams, ranging from credential phishing to sextortion. It is also utilized in malware proliferation. Various lures are used to gain recipients' trust, such as claims relating to important documents, invoices, business offers, account issues, security upgrades, suspicious activity, lotteries, refunds, and so forth.
Due to how prevalent spam mail is and how well-made it can be – we highly recommend exercising caution with incoming emails, DMs/PMs, SMSes, and other messages.
How do spam campaigns infect computers?
Cyber criminals commonly use spam campaigns to distribute malware. These emails/messages can include infectious files as attachments or download links. Said files come in various formats, e.g., documents (Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, PDF, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), JavaScript, and so on.
The malware download/installation chain is triggered once a malicious file is opened. However, some formats need additional actions to initiate infection processes. For example, Microsoft Office files require users to enable macro commands (i.e., editing/content), while OneNote documents need them to click on embedded files or links.
How to avoid installation of malware?
It is essential to approach incoming emails and other messages with care. Attachments or links present in dubious/irrelevant mail must not be opened, as they can be virulent.
However, malware is not spread exclusively via spam mail. Therefore, we recommend caution when browsing since the Internet is full of deceptive and dangerous content.
Additionally, all downloads must be performed from official and trustworthy channels. Another recommendation is to activate and update software using functions/tools provided by genuine developers, as illegal product activation ("cracking") tools and third-party updates may contain malware.
It is paramount for device and user safety to have a reputable anti-virus installed and kept up-to-date. Security programs must be used to run regular system scans and to remove threats and 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 "Adobe Cloud Service" spam email letter:
Subject: New Order
Adobe Cloud Service
A new contract document has been shared with you to through PDF Online Storage.
Dates: 11-August-2024
Title: Company Profile/Product Description/RFQ.
Size: 893kb ~ 2.3MB
View Document
Sign in to view encrypted document
PDF Online Storage
This message was sent from an unsupervised email address. Do not reply to this message
Screenshot of the phishing website promoted by the "Adobe Cloud Service" spam campaign:
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Quick menu:
- What is "Adobe Cloud Service" 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?
Even if spam emails include details relevant to the recipients, they 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 disclosed your log-in credentials – change the passwords of all potentially exposed accounts and inform their official support. And if you've provided other private data to scammers (e.g., ID card details, passport photos/scans, credit/debit card numbers, etc.) – contact the appropriate authorities without delay.
I have read a spam email but didn't open the attachment, is my computer infected?
No, opening/reading an email is harmless. Devices are infected when malicious attachments or links are opened/clicked.
I have downloaded and opened a file attached to a spam email, is my computer infected?
The format of the opened file can influence infection success rates. Executables (.exe, .run, etc.) cause infections almost without fail once opened. While some other formats – like documents (.doc, .pdf, .one, .xls, etc.) – might need extra actions to trigger malware download/installation (e.g., enabling macros, clicking embedded content, etc.).
Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?
Yes, Combo Cleaner can scan computers and remove all kinds of threats. It can detect and eliminate most of the known malware infections. It must be stressed that performing a full system scan is crucial since high-end malicious programs typically hide deep within systems.
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