Avoid losing your account via fake "Adobe Contract Agreement" emails
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on
What kind of email is "Adobe Contract Agreement"?
Our examination of the "Adobe Contract Agreement" email revealed that it is spam. This deceptive mail lures recipients into visiting a phishing website that targets email account log-in credentials by baiting them with a nonexistent contract document. Victims of this scam letter risk having their email accounts stolen.
"Adobe Contract Agreement" email scam overview
The spam email with the subject "Final Contract Agreement for Review and Signature" (may vary) is presented as a notification from Adobe. This bogus message states that all parties finished the contract agreement. This document was shared with five individuals, including the recipient. The letter requests a careful review of the shared file.
It must be emphasized that the information in this email is false, and this mail is in no way associated with any products or services provided by Adobe Inc.
The phishing site endorsed by this spam campaign mimics an online file-sharing/editing platform overlaid with a pop-up stating and instructing – "These files are sensitive and secured against unauthorized access. Please match the displayed email with the correct password to prove you are authorized to view and download these files". Log-in credentials typed into this page are recorded and sent to scammers.
Email accounts typically contain sensitive information, and this is all the more true regarding work emails. Confidential or compromising content can be used for a variety of nefarious purposes, including blackmail.
What is more, gaining access to a work email may open an avenue for cyber criminals to infect the corporate network (e.g., trojans, ransomware, etc.). Additionally, control might be gained over the accounts/platforms/services registered through the compromised email.
The unauthorized access could then be used to steal the owners' identities (e.g., emails, messengers, social networking, etc.) and ask the contacts/friends/followers for loans or donations, promote scams, and spread malware by sharing malicious links/files.
Stolen finance-related accounts (e.g., e-commerce, money transferring, digital wallets, online banking, etc.) can be used to make fraudulent transactions or online purchases.
To summarize, victims of spam emails like "Adobe Contract Agreement" can experience system infections, severe privacy issues, financial losses, and even identity theft.
If you have already disclosed your log-in credentials – change the passwords of all potentially exposed accounts and contact their official support.
| Name | "Adobe Contract Agreement" phishing email |
| Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud |
| Fake Claim | Recipient was sent a final contract. |
| 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
"MailBox De-activation", "Kamer Van Koophandel (KVK) email scam", and "HP Scanner" are merely a couple of our latest articles on phishing campaigns.
Emails of this kind primarily target log-in credentials (usernames/passwords), personally identifiable information, and finance-related data. However, various scams are promoted through spam mail, and it is used to proliferate malware.
While the widely held belief that spam emails are poorly put together and full of grammatical/spelling errors is not untrue, it is not always the case. These letters can be competently made and even convincingly disguised as messages from legitimate entities (e.g., service providers, companies, organizations, institutions, authorities, etc.).
How do spam campaigns infect computers?
Spam campaigns are prevalent in malware distribution. These emails/messages can have malicious files attached to or linked inside them. Virulent 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 on.
The infection chain is initiated once such a file is opened. Some formats require additional actions to begin downloading/installing malware. 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?
We strongly recommend exercising caution with incoming emails, DMs/PMs, SMSes, and other messages. Attachments or links found in suspicious mail must not be opened, as they can be infectious.
However, malware is proliferated using various methods. Therefore, we advise being vigilant while browsing since fraudulent and malicious online content usually appears legitimate and innocuous.
Another recommendation is to download only from official and trustworthy sources. Additionally, all programs must be activated and updated using functions/tools provided by genuine developers, as illegal activation ("cracking") tools and third-party updaters may contain malware.
It is essential to have a dependable anti-virus installed and kept updated. This software must be used to perform 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 "Adobe Contract Agreement" spam email letter:
Subject: Final Contract Agreement for Review and Signature
Adobe Acrobat Sign
Adobe
All parties finished
Contract Agreement
Open agreement
Dear -
Attached is the final contract agreement between:- and 4 others.
Please take a moment to carefully review the document and sign via return email.
Read it with Acrobat Reader . You can also open it online to review its activity history.
Powered by Adobe Acrobat Sign
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Screenshot of the phishing website promoted by the "Adobe Contract Agreement" spam campaign:
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Quick menu:
- What is "Adobe Contract Agreement" 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. Cyber criminals distribute this mail in massive operations with the hopes that at least some recipients will fall for their scams.
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. 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?
No, reading an email does not pose an infection threat. Systems 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?
Whether your device was compromised might depend on the opened file's format. Once launched, executables (.exe, .run, etc.) cause infections almost without fail. However, some formats – like documents (.doc, .xls, .one, .pdf, etc.) – might need extra actions. Hence, the infection may only be 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 is capable of detecting and eliminating nearly all known malware infections. It must be emphasized that running a full system scan is paramount since sophisticated malicious software usually hides deep within systems.
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