Do not trust fake "Email Has Been Suspended Due To Policy Violations" emails
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on
What kind of email is "Email Has Been Suspended Due To Policy Violations"?
After inspecting the "Email Has Been Suspended Due To Policy Violations" message, we determined that it is spam. The goal of this mail is to steal recipients' email accounts. This is achieved by luring them into a phishing website through false claims regarding account suspension.
"Email Has Been Suspended Due To Policy Violations" email scam overview
The scam email with the subject "Account Suspend Notice Today 8/15/2024 2:57:34 p.m." (may vary) states that the recipient's account has been suspended due to privacy violations. If a timely response is not made, the email account will be deactivated.
As mentioned in the introduction, the information in this message is false, and this mail is not associated with any legitimate service providers.
During our investigation, we found that the promoted website was down. Spam campaigns of this kind endorse phishing sites, typically ones disguised as email sign-in pages. It is noteworthy that "Email Has Been Suspended Due To Policy Violations" could redirect to functional sites in potential future releases of this spam campaign.
Stolen emails can be misused in various ways, and they may even serve as a gateway to hijacking the accounts/platforms registered through them.
To expand upon the possible abuse of the unauthorized access, scammers can steal the identities of account owners (e.g., emails, social networking, social media, messengers, etc.) and request loans or donations from contacts/friends/followers, promote scams, and spread malware by sharing malicious files/links.
Furthermore, finance-related accounts (e.g., online banking, money transferring, e-commerce, digital wallets, etc.) can be used to make fraudulent transactions and online purchases.
To summarize, victims of spam mail like "Email Has Been Suspended Due To Policy Violations" can experience severe privacy issues, financial losses, and identity theft.
If you have already disclosed your account credentials – change the passwords of all potentially compromised accounts and inform their official support.
| Name | "Email Has Been Suspended Due To Policy Violations" phishing email |
| Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud |
| Fake Claim | Recipient's email account was suspended due to privacy violations. |
| 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
"New Project Site", "Invoice Online Document Is Ready", "Pending Emails On Server", "Error In The Mail Service", and "Emails Need Your Attention" are just some of our latest articles on spam campaigns.
However, other scams are promoted through deceptive emails as well, and they are used to distribute malware. While the commonly held belief that spam messages are shoddily crafted and full of grammatical/spelling errors is not untrue, it is not always the case. These emails can be competently made and even convincingly disguised as messages from legitimate service providers, companies, organizations, authorities, and other entities.
Due to how widespread spam mail is and how well-crafted it can be – we strongly advise exercising caution with incoming emails, PMs/DMs, SMSes, and other messages.
How do spam campaigns infect computers?
Cyber criminals often use spam campaigns to proliferate malware. These emails/messages can have malicious files attached to or linked inside them. Virulent files come in various formats, e.g., executables (.exe, .run, etc.), archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), documents (PDF, Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, etc.), JavaScript, and so on.
Merely opening such a file can be enough to trigger malware download/installation. However, some formats require additional user interaction to initiate system infection chains. For example, Microsoft Office files need users to enable macro commands (i.e., editing/content), while OneNote documents require them to click embedded links/files.
How to avoid installation of malware?
Caution is key to device and user safety. Therefore, approach incoming emails and other messages with care. Do not open attachments or links present in suspicious/irrelevant mail, as they can be harmful or infectious.
It must be mentioned that malware is not spread exclusively through spam mail. Hence, exercise caution while browsing since the Internet is full of well-disguised fraudulent and malicious content.
Furthermore, download only from official and verified channels. Activate and update software using functions/tools provided by genuine developers, as illegal activation ("cracking") tools and third-party updaters may contain malware.
It is paramount to have a dependable anti-virus installed and kept up-to-date. Security programs must be used to perform 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 "Email Has Been Suspended Due To Policy Violations" spam letter:
Subject: Account Suspend Notice Today 8/15/2024 2:57:34 p.m.
Hello, ********
Your ******** has been suspended temporarily due to some Policy Violations
Please follow the steps below, to restore access to your email now
Restore→********
Your account will be deactivated if you fail to respond now
©2024 ********
Administrator Service.
All Rights Reserved
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Quick menu:
- What is "Email Has Been Suspended Due To Policy Violations" 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?
Regardless of any relevant information that spam emails may include, they are not personal. Any such data is usually obtained through publicly available sources or phishing scams. This mail is distributed 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 provided your log-in credentials – immediately change the passwords of all potentially compromised accounts and inform their official support. And if you've disclosed other private information (e.g., passport scans, ID card details, credit 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, reading an email poses no infection threat. 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?
If the opened file was an executable (.exe, .run, etc.) – most likely, yes – the device was infected. However, you might have avoided compromising the system if it was a document (.doc, .xls, .pdf, .one, etc.). These formats may require additional user interaction to initiate system infection processes (e.g., enabling macros, clicking embedded content, etc.).
Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?
Yes, Combo Cleaner is designed to scan systems and eliminate all kinds of threats. It can detect and remove most of the known malware infections. Note that running a complete system scan is crucial since high-end malicious programs typically hide deep within systems.
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