Do not trust fake "Compromise Of Your Digital Identity" emails

What kind of email is "Compromise Of Your Digital Identity"?

After investigating the "Compromise Of Your Digital Identity" email, we determined that it is malspam. This spam message claims that the recipient's digital identity might have been compromised.

The personal information affected is detailed in the attachment document. Instead of containing any such records, the attachment is intended to infect recipients' devices with FormBook malware.

"Compromise Of Your Digital Identity" email virus overview

The spam email with the subject "Action Required – Your Digital Identity May Have Been Compromised" (may vary) informs the recipient that a potential compromise of their digital identity has been discovered. The attachment details the personal information that has been exposed. The recipient is urged to review it and take the appropriate measures to secure their accounts and private data.

It must be emphasized that the claims made by the email are false, and this mail is not associated with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations (UN), or any other legitimate entities.

The document attached to the letter – "Personal Data overview.xls" (filename may vary) – is designed to infect systems with FormBook malware.

Once this Microsoft Excel file is opened, it requests the user to enable its malicious macro commands (i.e., editing/content). Doing so triggers the download/installation chain of FormBook. This is a highly versatile malicious program that has extensive data-stealing capabilities.

In summary, victims of scam mail like "Compromise Of Your Digital Identity" can experience system infections, severe privacy issues, financial losses, and identity theft.

If you suspect that your device is infected – perform a full system scan with an anti-virus and eliminate all detected threats without delay.

Threat Summary:

Name	"Compromise Of Your Digital Identity" malspam
Threat Type	Malspam, trojan, password-stealing virus, banking malware, spyware.
Fake Claim	Recipient's digital identity may have been compromised.
Disguise	International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
Attachment(s)	Personal Data overview.xls (filename may vary)
Detection Names	Combo Cleaner (Trojan.GenericKD.73929289), Emsisoft (Trojan.GenericKD.73929289 (B)), ESET-NOD32 (DOC/TrojanDownloader.Agent.FIZ), Kaspersky (HEUR:Trojan.OLE2.UrcBadur.genw), TrendMicro (TROJ_GEN.F04IE00HQ24), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
Payload	FormBook
Symptoms	Trojans are designed to stealthily infiltrate the victim's computer and remain silent, and thus no particular symptoms are clearly visible on an infected machine.
Distribution methods	Infected email attachments, malicious online advertisements, social engineering, software 'cracks'.
Damage	Stolen passwords and banking information, identity theft, the victim's computer added to a botnet.
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.

Malspam campaign examples

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They proliferate a wide variety of malware, including trojans, ransomware, and cryptocurrency miners. Spam mail is also used to promote scams, such as phishing, advance fee, sextortion, tech support, refund, inheritance, lottery, and so on. Various lures are utilized to gain recipients' trust.

These emails are often poorly written and full of spelling/grammatical errors. However, they can also be competently put together and even convincingly disguised as messages from legitimate entities (e.g., organizations, institutions, companies, service providers, authorities, etc.).

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Spam campaigns spread malware by distributing malicious files as attachments or download links. The "Compromise Of Your Digital Identity" email we examined had a virulent Microsoft Excel file attached to it. After being opened, this document requested the user to enable its macro commands (i.e., editing/content) – once the instruction is carried out, the file initiates FormBook malware's download/installation.

However, infectious files can be in various formats, e.g., documents (Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, PDF, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), archives (RAR, ZIP, etc., JavaScript, and so on. For some formats, it is enough to open them and the infection chain is initiated, while others need extra actions (e.g., enabling macros, clicking embedded links or files, etc.).

How to avoid installation of malware?

We strongly advise exercising caution with incoming emails, DMs/PMs, SMSes, and other messages. Attachments or links found in dubious/irrelevant mail must not be opened, as they can be harmful or virulent.

It must be mentioned that malware is proliferated using various techniques. Therefore, we recommend being careful browsing, as the Internet is full of well-disguised fake and dangerous content.

Another recommendation is to download only from official and trustworthy sources. Additionally, all programs must be activated and updated using functions/tools provided by legitimate developers, as illegal activation tools ("cracks") and third-party updates can contain malware.

It is paramount for device integrity and user safety to have a dependable anti-virus installed and kept updated. Security software must be used to perform regular system scans and to remove detected 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 "Compromise Of Your Digital Identity" spam email letter:

Subject: Action Required – Your Digital Identity May Have Been Compromised

*****************************************************************
We have detected a compromise of your digital identity, and your
personal information have been exposed.

Action Required:

All affected data is detailed in the attached file.
Follow the recommended steps to secure your accounts and personal
information

 

We take privacy very seriously and are committed to safeguarding
your personal information with attention.
Please download your Personal Data overview to review the
compromised informations.
Review the Information: Check the details to understand what
specific data has been affected and take protective security
measures.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate
your prompt attention to this matter.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Data Protection Team
International Telecommunication Union (ITU)
555 777 6666

*************Data Protection and Cybersecurity.******************
*****************************************************************

Screenshot of the malicious attachment distributed via this spam campaign ("Personal Data overview.xls"):

Instant automatic malware removal: Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced IT skills. Combo Cleaner is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
▼ DOWNLOAD Combo Cleaner By downloading any software listed on this website you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. 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.

Quick menu:

• What is "Compromise Of Your Digital Identity" malspam?
• 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, regardless of any relevant details that they may include. 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 provided your log-in credentials – change the passwords of all potentially exposed accounts and inform their official support. However, if the disclosed information was of a different personal nature (e.g., passport scans/photos, ID card details, credit card numbers, etc.) – contact relevant authorities without delay.

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

No, merely reading an email is harmless. Devices are infected with malicious attachments or links are opened/clicked.

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

File formats may impact infection success rates. Once opened, executables (.exe, .run, etc.) cause infections almost without fail. However, some formats – like documents (.xls, .doc, .pdf, .one, etc.) – might require additional actions. Hence, malware download/installation is only triggered after the macro commands are enabled, embedded content is clicked, or other actions are performed.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Yes, Combo Cleaner is capable of detecting and eliminating practically all known malware infections. It must be emphasized that running a full system scan is crucial since high-end malicious programs usually hide deep within systems.

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