Do not trust fake "OneDrive - A Secured File Has Been Shared" emails
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on (updated)
What kind of email is "OneDrive - A Secured File Has Been Shared"?
Upon examining this "OneDrive - A Secured File Has Been Shared" email, we determined that it is fake. This spam letter attempts to deceive recipients into revealing their account log-in credentials by presenting them with a phishing website disguised as a OneDrive page.
"OneDrive - A Secured File Has Been Shared" email scam overview
This spam email is presented as a notification from OneDrive. It claims that the recipient was sent a secured file with a message instructing them to review the contract documents. It must be emphasized that this email is fake, and it is not associated with OneDrive or its developer – the Microsoft Corporation.
When "View Document" is clicked, it results in a redirect to a phishing website. It is disguised as a OneDrive page that requests the user to provide their log-in credentials. Phishing sites record entered data and send it to scammers.
It must be mentioned that the risk exceeds the loss of a single account, especially if the owners tend to reuse the same passwords. Stolen accounts can be variously misused. Sensitive information can be used for blackmail or other nefarious purposes.
Cyber criminals can also steal the owners' identities (e.g., emails, social networking, messengers, file-sharing, etc.) and request loans or donations from contacts/friends/followers, promote scams, and spread malware by sharing malicious links/attachments.
Furthermore, hijacked finance-related accounts (e.g., online banking, digital wallets, e-commerce, money transferring, etc.) can be used to make fraudulent transactions and online purchases.
To summarize, victims of scam mail like "OneDrive - A Secured File Has Been Shared" can experience system infections, serious privacy issues, financial losses, and identity theft.
If you have entered your log-in credentials into a phishing site/file – change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and inform their official support without delay.
| Name | "OneDrive - A Secured File Has Been Shared" phishing email |
| Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud |
| Fake Claim | Recipient was sent contract documents to be approved and signed. |
| Disguise | OneDrive |
| Related Domains | oortech[.]com |
| Detection Names (oortech[.]com) | CyRadar (Malicious), Fortinet (Phishing), Seclookup (Malicious), Yandex Safebrowsing (Phishing), alphaMountain.ai (Suspicious), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal) |
| Serving IP Address (oortech[.]com) | 13.237.233.226 |
| 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
"Fraud Victim", "Hilton Group Quotation Request", and "Outlook Password Has Expired" are a couple of our latest articles on phishing campaigns.
Emails of this kind predominantly target log-in credentials, personally identifiable information, and finance-related data. However, various scams are promoted through spam mail, and it is used to proliferate malware.
While these emails are often poorly put together and rife with errors, they can be competently made and even believably disguised as messages from genuine service providers, companies, authorities, and other entities. Therefore, we highly recommend exercising caution with incoming emails, DMs/PMs, SMSes, and other messages.
How do spam campaigns infect computers?
Cyber criminals commonly proliferate malware via spam campaigns. Deceptive email/messages can include malicious files as attachments or download links. These files can be documents (Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, PDF, etc.), archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), JavaScript, and so on.
Merely opening such a file can be enough to trigger a system infection chain. However, some formats require additional actions to initiate malware download/installation. For example, Microsoft Office files need users to enable macro commands (i.e., editing/content), while OneNote documents require them to click on embedded links or files.
How to avoid installation of malware?
It is important to approach incoming emails and other messages with care. We advise against opening attachments or links found in suspicious/irrelevant mail, as they can be harmful or virulent.
It must be mentioned that malware is not proliferated exclusively through spam mail. Therefore, we recommend being vigilant when browsing, as fake and dangerous online content usually appears legitimate and harmless.
Furthermore, all downloads must be performed from official and trustworthy channels. Another recommendation is to activate and update programs using functions/tools provided by genuine developers, as illegal activation ("cracking") tools and third-party updaters may contain malware.
It is paramount for device integrity and user safety to have a reputable anti-virus installed and kept up-to-date. This software 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 "OneDrive - A Secured File Has Been Shared" spam email letter:
Subject: Document Shared With You On OneDrive
OneDrive
A secured document has been shared with you on OneDrive Storage.
Message: Please review contract documents for your signing and approval.
[View Document]
Unsubscribe From This List | Manage Email Preferences
Screenshot of the fake OneDrive website promoted by this spam campaign:
Another example of a spam email claiming that a file has been shared via OneDrive:
Text presented within:
Subject: 2 New files was shared with you Via 0nêdrive
2 New files was shared with you Via 0nêdrive
Here's the document that was shared with you -
Invoices_November 2024 updated 20241128.xls
Statement of account for November 2024.xlsView Files
permission globe This link only works for the direct recipients of this message.
Microsoft Privacy Statement
Screenshot of the promoted phishing site:
Yet another example of an email from a similar spam campaign:
Text presented within:
Subject: Invoice9873432.pdf
DocuSign
A Secure Document Has Been Received
Payment Authorization for Invoice9873432.pdfView Document
Please review and sign this document. This document is intended only for ********.If you are ready to sign, please carefully read the agreement. All red fields are required and cannot be skipped; gray fields are optional but recommended.
Use the recipient's email authentication to log in, view, and electronically sign the pending document. There is no need to create a paper copy if the document is signed through DocuSign.
Screenshot of the promoted phishing site:
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Quick menu:
- What is "OneDrive - A Secured File Has Been Shared" 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. These messages are sent out in large-scale operations – therefore, 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. However, if the disclosed information was of a different personal nature (e.g., ID card details, passport photos/scans, 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?
Devices are infected when malicious attachments or links are opened/clicked; merely reading an email is harmless.
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 system was compromised. However, you might have avoided triggering an infection if it was a document (.doc, .xls, .pdf, etc.). These formats may need additional user interaction to initiate malware download/installation (e.g., enabling macro commands, clicking embedded files/links, etc.).
Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?
Yes, Combo Cleaner is designed to eliminate all manner of threats. It can detect and remove most of the known malware infections. Remember that high-end malicious software typically hides deep within systems – therefore, running a complete system scan is crucial.
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