Avoid losing your email account via fake "Review This File Below" emails

What kind of email is "Review This File Below"?

Our inspection of the "Review This File Below" email revealed that it is spam. This letter is presented as a notification concerning a sent file. The purpose of this email is to lure recipients into visiting a phishing site that targets email account log-in credentials (passwords).

"Review This File Below" email scam overview

The spam email with the subject "Re: Audit Report" (may vary) is disguised as a notification concerning a file sent to the recipient. The file is identified as a Microsoft Excel document, which the subject of the email implies to be an audit report.

It must be emphasized that this email is fake, and it is not associated with any legitimate service providers or other entities.

After the recipient presses the "Get your file" button, they are redirected to a phishing website, which imitates the Dropbox file-hosting service website. The site instructs the user to – "Sign in with your existing Email". Phishing websites record provided information and send it to scammers.

Stealing email accounts is incredibly popular among cyber criminals, as they tend to include highly sensitive and confidential information. This is especially true of work accounts, which might also open an avenue for criminals to infect the company network with trojans, ransomware, and other malware.

Additionally, through a compromised email, control might be gained over the accounts, services, and platforms registered through it.

To expand upon how the unauthorized access may be abused, scammers can steal owners' identities (e.g., emails, social networking, messengers, chats, etc.) and ask the contacts/friends/followers for loans or donations, endorse scans, and spread malware by sharing malicious files/links.

Furthermore, 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.

In summary, by trusting an email like "Review This File Below" – users can experience system infections, serious privacy issues, financial losses, and even identity theft.

If you have already provided your log-in credentials to a phishing website/file – immediately change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and contact their official support.

Threat Summary:

Name	"Review This File Below" phishing email
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Disguise	Notification concerning a file sent to the recipient.
Related Domains	splendo-alu[.]com
Detection Names (splendo-alu[.]com)	Combo Cleaner (Phishing), ESET (Phishing), Fortinet (Phishing), G-Data (Phishing), VIPRE (Phishing), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
Serving IP Address (splendo-alu[.]com)	172.67.163.137
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. ▼ 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.

Phishing spam campaign examples

"Luciano Pavarotti Testament", "You Have A New Document", and "OneDrive - A Secured File Has Been Shared" are merely a couple of our latest articles on phishing campaigns.

Commonly targeted information includes log-in credentials, personally identifiable information, and finance-related data. However, various scams are promoted through spam mail, and it is used in malware distribution.

While the widely held belief that these emails are poorly written and full of spelling/grammatical errors is not untrue, it is not always the case. Spam letters can be competently crafted and even convincingly disguised as messages from legitimate service providers, companies, organizations, authorities, and other entities.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Malware is often distributed via spam campaigns. Deceptive emails/messages can include malicious files as attachments or download links. These files come in various formats, e.g., executables (.exe, .run, etc.), archives (RAR, ZIP, etc.), documents (Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, PDF, etc.), JavaScript, and so on.

Merely opening such a file can be enough to initiate malware download/installation. Some formats need extra interaction to jumpstart infection processes. For example, Microsoft Office files require users to enable macro commands (i.e., editing/content), while OneNote documents need them to click embedded links or files.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Caution is essential to device and user safety. Therefore, always approach incoming emails and other messages with care. Do not open attachments or links present in dubious/irrelevant mail, as they can be harmful or infectious.

It must be mentioned that malware is not proliferated only through spam mail. Hence, be vigilant when browsing, as the Internet is rife with well-disguised fraudulent and dangerous content.

Additionally, download only from official and trustworthy sources. Activate and update software using functions/tools provided by legitimate developers, as illegal product activation ("cracking") tools and third-party updaters may contain malware.

It is paramount to have a reputable 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 "Review This File Below" spam email letter:

Subject: Re: Audit Report

Review this File below

2 item 56.1KB in total

CamScanner Inter******Doc2024.xlsx

Get your file

Folder・2 items

Privacy Statement

Screenshot of the fake Dropbox website promoted by this spam campaign:

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 "Review This File Below" 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, regardless of any relevant details that they may include. If they do contain such information, it is likely 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 disclosed your log-in credentials – change the passwords of all potentially compromised accounts and inform their official support without delay. And if you have provided other private information to scammers (e.g., 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?

Reading an email poses no infection threat; devices are compromised 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.) – the system was likely infected. However, you might have avoided this if it was a document (.doc, .xls, .pdf, .one, etc.). These formats may require additional user interaction (e.g., enabling macros, clicking embedded content, etc.) to initiate malware download/installation chains.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Yes, Combo Cleaner can detect and remove practically all known malware infections. It must be emphasized that running a complete system scan is key since sophisticated malicious programs tend to hide deep within systems.

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