Do not trust fake "Exceeding Your Free Data Volume" emails

What kind of email is "Exceeding Your Free Data Volume"?

Upon inspection, we determined that the "Exceeding Your Free Data Volume" email is spam. It states that due the the mailbox data volume having been exceeded, the recipient may experience email service interruptions. This phishing mail aims to trick recipients into disclosing their email account log-in credentials.

"Exceeding Your Free Data Volume" email scam overview

The spam email with the subject "Email Storage Limit Exceeded Mail Box [recipient's_email_address]" (may vary) states that the account has exceeded its free data volume. The message instructs to follow the link to avoid experiencing mail subscription suspension and email retrieval malfunctions.

It must be stressed that the information in this letter is false, and this mail is not associated with any genuine service providers.

The phishing website endorsed by this email is presented as a PDF viewer that requests the visitor to confirm their identity using their email log-in credentials to view the confidential document. Sites of this kind record provided information and send it to scammers.

Hence, by entering your log-in credentials to the webpage promoted through this spam mail – you will expose your email to scammers. In addition to variously abusing the data therein, cyber criminals might gain access to the accounts, platforms, and services registered through the email.

To expand upon this, scammers can steal account owners' identities (e.g., emails, social networking/media, messengers, etc.) and request loans or donations from contacts/friends/followers, promote scams, and spread malware by sharing malicious files or links.

Criminals can also hijack finance-related accounts (e.g., e-commerce, online banking, money transferring, digital wallets, etc.) and make fraudulent transactions or online purchases.

In summary, by trusting an email like "Exceeding Your Free Data Volume" – users can experience severe privacy issues, financial losses, and even identity theft.

If you have already disclosed your account credentials – change the passwords of all potentially compromised accounts and inform their official support without delay.

Threat Summary:

Name	"Exceeding Your Free Data Volume" phishing email
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Recipient may have their mail subscription suspended or experience other issues due to exceeding their free email storage.
Related Domains	wwwwwwsasasasasmmmsszz.vercel[.]app
Detection Names	Combo Cleaner (Phishing), CRDF (Malicious), ESET (Phishing), Kaspersky (Phishing), Trustwave (Phisihng), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
Serving IP Address	76.76.21.142
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

"Important Notice", "Security Turned Off", "IRREVOCABLE PAYMENT ORDER", and "Review This File Below" are just a few of our latest articles on phishing emails. Aside from log-in credentials, these messages commonly target personally identifiable information and finance-related data.

However, various scams are promoted through spam mail, and it is used to distribute malware. These emails are often poorly written and riddled with errors, but they can also be well-made and even convincingly disguised as messages from legitimate entities (e.g., service providers, companies, organizations, authorities, etc.).

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Malspam (malicious spam) is widely used in malware proliferation. Spam emails/messages can include infectious files as attachments or download links. These files come in various formats, e.g., documents (PDF, Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, etc.), archives (RAR, ZIP, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), JavaScript, and so forth.

The infection chain is triggered once a virulent file is opened. However, 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 on embedded links or files.

How to avoid installation of malware?

We highly recommend caution with incoming emails and other messages. Attachments or links found in suspicious/irrelevant mail must not be opened, as they can be harmful or infectious.

However, malware is not distributed only via spam mail. Therefore, we recommend being careful while browsing since the Internet is full of deceptive and dangerous content.

Another recommendation is to download only from official and verified channels. All programs must be activated and updated using functions/tools provided by genuine developers, as illegal activation ("cracking") tools and third-party updates may contain malware.

It is essential to device/user safety to have a reputable anti-virus installed and kept updated. Security software must be used to perform 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 "Exceeding Your Free Data Volume" spam email letter:

Subject: Email Storage Limit Exceeded Mail Box [********]:

Dear ********

You are about exceeding your free data volume.

Avoid mail subscription suspension,and email retrival malfunction, by following below reference

ALLOCATE MORE DATA TO ********

We will not be responsible for any subscription suspension or email retrival malfunction if after this warning no response from you.

Admin Team ******** .

Screenshot of the phishing website promoted by the "Exceeding Your Free Data Volume" spam campaign:

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▼ 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 "Exceeding Your Free Data Volume" 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. Cyber criminals distribute this mail by the thousand 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 – immediately change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and inform their official support. And if you've disclosed other private data (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?

Merely reading an email is harmless; 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 system was compromised. However, you might have avoided this if it was a document (.doc, .xls, .pdf, etc.). These formats may need additional user interaction (e.g., enabling macro commands, clicking embedded content, etc.) to initiate malware download/installation processes.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Yes, Combo Cleaner is capable of detecting and eliminating almost all known malware infections. It must be stressed that performing a complete system scan is essential since sophisticated malicious programs usually hide deep within systems.

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