How to identify scam emails like "Restore IMAP/POP3"

What is "Restore IMAP/POP3"?

Our team has inspected this email and concluded that it is a phishing email. Its purpose is to trick recipients into opening a fake website and providing personal information on it. The email is disguised as a notification from an email service provider. Users should ignore such emails.

More about the "Restore IMAP/POP3" scam email

This phishing email notifies the recipient of an issue with their email account, such as insufficient information or unusual login activity. It states that the account has lost IMAP/POP3 functionality, resulting in poor email delivery. The email urges the recipient to restore their IMAP/POP3 settings for better access by clicking the provided link.

During our inspection, the provided button/link ("Restore IMAP/POP3") led to a web page that was down. However, scammers behind such emails usually send links leading to phishing websites. On these pages, users are requested to provide login credentials (e.g., email addresses and passwords) or other personal information.

With stolen login information, scammers can access personal accounts (e.g., email or social media). Once they have access to these accounts, they can look for more personal details (e.g., credit card details), send phishing emails to other individuals, or perform other malicious activities.

Providing information on phishing sites (or via phishing emails) can result in financial loss, identity theft, and other negative consequences. Thus, it is important to examine unexpected/suspicious emails before taking further action (e.g., opening links, attachments, or providing information).

Threat Summary:

Name	Restore IMAP/POP3 Email Scam
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Recipient's email account has lost IMAP/POP3 functionality
Disguise	Letter from an email service provider
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.

Similar scam emails in general

In conclusion, phishing emails are deceptive messages designed to trick recipients into revealing personal information (e.g., ID card information, credit card details, login credentials). They can also be used to deceive recipients into downloading harmful attachments.

Users should always examine unexpected emails, avoid clicking on suspicious links, and never provide sensitive information without being sure emails are legitimate. More examples of phishing emails are "Is Visiting A More Convenient Way To Reach", "Avast - Scan Your Email Account", and "Security Turned Off".

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Emails used to deploy malware contain malicious attachments or links. Malicious attachments can infect computers immediately after opening them or upon taking additional steps (e.g., enabling macros commands in infected MS Office documents). Examples of files used in such emails are PDFs, archives, executables, script files, and ISO files.

Malicious links can take users to web pages designed to trick them into downloading malware by themselves. Also, they can open sites created to trigger an automatic malware download.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Inspect emails, especially when they contain files or links. Do not open files or links in unexpected or irrelevant emails from suspicious (e.g., unknown) addresses. Download software from official websites (or app stores). Avoid using other sources and downloading pirated software (or cracking tools).

Also, do not trust ads, pop-ups, and similar content on unofficial websites. Regularly update the operating system and all installed programs, and scan your computer for threats using a reputable security solution. If you have already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the "Restore IMAP/POP3" email letter:

Subject: IMAP/POP3 Recovery

IMAP/POP3 Notification.

We have noticed an issue with your account  ********.  This may include insufficient account information or unusual login activity.

Your account has lost IMAP/POP3 causing poor  delivery to the recipient's email address.

Help us to restore your IMAP/POP3 for high delivery access.

During this one-time process you may be prompted to answer some questions.
Restore IMAP/POP3

For more information, review our Terms of Services and Guidelines.

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 Restore IMAP/POP3 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?

Scammers often send their messages to all addresses they have without targeting specific individuals. These emails are usually generic (they lack personalization).

I have provided my personal information when tricked by this email, what should I do?

If scammers have gained access to your passwords, change them immediately. If you can't access some accounts, contact the service providers for assistance.

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

If you have downloaded and opened a malicious file, your computer might be infected, depending on the file type. Malicious executable files often cause an infection as soon as they are opened, while other types of files may need further interaction to trigger the infection.

Opening an email by itself is generally safe and poses minimal risk. The real threat comes from clicking on links or opening attachments within suspicious emails.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections that were present in email attachment?

Yes, Combo Cleaner can detect and remove most known malware. However, advanced malware might hide deep within your system, so running a full system scan is necessary to completely remove it.

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