Avoid losing your email account via fake "Office Server" emails
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on
What kind of email is "Office Server"?
After reading this "Office Server" email, we determined that it is spam. This fake message is presented as a password expiration notice. The goal of this campaign is to trick recipients into providing their email account log-in credentials to a phishing website.
"Office Server" email scam overview
The spam email with the subject "Attention!! Mailing-Support" (may vary) informs the recipient that their account password expires today. The letter instructs to follow the link in it to change/update the password. It must be stressed that this claim is false, and this mail is not associated with any legitimate service providers.
After the "Continue >>" button is pressed, it results in a redirect to a phishing website that mimics the recipient's email sign-in page. Data – like log-in credentials – entered into phishing sites are recorded and sent to cyber criminals.
In addition to gaining control over thusly compromised emails, criminals might be able to access the accounts, platforms, and services registered through them.
To elaborate on how the unauthorized access can be abused, scammers can steal account owners' identities (e.g., emails, social networking, social media, etc.) and request loans or donations from contacts/friends, promote scams, and spread malware.
Furthermore, cyber criminals may steal linked finance-related accounts (e.g., online banking, digital wallets, e-commerce, money transferring, etc.) and use them to make fraudulent transactions or online purchases.
To summarize, victims of scam mail like "Office Server" can experience severe privacy issues, financial losses, and even identity theft.
If you have already disclosed your log-in credentials to scammers – immediately change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and inform their official support.
| Name | "Office Server" phishing email |
| Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud |
| Fake Claim | Email account password will expire soon. |
| Related Domains | email.ezzomatic[.]online |
| Detection Names | Fortinet (Phishing), Kaspersky (Phishing), Sophos (Phishing), Trustwave (Phishing), URLQuery (Suspicious), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal) |
| Serving IP Address | 104.21.32.110 |
| 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
"Proton.me email scam", "Your Netflix Subscription Is Expiring Soon", "Email Password Expiration", "404 Mail Delivery Failed", and "Bank Of Scotland email scam" are merely a few of our newest phishing emails.
These campaigns predominantly target log-in credentials, personally identifiable data, and finance-related information. However, other scams are also promoted through spam mail, and it is used to proliferate malware.
Various lures are used to gain recipients' trust, such as password expiration notifications, undelivered message alerts, account issues, security concerns, suspicious activity detections, purchases/invoices, business offers, lotteries, inheritances, etc.
While the widely held belief that spam emails are poorly written and riddled with grammatical/spelling errors is not untrue, it is not always the case. These letters can be well-crafted and even believably disguised as messages from genuine service providers, companies, organizations, institutions, authorities, and other entities.
How do spam campaigns infect computers?
Malware is commonly distributed via spam campaigns. These emails/messages include malicious files as attachments or download links. Infectious files come in various formats, such as documents (Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, PDF, etc.), archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), JavaScript, and so on.
Merely opening a virulent file can be enough to initiate malware download/installation. However, some formats need additional interaction to begin 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?
It is important to approach incoming emails and other messages with care. We advise against opening attachments or links present in suspect/irrelevant mail, as they can be malicious.
However, malware is not proliferated exclusively via spam mail. We recommend being vigilant when browsing since fake and dangerous content usually appears genuine and harmless.
Additionally, all downloads must be made from official and verified sources. Another recommendation is to activate and update programs using legitimate functions/tools, as illegal activation tools ("cracks") and third-party updates can contain malware.
We must emphasize that having a dependable anti-virus installed and kept up-to-date is essential. Security software must be used to run 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 "Office Server" spam email letter:
Subject: Attention!! Mailing-Support
Office Server
*********, password expires today, 10/2/2024. Please follow below portal to change or update password.
Recipient: *********
Date: Wednesday, October 2, 2024
Time: 11:04 AM
Expires: 10/2/2024
Continue >>
Screenshot of the phishing website promoted by the "Office Server" spam campaign:
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Quick menu:
- What is "Office Server" 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, even if they include details relevant to the recipients. This mail is distributed in mass-scale campaigns – 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 – change the passwords of all possibly compromised accounts and inform their official support. However, if you've disclosed other private information (e.g., ID card details, credit/debit card numbers, etc.) – contact the appropriate authorities without delay.
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.) – most likely, yes – the device was infected. However, you might have avoided this if it was a document (.doc, .xls, .pdf, etc.). These formats may require additional interaction to initiate malware download/installation (e.g., enabling macros, clicking embedded links/files, etc.).
Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?
Yes, Combo Cleaner is designed to scan systems and eliminate all kinds of threats. It is capable of detecting and removing most of the known malware infections. Note that running a full system scan is paramount since sophisticated malicious software typically hides deep within systems.
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