How to identify phishing attempts like "Capital One Bank Account Activity"

What is "Capital One Bank Account Activity"?

We have analyzed this email and learned that it is a scam. It is disguised as a notification from Capital One Financial Corporation and contains a file designed to open a fake document containing a phishing form. The purpose of this scam email is to trick recipients into disclosing personal information. Thus, recipients should ignore it.

More about the "Capital One Bank Account Activity" scam email

This email encourages the recipient to log in and view their bank account activity for September. It instructs the user to sign in, select an account, and choose "Statements" in Account Services to access their September statement. Also, the email has a file named "capitalone.htm" (its name may vary) attached to it.

Clicking "Sign In" or opening the attached file directs the recipient to a fake document where they are instructed to verify their "Email password" to access their file. The purpose of this fraudulent scheme is to lure the recipient into entering their email address and password (email account login credentials).

When scammers steal email account login credentials, they access the victim's inbox, allowing them to read personal messages and gather sensitive information. Scammers may also exploit the victim's account to reset passwords for other online accounts linked to that email. Additionally, they can send phishing emails to the victim's contacts.

Overall, the theft of email credentials can lead to privacy breaches, financial losses, and other issues for the victim. Thus, it is important to be cautious with suspicious emails, especially those containing links or files.

Threat Summary:

Name	Capital One Bank Account Activity Email Scam
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Bank account activity can be reviewed using the provided instructions
Attachment	capitalone.htm (its name may vary)
Detection Names	Avast (HTML:Phishing-DDO [Phish]), Combo Cleaner (Trojan.GenericKD.74293911), ESET-NOD32 (HTML/Phishing.Gen), Kaspersky (Trojan.HTML.Agent.aeo), Varist (HTML/Phish.HHJ), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
Disguise	Notification from Capital One Financial Corporation
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

These emails typically include links to fake websites designed to look like real ones, tricking users into sharing sensitive information. They often claim that recipients must act quickly to secure their accounts or achieve something else. Scammers use such emails to steal login credentials, credit card details, ID card information, or other details.

Examples of similar scam emails are "AMERICAN EXPRESS Card Has Been Temporarily Flagged", "You Have Received A File", and "Roundcube - Unusual Login Attempt". It is important to be aware that files and links in deceptive emails can be utilized to deliver malware.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Cybercriminals often use email to spread malware by including infected attachments (e.g., executable files, Office documents, PDFs, scripts, or archives). The malware becomes active on computers when users open malicious executables, enable macros in infected documents, or perform other steps.

Moreover, fraudulent emails may contain links to malicious websites that trick users into downloading malware. Some of these sites can even start automatic downloads without user intervention.

How to avoid installation of malware?

If you receive any emails that seem irrelevant, unexpected, or suspicious, especially from unknown senders, avoid opening files or links in them. Do not trust pop-ups, ads, links, and buttons on questionable websites. Always download files or software only from official websites or trusted app stores.

Additionally, make sure your operating system and software are regularly updated and use a reliable security program to enhance your protection against potential threats. 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 "Capital One Bank Account Activity" email letter:

Visit Capital One    Sign In
View your bank account activity for September online.

Hi ********,

To access your September statement, just  sign in, select an account, then choose Statements in Account Services.

Thanks for being a Capital One® customer.

Fake form within the attached file ("capitalone.htm"):

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 Capital One Bank Account Activity 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 usually send the same email to numerous recipients simultaneously. These messages tend to be generic and lack personalized details, such as names or specific information.

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

If scammers have acquired your login credentials, promptly change the passwords for any potentially affected accounts. If you are unable to access an account, reach out to the support team for assistance

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

The file in the email reviewed in our article does not contain malware, so your computer is not infected even if you open it. However, threat actors can use attachments as carriers for their malware.

I have read the email but didn't open the attachment, is my computer infected?

Typically, opening an email is safe. Infections can happen if recipients engage with malicious attachments or click on harmful links included in deceptive emails.

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

Yes, Combo Cleaner can detect and eliminate nearly all known malware. However, advanced malware often conceals itself deep within the system. In order to ensure complete removal, it may be necessary to run a full system scan.

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