Avoid losing your account via fake "Payment Details" emails

What kind of email is "Payment Details"?

This "Payment Details" email is spam. The scam message claims to contain an attachment detailing a processed payment – this is false. The goal of this spam campaign is to lure recipients into visiting a phishing site that targets email account log-in credentials.

"Payment Details" email scam overview

This scam email claims to have payment details attached to it. The date written in the message supposedly reflects when the payment was processed.

It must be reiterated that the information in this email is false, and this mail is in no way associated with any legitimate entities.

The hyperlink in the letter redirects to a phishing website marked with the old Zoho Office Suite logo. This page requires visitors to provide their email account log-in credentials.

Phishing sites record entered information and send it to scammers. Emails are of particular interest to cyber criminals since they typically contain highly sensitive data and may open an avenue for hijacking the accounts, platforms, and services registered through them.

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

Stolen finance-related accounts (e.g., e-commerce, online banking, money transferring, digital wallets, etc.) can be used to make fraudulent transactions and online purchases.

In summary, victims of scam mail like "Payment Details" can experience severe privacy issues, financial losses, and even identity theft.

If you have already entered your account credentials into a phishing webpage – immediately change the passwords of all potentially compromised accounts and contact their official support.

Threat Summary:

Name	"Payment Details" phishing email
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Email has payment details attached to it.
Related Domains	profile.aditional[.]click
Detection Names (profile.aditional[.]click)	CyRadar (Malicious), Abusix (Spam), alphaMountain.ai (Spam), Certego (Suspicious), Fortinet (Spam), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
Serving IP Address (profile.aditional[.]click)	104.21.25.201
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

"Camelot Lottery Solutions", "Capital One - Unrecognized Transaction Claim", "Join Zoom Meeting", "Account Validation", and "AMERICAN EXPRESS card has been temporarily flagged" are merely some of our latest articles on phishing emails.

Aside from account log-in credentials, these messages commonly seek personally identifiable information and finance-related data.

Various lures are used to gain and subsequently abuse recipients' trust, such as claims concerning payments/invoices, business offers, suspicious purchases, refunds, account issues, expired passwords, security upgrades, lotteries, inheritances, and so forth.

Phishing is not the only type of scam endorsed via spam mail. These deceptive letters are also used to distribute malware.

Due to how prevalent spam mail is and how well-crafted it can be – we strongly advise exercising caution with incoming emails, DMs/PMs, SMSes, and other messages.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Spam campaigns proliferate malware by distributing infectious files. They can be attached to or linked inside the emails/messages. Virulent files can be documents (Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, PDF, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), JavaScript, and so on.

Merely opening a malicious file can be enough to trigger malware download/installation. Some formats require additional user interaction to initiate system infection processes. 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 approaching incoming emails and other messages with caution. Attachments or links found in dubious/irrelevant mail must not be opened, as they can be harmful or infectious.

However, malware is not spread exclusively through spam mail. Therefore, we advise vigilance when browsing since the Internet is rife with deceptive and malicious content.

Another recommendation is to download only from official and trustworthy channels. Software must be activated and updated using functions/tools provided by legitimate developers, as illegal product activation tools ("cracks") and third-party updaters may contain malware.

We must emphasize the importance of having a dependable anti-virus installed and kept updated. Security programs must be used to perform regular system scans and to remove detected threats/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 "Payment Details" spam email letter:

Subject: - Important Notice

Dear Customer,

I've attached the payment details we processed on 10/18/2024 1:20:07 p.m..
The payment date reflects the date on which the payment was processed.

********

Please refer to the Payment Reference in the attachment for future
correspondence.

This is a system-generated email, please do not reply.

----------------------------------------------------------------
This email is intended only for the individual or entity to whom it is
addressed

Screenshot of the phishing website promoted by the "Payment Details" spam campaign:

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Quick menu:

• What is "Payment Details" 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 details that spam emails may include, they are not personal. These messages are sent out in large-scale 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 provided your log-in credentials – change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and inform their official support. And if you've disclosed other private information (e.g., ID card details, credit card numbers, etc.) – contact the corresponding 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; systems 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?

File formats may influence infection success rates. Once opened, executables cause infections almost without fail. However, some formats – like documents – might need additional user interaction to initiate malware download/installation. Hence, the infection is only triggered after macro commands are enabled, embedded links/files are clicked, or other actions are performed.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Combo Cleaner is designed to scan devices and eliminate all kinds of threats. It is capable of detecting and removing most of the known malware infections. Note that performing a full system scan is essential since high-end malicious software typically hides deep within systems.

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