Avoid getting scammed by fake "You Have Pending UNSYNC Messages" emails

What kind of email is "You Have Pending UNSYNC Messages"?

After examining this "You Have Pending UNSYNC Messages" email, we learned that it is spam. This fake message claims that there are pending emails that did not reach the recipient's inbox. The spam mail aims to lure victims into visiting a phishing website that targets email account log-in credentials.

"You Have Pending UNSYNC Messages" email scam overview

The spam email with the subject "UNSYNC Account Status: Unsuccessful" (may vary) informs the recipient that they have pending messages. The emails failed to reach the mailbox due to a syncing issue. The recipient is warned that the withheld messages will only be stored for 24 hours and will be automatically deleted afterward.

It must be stressed that the information in this email is false, and this mail is not associated with any legitimate service providers or other entities.

This campaign promotes a phishing website disguised as a sign-in page that includes the old Zoho Office Suite logo. Log-in credentials typed into this webpage are recorded and sent to cyber criminals. Emails are especially targeted, as they tend to include incredibly sensitive information and may allow criminals to steal the accounts, platforms, and services registered through them.

To elaborate on how the unauthorized access might be abused, scammers can steal account owners' identities (e.g., emails, social media, social networking, etc.) and request loans or donations from contacts/friends/followers, endorse scams, and spread malware by sharing malicious links or files.

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

To summarize, by trusting an email like "You Have Pending UNSYNC Messages" – users can experience serious privacy issues, financial losses, and identity theft.

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

Threat Summary:

Name	"You Have Pending UNSYNC Messages" phishing email
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Messages have failed to reach the inbox due to a syncing issue.
Related Domains	online.webssites1[.]click
Detection Names	Combo Cleaner (Malware), G-Data (Malware), Trustwave (Phishing), Abusix (Spam), CyRadar (Spam), Fortinet (Spam), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
Serving IP Address	104.21.76.172
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

We have written about countless spam campaigns; "Webmail - Messages Are Yet To Reach Your Mailbox", "Cloudflare - Important Account Update", "Webmail - Email Version Upgrade", and "Your Email Certificate Has Expired" are just a few of our newest articles on phishing emails.

This mail primarily targets various log-in credentials, personally identifiable information, and finance-related data. However, other scams are facilitated through spam emails as well, and they are used to spread malware.

Due to how prevalent this 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?

Malware is often distributed via spam campaigns. Deceptive emails/messages can include infectious files as attachments or download links. These files come in various formats, e.g., archives (RAR, ZIP, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), documents (Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, PDF, etc.), JavaScript, and so forth.

Malware download/installation is initiated once a malicious file is opened. However, some formats require additional actions to jumpstart 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 care. Attachments or links present in suspect/irrelevant mail must not be opened, as they can be virulent.

It must be mentioned that malware is proliferated using various methods. Therefore, we advise being careful while browsing since fraudulent and dangerous online content usually appears legitimate and harmless.

Furthermore, all downloads must be performed from official and verified sources. Another recommendation is to activate and update programs using functions/tools provided by genuine developers, as illegal product activation tools ("cracks") and third-party updates can contain malware.

It is paramount for device/user safety to have a reputable anti-virus installed and kept up-to-date. This software must be used to run regular system scans and to remove detected threats. 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 "You Have Pending UNSYNC Messages" spam email letter:

Subject: UNSYNC Account Status: Unsuccessful

Dear ********,

You Have Pending UNSYNC Messages

Account Status: Unsuccessful

The last successful sync was on 10/28/2024 12:35:53 AM UTC.

It looks like your mailbox sync operation has failed again:

Here's what to do next:

 

If you're using the new Mail experience or Classic version in outlook:

Download Attachment
Open
Read Your Messages

Note: To stop receiving these notifications, please download sync operation to successfully sync the pending messages on your email server .

All pending messages would be automatically deleted after
24-hours

Ρrivacy | Legal Νotices

********

ΙT Αdministrator

This system notification isn't an email message and you can't reply to it.

Screenshot of the phishing website promoted by the "You Have Pending UNSYNC Messages" spam campaign:

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 "You Have Pending UNSYNC Messages" 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?

Even if a spam email includes relevant information, it is not personal. These messages are sent out in large-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 potentially compromised accounts and inform their official support. However, if the disclosed information was of a different personal nature (e.g., ID card details, credit/debit card numbers, etc.) – immediately contact the appropriate authorities.

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

No, reading an email will not initiate any malware download/installation processes. 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?

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, .one, .pdf, etc.). These formats may require additional user interaction to initiate malware download/installation (e.g., enabling macro commands, clicking embedded files/links, etc.).

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Yes, Combo Cleaner is capable of detecting and removing practically all known malware infections. Note that high-end malicious software typically hides deep within systems – therefore, running a complete system scan is essential.

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