Avoid getting scammed by fake "Account Lockdown Notification" emails

What kind of email is "Account Lockdown Notification"?

Upon examination, we determined that the "Account Lockdown Notification" email is spam. The recipient is informed of a pending account shutdown request. The purpose of this message is to trick users into attempting to cancel the account's supposed deactivation by entering their email log-in credentials to a phishing website.

"Account Lockdown Notification" email scam overview

The spam message with the subject "Account Lockdown Notification" (may vary) notifies the recipient of a command sent from their email settings ordering an account shutdown. This letter requests verification for this request. If it was made unknowingly or by accident, the recipient can cancel the lockdown within 72 hours.

It must be emphasized that the claims made by this email are false, and this mail is not associated with any legitimate service providers.

At the time of research, this spam mail promoted a website that was down. Keep in mind that this could be rectified in potential future releases of this campaign (i.e., emails will redirect recipients to functional webpages). Based on our extensive experience researching spam campaigns, we can infer that the promoted site was a phishing webpage, most likely one disguised as an email account sign-in page.

Information entered into phishing websites (e.g., log-in credentials, etc.) is recorded and sent to scammers. Emails are of particular interest to scammers, as they can contain incredibly sensitive information and may allow cyber criminals to steal the accounts, platforms, and services registered through them.

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

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

In summary, victims of scam mail like "Account Lockdown Notification" can experience severe privacy issues, financial losses, and identity theft.

If you have provided your log-in credentials – immediately change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and inform their official support.

Threat Summary:

Name	"Account Lockdown Notification" phishing email
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Request to shutdown the email account has been received.
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; "Payment Notification", "Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)", "Blockchain Rewards", "Server Detected Network Error #404", and "Payroll Report Status" are merely a few of our latest articles on phishing emails.

These letters primarily target log-in credentials, personally identifiable information, and finance-related data. However, other scams are endorsed via spam mail, and it is used to distribute malware.

While these emails are often poorly written and riddled with mistakes, they can be competently put together and even believably disguised as messages from legitimate entities (e.g., companies, service providers, organizations, institutions, authorities, etc.).

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Spam campaigns are commonly used to spread malware. These emails/messages can include infectious files as attachments or download links. Virulent files can be in various formats, e.g., archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), documents (PDF, Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, etc.), JavaScript, and so on.

Once such a file is opened – the infection chain is triggered. However, some formats require additional actions to begin downloading/installing malware. For example, Microsoft Office files need users to enable macro commands (i.e., editing/content), while OneNote documents require them to click on embedded files or links.

How to avoid installation of malware?

We highly recommend approaching incoming emails, PMs/DMs, SMSes, and other messages. Attachments or links present in suspicious/irrelevant mail must not be opened, as they can be malicious.

However, malware is proliferated using various methods. Therefore, we advise being careful while browsing since the Internet is full of deceptive and dangerous content.

Another recommendation is to download only from official and verified channels. Additionally, all programs must be activated and updated using legitimate functions/tools, as illegal activation tools ("cracks") and third-party updates can contain malware.

We must stress the importance of having a reputable anti-virus installed and kept up-to-date. Security software must be used to run regular system scans and to remove 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 "Account Lockdown Notification" spam email letter:

Subject: Your Request to Shutdown your email account is in progress

Account lockdown Notification
For: ********

This is to notify you that we received a command from your email settings instructing us to shutdown your account.

Are you aware of this? Or was the command given by mistake?

If you clicked the button by accident, then we strongly advise that you cancel this command now else your email will be shut down.

Click here to cancel the lockdown request !

If you fail to verify your account within 72hrs, your email will be shutdown

You received this email to let you know about important changes to your Account and services. © 2024

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Quick menu:

• What is "Account Lockdown Notification" 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 email are not personal, regardless of any relevant information that they may include. This mail is sent out in massive campaigns – 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 potentially compromised accounts and inform their official support. And if you have disclosed other private information (e.g., ID card details, passport scans, credit card numbers, etc.) – immediately contact relevant authorities.

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

Merely reading an email is harmless; 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?

Whether your device was infected might depend on the opened file's format. Executables (.exe, .run, etc.) cause infections almost without fail upon being opened. However, other formats – like documents (.doc, .xls, .pdf, .one, etc.) – might require additional actions (e.g., enabling macros, clicking embedded content, etc.) to start downloading/installing malware.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Combo Cleaner can detect and remove practically all known malware infections. Note that performing a complete system scan is paramount since sophisticated malicious software usually hides deep within systems.

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