Do not trust fake "Capital One - Your Reward Credit Is On The Way" emails
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on
What kind of email is "Capital One - Your Reward Credit Is On The Way"?
Upon examining this "Capital One - Your Reward Credit Is On The Way" email, we determined that it is fake. The message promises credit rewards – this is a lure to trick recipients into visiting a phishing website.
It must be emphasized that the claims made by this email are false, and this mail is not associated with the actual Capital One Financial Corporation.
"Capital One - Your Reward Credit Is On The Way" email scam overview
The spam email with the subject "Congrats-Your reward credit is on the way!" (may vary) informs the recipient that a "reward credit" will be applied to their account. The process ordinarily takes 1 to 3 business days but may take as long as a month.
It must be reiterated that the information in this letter is false, and this mail is in no way associated with the real Capital One or any other legitimate entities.
At the time of research, the website promoted by this campaign was down. It is worth mentioning that this could be fixed in potential future releases of this mail (i.e., emails will redirect to functional sites). The endorsed webpage was most likely a phishing site, possibly one disguised as the Capital One sign-in page.
Information (like log-in credentials) entered into phishing websites is recorded and sent to scammers. The likely targets of this spam mail are Capital One accounts. Stolen finance-related accounts can be abused in various ways, e.g., making fraudulent transactions or online purchases.
To summarize, by trusting an email like "Capital One - Your Reward Credit Is On The Way" – users can experience severe privacy issues, financial losses, and identity theft.
If you have provided your log-in credentials to a phishing site or file – immediately change the passwords of all possibly compromised accounts and inform their official support. If the exposed information was particularly sensitive – it might also be necessary to contact the appropriate authorities.
| Name | "Capital One - Your Reward Credit Is On The Way" phishing email |
| Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud |
| Fake Claim | Recipient's account will have a reward credit applied to it. |
| Disguise | Capital One |
| 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
"Ledger Recovery Phrase Verification", "Account Lockdown Notification", "Payment Notification", "Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)", and "Blockchain Rewards" are merely some of our latest articles on phishing emails.
The most commonly targeted information includes log-in credentials, personally identifiable details, and finance-related data. However, various scams are promoted through spam mail, such as tech support, advance fee, refund, sextortion, lottery, etc. These emails are also used to proliferate all kinds of malware.
Due to how prevalent spam mail is and how well-crafted it can be – we highly recommend exercising caution with incoming emails, PMs/DMs, SMSes, and other messages.
How do spam campaigns infect computers?
Spam campaigns spread malware through malicious files that can be attached to or linked inside these emails/messages. Virulent files come in various formats, e.g., archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), documents (PDF, Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, etc.), JavaScript, and so on.
Malware download/installation is triggered when a malicious file is executed, run, or otherwise opened. However, some formats require additional interaction to initiate infection processes. For example, Microsoft Office files need users to enable macro commands (i.e., editing/content), while OneNote documents require them to click embedded links or files.
How to avoid installation of malware?
We strongly advise approaching incoming emails and other messages with care. Attachments or links present in suspect mail must not be opened, as they can be virulent.
However, malware is proliferated using various methods. Therefore, we recommend being careful while browsing since fraudulent and dangerous online content usually appears genuine and harmless.
Furthermore, all downloads must be made from official and verified channels. Another recommendation is to activate and update software using legitimate tools/functions, as illegal activation ("cracking") tools and third-party updates can contain malware.
We must emphasize the importance of having a dependable anti-virus installed and kept up-to-date. Security programs 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 "Capital One - Your Reward Credit Is On The Way" spam email letter:
Subject: Congrats-Your reward credit is on the way!
Date 11/14/2024 2:50:02 a.m.
Sign In
Capital One
Congrats-Your reward credit is on the way!
-
You can expect to see your reward credit applied to your capital one account in 1-3 business days but it may take up to 60days.
REWARD DETAILS
Capital One Online Team
Capital One Tech – Medium
Secured by Proofpoint Encryption, Copyright © 2009-2024 Proofpoint, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Quick menu:
- What is "Capital One - Your Reward Credit Is On The Way" 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, regardless of any relevant information that they may include. This mail is distributed in massive operations – hence, thousands of users receive identical or incredibly similar messages.
I have provided my personal information when tricked by this spam email, what should I do?
If you have provided your log-in credentials – immediately change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and inform their official support. However, if you've disclosed other private data (e.g., ID card details, passport scans/photos, 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?
No, merely reading an email is harmless. Devices 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 need users to perform additional actions (e.g., enabling macro commands, clicking embedded content, etc.) to begin downloading/installing malware.
Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?
Yes, Combo Cleaner can scan devices and eliminate most of the known of malware infections. Note that running a full system scan is essential since high-end malicious software usually hides deep within systems.
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