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How to recognize fraudulent emails like "Special Holiday Gift For You"

Also Known As: Special Holiday Gift For You phishing email
Damage level: Medium

What is "Special Holiday Gift For You"?

We have examined the email and concluded that it is a scam. Scammers created this fraudulent email to steal personal information from recipients. They disguised the email as a letter regarding a special holiday gift (a purchase discount). Recipients should ignore this email to avoid privacy risks.

Special Holiday Gift For You email spam campaign

More about the "Special Holiday Gift For You" scam email

The scam email appears to be a holiday offer to deceive recipients into engaging with it. The sender claims to show appreciation by offering a "special holiday gift", such as discounts, free items, or a digital gift card. Recipients are urged to click a button to claim the gift and follow "simple steps" to redeem it.

The email creates urgency by stating the offer expires on December 15, 2024 (the date might vary). The provided "Claim Your Holiday Gift" link opens a fake sign-in portal. The fake site may imitate the recipient's email service provider. For instance, it may appear as the Gmail login page if the recipient uses Gmail as the service provider.

This deceptive website aims to extract email account login credentials from unsuspecting individuals. If scammers succeed, they can access the victim's email account. After that, they can look for more personal information, send fake emails to contacts to steal information, extract money, or spread malware.

They may also access other accounts tied to the email or using the same login, such as banking or social media accounts. Harvested data may also be sold on the dark web. Thus, falling victim to such scams can result in identity theft, monetary loss, and other issues. It is important to be careful with suspicious emails to prevent these threats.

Threat Summary:
Name Special Holiday Gift For You Email Scam
Threat Type Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim The recipient can claim a holiday gift
Disguise Letter from HR team
Symptoms Generic greeting, urgent language, suspicious links, grammatical errors.
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)

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Similar scam emails in general

Deceptive emails often pretend to be from trusted sources (e.g., companies or organizations) and use urgency or enticing offers to trick recipients into disclosing personal information. Typically, scammers target credit card details, login credentials, or other personal details.

Some examples of scam emails are "Your Office Account Storage Is Nearly Full", "Space Of Your Office Account Is Almost Full", and "Re-Activate Your Mailbox Address". Emails of this kind can also be used to distribute malware.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Users can infect computers via email by opening malicious links or attachments. However, malware often requires additional user interaction to be executed. For example, malicious MS Office documents can infect computers after enabling macros commands. However, executables containing malware can cause damage right after opening them.

Links in emails used to deliver malware can take users to web pages designed to trick them into downloading malicious software or files. These pages can also automatically download malware. More examples of files used to distribute malware are PDFs, ISO files, JavaScript files, and archives.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Be cautious with emails from unfamiliar senders, particularly if they include unexpected links or attachments. Only download software and files from reliable sources, such as official websites or app stores, and never download pirated software or cracking tools. Do not interact with pop-ups, links, and ads on shady web pages.

Regularly update your software and rely on trusted security programs to keep your system safe. If you have already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

The appearance of "Special Holiday Gift For You" scam email (GIF):

Special Holiday Gift For You email scam appearance

Text presented in the "Special Holiday Gift For You" email letter:

Subject: Special Holiday Gift for You – Don't Miss Out!


Special Holiday Gift for You  "  ********  "

Dear ******** ,


Happy Holidays!!

As the holiday season is in full swing, we want to spread some joy and show our appreciation for your continued support. To celebrate, we’re offering you an exclusive holiday gift that will make your season even brighter!

Your Special Gift Awaits

We’re thrilled to offer you  20% discount on your next purchase, a free holiday-themed item, a digital gift card, etc. This special offer is our way of saying thank you for the value you add to us.

Here’s how to claim your gift:

Click the button to access your gift.
Follow the simple steps to redeem it.
Claim Your Holiday Gift

Hurry – this exclusive holiday offer is only available until 15/12/2024 !

We hope this little token of gratitude brings you some holiday cheer.

If you have any questions or need assistance, our support team is always here to help.

Wishing you and your loved ones a joyful and festive holiday season!

Warmest regards,
HR TEAM

Email is generated by ******** Email server for ********

Phishing website used in this scam:

Special Holiday Gift For You email scam phishing page

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:
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Quick menu:

Types of malicious emails:

Phishing email icon 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.

Email-virus icon 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 email icon 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:

Example of an email spam

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 send the same email to many people, hoping to trick someone. The emails are general and not meant for one person.

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

If you have given scammers your login information, update your (compromised) passwords as soon as possible to secure your accounts. Additionally, activate two-factor authentication on any accounts that allow it.

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

Different file types pose different levels of risk. Executable files (like .exe) are the most dangerous because they can directly run harmful programs when opened, instantly infecting your device. Files like .pdf or .doc are less risky but can still be harmful if they contain hidden malware that activates when you enable certain features, like macros.

I have read the email but did not open the attachment, is my computer infected?

Opening a fraudulent email is usually safe, but opening attachments or links can infect your system with malware.

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

Combo Cleaner is effective at finding and removing most malware. To make sure hidden threats are removed, it is highly advisable to run a full system scan.

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About the author:

Tomas Meskauskas

Tomas Meskauskas - expert security researcher, professional malware analyst.

I am passionate about computer security and technology. I have an experience of over 10 years working in various companies related to computer technical issue solving and Internet security. I have been working as an author and editor for pcrisk.com since 2010. Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn to stay informed about the latest online security threats. Contact Tomas Meskauskas.

PCrisk security portal is brought by a company RCS LT. Joined forces of security researchers help educate computer users about the latest online security threats. More information about the company RCS LT.

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Malware activity

Global malware activity level today:

Medium threat activity

Increased attack rate of infections detected within the last 24 hours.

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