Do not trust fake "Account Services Have Been Marked For Suspension" emails

What kind of email is "Account Services Have Been Marked For Suspension"?

Our examination of the "Account Services Have Been Marked For Suspension" email revealed that it is spam. The fake message claims that the recipient's account is pending suspension due to violations of the service's terms and conditions. This spam mail promotes a phishing website that targets email log-in credentials.

It must be emphasized that this scam message is in no way associated with any legitimate service providers or other entities.

"Account Services Have Been Marked For Suspension" email scam overview

The spam email with the subject "Suspension Notice" (may vary) states that the email account services have been marked for suspension due to violations to the terms and conditions. The recipient is urged to verify their account to avoid losing access to it.

As previously mentioned, the information in this letter is false, and this mail is not associated with the cPanel, L.L.C. or any other genuine entities.

After we pressed the "Click to Verify Account" button in the message, we were redirected to a fake email sign-in page. This phishing website records provided log-in credentials (passwords) and sends them to scammers. Therefore, by attempting to sign in through this webpage – users unintentionally expose their accounts to cyber criminals.

Emails are highly targeted since they tend to contain incredibly sensitive information and may open an avenue for hijacking the accounts, platforms, and services registered through them.

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

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

In summary, victims of scam mail like "Account Services Have Been Marked For Suspension" can experience severe privacy issues, financial losses, and identity theft.

Threat Summary:

Name	"Account Services Have Been Marked For Suspension" phishing email
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Recipient's email account will be suspended due to terms and conditions violations.
Disguise	cPanel
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 numerous spam emails; "Removal Of Dormant/Inactive Accounts", "Intuit QuickBooks - Unable To Process Payment", and "Some-one Try To Login Into Your Mailbox Address" are merely a couple of our latest articles on phishing campaigns.

Aside from log-in credentials, these messages commonly target personally identifiable information and finance-related data. However, various scams are promoted through spam mail, and it is used to proliferate malware.

While the widely held belief that spam emails are poorly put together and full of grammatical/spelling mistakes is not untrue, it is not always the case. This mail can be competently made and even convincingly disguised as messages from legitimate service providers, companies, organizations, authorities, and other entities.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Spam campaigns distribute malware through infectious files attached to or linked inside the emails/messages. 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 on.

Merely opening a virulent file can be enough to trigger malware download/installation. However, 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 embedded links/files.

How to avoid installation of malware?

It is essential to approach incoming emails and other messages with caution. Therefore, do not open attachments or links found in suspect/irrelevant mail, as they can be harmful or infectious.

It must be mentioned that malware is distributed using various techniques. Hence, be careful while browsing since the Internet is rife with well-disguised fraudulent and dangerous content.

Additionally, download only from official and trustworthy channels. Activate and update software using functions/tools provided by legitimate developers, as illegal product activation ("cracking") tools and third-party updates can contain malware.

It is paramount for device integrity and user safety to have a reputable anti-virus installed and kept updated. Security software must be used to run regular system scans and to remove detected 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 Services Have Been Marked For Suspension" spam email letter:

Subject: Suspension Notice

Hello ,

Your Mailbox account services have been marked for suspension due to violation of our terms and conditions.

To prevent this you are required to verify your ******** account.
celina-hua

Click to Verify Account

Ensure to verify your account as soon as possible to avoid losing access.

Thank you,
Admin Support Center

©cpanel Mailbox. ©2024

Screenshot of the phishing website promoted by this spam campaign:

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▼ 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 "Account Services Have Been Marked For Suspension" 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, even if they include details relevant to the recipients. This mail is distributed in massive operations – therefore, 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 the disclosed information was of a different personal nature (e.g., ID card details, credit/debit 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?

Opening/Reading an email poses no infection threat; devices are compromised 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 the system was infected might depend on the opened file's format. Once executed, executables (.exe, .run, etc.) cause infections almost without fail. However, some formats – like documents (.doc, .xls, .pdf, .one, etc.) – might need additional actions (e.g., enabling macros, clicking embedded content, etc.) to jumpstart malware download/installation chains.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Combo Cleaner is capable of detecting and removing nearly all known malware infections. Remember that performing a complete system scan is crucial since high-end malicious software tends to hide deep within systems.

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