How to avoid scams like "Email Delivery Error"
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on
What is "Email Delivery Error"?
Our deconstruction has shown that this email is designed to extract personal information from unsuspecting recipients. Thus, we classified it as a phishing email. The scammers behind the email are pretending to be an email service provider to lure users into opening a fake website. Recipients should ignore this email to avoid potential consequences.
More about the "Email Delivery Error" scam email
This scam email pretends to be from a mail management service. It claims that there are undelivered incoming messages in the recipient's account and urges the recipient to follow a link to resolve the issue and restore normal email functionality. The email also threatens that incoming emails will be deleted if no action is taken.
The purpose of this fraudulent email is to deceive the recipient into clicking the "PROCEED TO RESOLVE" link (button), which leads to a phishing site imitating the Webmail login website. This page instructs visitors to enter their email addresses and passwords. Once the information is entered, it is sent to scammers.
With stolen email login credentials, scammers can access personal messages, sensitive information, and contacts. They may use the account to send phishing emails, spread malware to the victim's contacts, or trick contacts into making fraudulent transactions. Scammers can also try to access other accounts (e.g., banking or social media).
Additionally, they may sell the gathered information to third parties. Thus, falling for such scams can lead to financial loss, identity theft, and other issues. Users should be careful with questionable emails to avoid negative consequences.
Name | Email Delivery Error Scam |
Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud |
Fake Claim | Incoming emails are not being delivered |
Disguise | Notification from an email service provider |
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) | To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. |
Similar scam emails in general
Phishing emails are deceptive messages designed to trick recipients into revealing personal information, such as login credentials, ID card information, or credit card details. They often appear to be from legitimate sources and urge users to open the provided links (or files). It is important to note that they sometimes can be used to distribute malware.
Examples of phishing emails are "Update Your DHL Express Account", "You Have A New Purchase Order", and "Pay Advice".
How do spam campaigns infect computers?
Malware can enter systems via email when users interact with dangerous attachments or links. These could be infected files like MS Office documents, PDFs, archives, executables, or scripts. These files can inject malware once opened or when certain actions are performed (e.g., macros in infected MS Office documents are enabled).
Suspicious links in emails can lead to fraudulent websites that deceive users into downloading malicious software. In some cases, these sites may automatically download malware to the system without any further input from the user.
How to avoid installation of malware?
Do not click on links or open attachments in suspicious emails. Carefully review emails, particularly those from unknown senders and (or) irrelevant or unexpected, before taking action. Download software only from trusted sources like official websites or reputable app stores, and avoid clicking on dubious ads, pop-ups, or links on unreliable sites.
Make sure your operating system and applications are up to date, and regularly update your antivirus or anti-malware software to ensure it remains effective. If you have already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.
Text presented in the "Email Delivery Error" email letter:
Subject: ******** Mail Pending
Email Delivery Error
"********"
You have four (4) incoming messages that could not been delivered to you.
Please clean up your mail by following the below instruction, so we can get your account running normal and retreive all pending mails.PROCEED TO RESOLVE
If no action is taken, you may cease to receive incoming emails
This Email was sent to "********" as a User from "********"You received this email to let you know about important changes to your ******** and services.
© 2024 cpanel Management
Phishing website used in this scam:
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Quick menu:
- What is Email Delivery Error 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?
Scammers send the same email to thousands of people, hoping that at least one will fall for it. Typically, these spam emails are generic and not tailored to the recipient.
I have provided my personal information when tricked by this email, what should I do?
If you have provided your email account (or other) login details, update your passwords right away. If scammers have stolen sensitive information like credit card numbers or IDs, report it to the relevant authorities immediately.
I have downloaded and opened a file attached to an email, is my computer infected?
Opening infected attachments can lead to malware infections, depending on the file type and the actions taken. For instance, running a malicious .exe file triggers an immediate infection, while malicious MS Office documents only cause issues if macros are enabled.
I have read the email but did not open the attachment, is my computer infected?
Simply opening an email is not harmful. Computer infections can only occur if malicious files or links are opened.
Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections that were present in email attachment?
Yes, Combo Cleaner can detect and remove nearly all known malware. It is worth noting that advanced malware often hides deep within the system, so performing a full system scan may be required for complete removal.
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