How to recognize scams like "American Express - ChargeBack Payment"

What is "American Express - ChargeBack Payment"?

We have inspected the email and concluded that it is a phishing email disguised as a notification regarding a successfully adjusted chargeback. It includes a link to a deceptive web page where recipients are instructed to enter personal information. Such emails should be ignored to avoid potential issues.

More about the "American Express - ChargeBack Payment" scam email

The phishing email claims to inform the recipient that a chargeback payment of $1218.16 has been successfully adjusted and posted to their card account. It instructs the recipient to follow a provided link to view the chargeback status and promises that the payment will be posted within 24 hours after validation.

The email is signed off as being from American Express Customer Care. The provided link ("View Chargeback Status") leads to a fake American Express login website requesting to provide a user ID and password to "access" the account. However, the entered information is transmitted to scammers.

With stolen American Express login credentials, scammers might log into the account to view sensitive information. They may also perform fraudulent purchases or transfers using the account and sell the stolen information on the dark web. Additionally, they may try to access other accounts.

Falling victim to such emails can result in identity theft, monetary loss, and other problems. Therefore, it is important to recognize such emails before taking action (disclosing personal information or opening the included links or files).

Threat Summary:

Name	American Express - ChargeBack Payment Email Scam
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	A chargeback payment has been successfully adjusted
Related Domain	canupdownup[.]es
Detection Names	alphaMountain.ai (Phishing), Combo Cleaner (Malware), CRDF (Malicious), CyRadar (Malicious), Sophos (Phishing), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
Disguise	Notification from American Express
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. ▼ 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.

Similar scam emails in general

Usually, emails of this type aim to steal personal information by mimicking trusted organizations, companies, or other entities. They typically include links to fake websites or request to provide information directly. In mosr cases, scammers seek to extract login credentials, credit card details, ID card information, or similar detais.

Sometimes, fraudulent emails can be used to distribute malware. Here are some examples of phishing emails: "LinkedIn Request To Buy From You", "Storage Space Running Low", and "Scan Contract".

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Emails designed to deceive users into infecting their devices contain harmful attachments or links. These attachments may include infected MS Office documents, script files, PDFs, archives, ISO files, etc. Malware is activated when users open these files or perform actions like activating macros in malicious documents.

Links within such emails may direct users to websites that automatically download malware or persuade them to manually download harmful files or programs.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Be cautious with emails, especially if they are from unknown sources and (or) irrelevant or unexpected. Avoid interacting with links or attachments in these emails. Download software or files from official web pages or app stores. Do not use other sources, and never allow suspicious pages to send you notifications.

Also, do not trust pop-ups, ads, and other interactive elements on questionable websites. Keep your system and applications up to date, and use reputable antivirus or anti-malware tools to protect your device. 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 "American Express - ChargeBack Payment" email letter:

Subject: The chargeback has been successfully adjusted

Dear Card Member,
      
ChargeBack Payment Received
 
ChargeBack Claim Payment Posted To Your Account
 
We have adjusted your payment options to reflect amount of $1218.16 to your card account

Follow the prompt below to view chargeback status..
                           View Chargeback Status
Payment will be posted into your account within 24 hours after validation.

This notice has been generated electronically for *******

Thank you for your Card Membership,
 
American Express Customer Care

Phishing website used in this scam:

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:
▼ 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 American Express - ChargeBack Payment 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 bulk emails to many people, hoping someone will fall for their scam. These emails are usually generic and not personalized.

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

If scammers have stolen your login credentials, immediately change your passwords for all affected accounts. Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) wherever possible for added security. Monitor your accounts for unusual activity,

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

The risk of malware from email attachments depends on the file type and user actions. For example, opening a harmful .exe file can cause instant infection, while malicious MS Office documents are dangerous only if the user enables macros.

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

Opening an email itself is safe. Infections happen only if the recipient clicks on malicious attachments or links in the email.

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

Combo Cleaner can detect and remove most known malware. However, a complete system scan is necessary to eliminate advanced threats hidden deep in the system.

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