How to identify scams like "Chase - Suspicious Activity"

What kind of scam is "Chase - Suspicious Activity"?

Our team has examined the email and determined that it is a fraudulent message pretending to be from Chase bank. The email aims to deceive recipients into thinking there has been suspicious activity in their bank accounts, leading them to a fake website. It is important to ignore such emails to avoid potential risks.

More about the "Chase - Suspicious Activity" scam email

This deceptive email claims that Chase Bank has detected unusual activity on the recipient's account and has temporarily limited access as a safety measure. It urges the recipient to click the "Review Account" link and log in to verify their information to restore access. The email also advises the recipient not to change their User ID or password during verification.

Additionally, it contains fake details, such as the date and time of the suspicious activity, urgency, and case ID to appear legitimate. During our inspection, the "Review Account" link provided in this email led us to a web page that was down. However, it is clear that the link is intended to direct users to a fake Chase login page or a similar fraudulent site.

Typically, scammers behind such emails target login credentials. If they succeed at stealing them, they can gain unauthorized access to the victim's accounts, allowing them to steal personal information, make fraudulent transactions, or commit identity theft.

Scammers can also sell the stolen credentials on the dark web to other criminals. Additionally, they can use the information to launch further attacks, such as phishing campaigns or social engineering attempts, targeting the victim's contacts. Therefore, it is important to be cautious when receiving suspicious emails.

Threat Summary:

Name	Chase - Suspicious Activity Email Scam
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Suspicious activity has been observed in the recipient's account
Related Domains	sup-areaa[.]com.es, encurtador[.]com.br
Detection Names (sup-areaa[.]com.es)	N/A (VirusTotal)
Detection Names (encurtador[.]com.br)	CRDF (Malicious), MalwareURL (Phishing), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
Disguise	Alert from the Chase bank
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

In most cases, these emails are designed to trick recipients into providing personal information, such as credit card details, ID card information, or login credentials. They often urge users to click links or open attachments. Also, these emails often appear to come from trusted sources, such as banks or popular companies.

Some examples of similar emails are "New Web Browser Just Signed In", "Document Shared Securely", "HSBC - Account Credited With An Inward Payment". Users should be aware that links and files in emails of this kind can be used to distribute malware.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Computers can become infected through emails when users click on dangerous links or open infected attachments. Once interacted with, such files can activate malware (e.g., after enabling features like macros in compromised documents or opening infected executables). These attachments might include PDFs, MS Office files, script files, archives, ISO files, executables, etc.

Additionally, the links in these emails might direct users to harmful websites, where malware could be downloaded automatically, or users may be lured into manually executing infected files or installing malicious programs/tools.

How to avoid installation of malware?

If you receive emails from unfamiliar senders that appear irrelevant or unexpected, avoid clicking any links or opening attachments. Regularly update your system and software. Use trusted antivirus or anti-malware tools for protection. Ensure that software and files are only downloaded from reliable sources such as official websites or app stores.

Exercise caution when visiting shady websites: avoid interacting with pop-ups, ads, or similar content on such sites, and do not permit them to send notifications. 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 "Chase - Suspicious Activity" email letter:

Subject: Restricted Access: Secure Your Account Now

Chase
Security alert
We’ve Detected Suspicious Activity

Recipient:     (-)
Date:     Friday, January 3, 2025 8:22 a.m. ET
Urgency:     Extremely High
Case ID:     Fraud Case (01-TYU908Q)

We've detected unusual activity on your account, and as a safety measure, access has been temporarily limited.

To restore access, please click the Review Account link below and log in to complete the verification process.

Important: For your security, please refrain from changing your UserID or password during this procedure.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this issue.
Review account
Securely access your accounts with the Chase Mobile® app or chase.com.

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 Chase - Suspicious Activity 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 often send identical emails to a large number of people, hoping that a small percentage will fall for their scam. These emails are typically vague and lack personalization, designed to trick as many recipients as possible.

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

If you have provided your credit card, ID card, or other personal information, contact your bank or the necessary authorities right away. If your login credentials have been compromised, update your passwords immediately to secure your accounts.

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

The likelihood of malware infection from an email attachment depends on the file type and how the user interacts with it. For example, opening a malicious .exe file can instantly cause an infection, whereas MS Office documents pose a risk only if the user enables editing/content (macros commands).

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

Simply opening an email is safe, but clicking malicious links or opening infected attachments included in deceptive emails can lead to computer infections.

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

Combo Cleaner can eliminate most known malware. However, to thoroughly remove advanced threats hidden deep within the system, it is essential to perform a full system scan.

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