Avoid losing your account via fake "Capital One - Transfer Schedule" emails

What kind of email is "Capital One - Transfer Schedule"?

After examining this "Capital One - Transfer Schedule" email, we determined that it is fake. It is presented as a notification regarding a scheduled outgoing transaction from the recipient's Capital One account. When an attempt is made to investigate this bogus transfer, the user is deceived into disclosing their log-in credentials to a phishing site.

It must be stressed that the information in this email is false, and this mail is not associated with the actual Capital One Financial Corporation.

"Capital One - Transfer Schedule" email scam overview

The spam email with the subject "Your outgoing payment transfer of $6920.00 is in process" (may vary) masquerades as a notification from Capital One.

This message thanks the recipient for scheduling their transfer with Capital One. It details the upcoming transaction – amount ($6920.00), scheduled date, and receiver's bank. The email mentions that if the recipient does not recognize this activity, they can cancel or modify the transfer by signing into their account.

It must be reiterated that the information in this email is false – hence, the user does not risk losing almost seven thousand USD. It must also be emphasized that this scam notification is in no way associated with the real Capital One Financial Corporation.

The phishing website endorsed by this spam campaign is disguised as the Capital One account sign-in page. Log-in credentials (usernames/passwords) entered into this site are recorded and sent to scammers.

To expand upon the potential dangers, stolen finance-related accounts (e.g., online banking, money transferring, digital wallets, etc.) can be used to make fraudulent transactions and online purchases.

In summary, victims of spam mail like "Capital One - Transfer Schedule" risk experiencing severe privacy issues, financial losses, and even identity theft.

If you have entered your account credentials into a phishing website or file – immediately change the passwords of all potentially compromised accounts and inform their official support. If the exposed information is personally identifiable or related to finances – it might also be necessary to contact relevant authorities.

Threat Summary:

Name	"Capital One - Transfer Schedule" phishing email
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	An outgoing 6,920 USD transfer has been scheduled.
Disguise	Capital One
Related Domains	freelanceclearingcentre[.]com
Detection Names	alphaMountain.ai (Phishing), Emsisoft (Phishing), Fortinet (Phishing), Lionic (Phishing), Netcraft (Malicious), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal)
Serving IP Address	172.67.148.139
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

"Chase Account Temporarily Restricted", "IMAP/POP Certificate Validation", and "American Express - Unrecognized Transaction" are merely a couple of our newest articles on phishing emails.

Various scams are promoted through spam mail, and it is used to proliferate malware. Recipients' interest and trust are gained through false claims, e.g., outgoing/incoming transactions, payments/invoices, account issues, expired passwords, subscription cancellations/renewals, security concerns, business offers, inheritances, and so forth.

While the widely held belief that spam emails are poorly put together and riddled with mistakes is not untrue, it is not always the case. This mail can be competently crafted and even convincingly disguised as messages from legitimate entities (e.g., corporations, companies, service providers, organizations, institutions, authorities, etc.).

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Spam campaigns spread malicious files as attachments or download links. These files come in various formats, e.g., documents (Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, PDF, etc.), archives (RAR, ZIP, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), JavaScript, and so on.

Malware download/installation is jumpstarted once an infectious file is opened. However, some formats require additional user interaction to initiate infection processes. For example, Microsoft Office files need users to enable macro commands (i.e., editing/content), while OneNote documents require them to click on embedded links/files.

How to avoid installation of malware?

It is essential to approach incoming emails and other messages with care. Attachments or links present in suspicious mail must not be opened, as they can be harmful or virulent.

It must be mentioned that malware is distributed using various methods. Therefore, we advise vigilance when browsing since fraudulent and dangerous online content usually appears legitimate and harmless.

Another recommendation is to download only from official and trustworthy channels. Software must be activated and updated using genuine functions/tools, as illegal product activation tools ("cracks") and third-party updaters may contain malware.

We must emphasize the importance of having a reputable anti-virus installed and kept updated. Security programs must be used to run regular system scans and to remove 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 "Capital One - Transfer Schedule" spam email letter:

Subject: Your outgoing payment transfer of $6920.00 is in process

Capital One

Thanks for scheduling your transfer.

Confirmation number: S100U288

Hi,

Your outgoing payment transfer of $6920.00 from your Capital One Online Banking to TD Bank **0839 has been scheduled. Here are the details:

Transfer amount: $6920.00

Scheduled date: Jan 21, 2025

Receiver bank: TD Bank **0839

If you did not schedule this transfer or you think something doesn’t look right to you, sign in to cancel, modify or see your transfer activity.

View transfer activity

Screenshot of the phishing website promoted by the "Capital One - Transfer Schedule" 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 "Capital One - Transfer Schedule" 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?

Even if a spam email includes relevant information – that does not make it personal. These messages are sent out in large-scale campaigns; therefore, thousands of users receive identical (or incredibly similar) emails.

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

If you have disclosed your log-in credentials – change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and inform their official support without delay. However, if you have provided other private information (e.g., ID card details, passport photos/scans, credit card numbers, etc.) – immediately contact the corresponding authorities.

I have read a spam email but didn't open the attachment, is my computer infected?

No, reading an email poses no infection threat. Devices are infected when malicious attachments or links are opened/clicked.

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

If the opened file was an executable (.exe, .run, etc.) – most likely, yes. However, you might have avoided the infection if it was a document (.doc, .xls, .one, .pdf, etc.). These formats may need extra interaction (e.g., enabling macros, clicking embedded content, etc.) to initiate malware download/installation processes.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Yes, Combo Cleaner is designed to scan computers and remove all kinds of threats. It is capable of detecting and eliminating most of the known malware infections. Remember that running a complete system scan is paramount since high-end malicious software usually hides deep within systems.

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