Avoid losing your account via fake "Offer For The Below Items" emails

What kind of email is "Offer For The Below Items"?

After examining this "Offer For The Below Items" email, we determined that it is spam. This message requests the recipient to make an offer for the products detailed in the shared Microsoft Excel file. When the recipient attempts to review the document, they are lured into disclosing their email account log-in credentials to a phishing site.

"Offer For The Below Items" email scam overview

The spam email with the subject "ENQUIRY" (may vary) is presented as a purchase inquiry. It requests the recipient to provide an offer for the items described below. Supposedly, the products that the sender is interested in are detailed in the linked Microsoft Excel document. It must be emphasized that this email is fake and not associated with any legitimate entities.

After "DOWNLOAD RFQ.XLS" is pressed, the user is redirected to a phishing website emblazoned with the Excel logo. The page requests the user to sign in to verify that they are not a robot.

Phishing sites record entered information and send it to scammers. Hence, by attempting to complete this fake verification process (i.e., by providing their log-in credentials) – users unintentionally expose their emails to cyber criminals.

Email accounts are highly targeted because they tend to contain incredibly sensitive data. Additionally, scammers might be able to gain access to the accounts, platforms, and services registered through or linked with an email.

To elaborate on how the unauthorized access can be abused, criminals can steal the identities of account owners (e.g., emails, social networking, social media, messengers, chats, etc.) and request loans or identities, endorse scams, and proliferate malware by sharing malicious files or links.

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

To summarize, by trusting an email like "Offer For The Below Items" – users can experience severe privacy issues, financial losses, and identity theft.

If you have already disclosed your account credentials to a phishing webpage – immediately change the passwords of all possibly compromised accounts and contact their official support.

Threat Summary:

Name	"Offer For The Below Items" phishing email
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Recipient is requested to provide an offer for the items detailed in the document.
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

"Standard Bank UCount Rewards", "Classified Documents", "Salary Review", and "Intuit QuickBooks - Negative Comments From A Consumer" are merely some of our newest articles on phishing emails.

These campaigns commonly target log-in credentials, personally identifiable information, and finance-related data. Various scams are promoted through spam mail, and it is utilized to spread all kinds of malware.

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

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Malware is distributed via spam mail through infectious files. They can be attached to or linked inside the emails/messages. Virulent files come in various formats, e.g., archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), documents (Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, PDF, etc.), JavaScript, and so forth.

Merely opening an infectious file can be enough to trigger the malware download/installation chain. Some formats may need additional actions to initiate the infection process. For example, Microsoft Office files require users to enable macro commands (i.e., editing/content), while OneNote documents need them to click on the embedded files or links.

How to avoid installation of malware?

We strongly recommend approaching incoming emails, PMs/DMs, SMSes, and other messages with care. Attachments or links found in suspicious/irrelevant mail must not be opened, as they can be malicious.

However, malware is spread using various methods. Therefore, we advise being cautious when browsing since the Internet is rife with deceptive and dangerous content.

Furthermore, all downloads must be made from official and trustworthy channels. Another recommendation is to activate and update programs using legitimate functions/tools, as illegal activation ("cracking") tools and third-party updates can contain malware.

It is essential to have a dependable anti-virus installed and kept up-to-date. 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 "Offer For The Below Items" spam email letter:

Subject: ENQUIRY

Dear -,

Please send me an offer for the below items;

DOWNLOAD RFQ.XLS

Best Regards,

Hydrotec International L.L.C

Prinson Veigas

P.O.BOX 3298, PC 112

Sultanate of Oman

GSM : +968 92839288

-

Working hours : Sunday to Thursday 8.00 am to 6.00 pm

Weekly Off : Friday and Saturday

Tel : 00968 24437036/24437041

Fax : 00968 24437255

Screenshot of the phishing website promoted by the "Offer For The Below Items" spam campaign:

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Quick menu:

• What is "Offer For The Below Items" 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 information relevant to the recipients. These messages are sent out in massive operations – hence, 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 provided your log-in credentials – change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and inform their official support without delay. However, if you've disclosed other private information (e.g., ID card details, passport photos/scans, credit card numbers, etc.) – immediately contact relevant authorities.

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

No, reading an email is harmless. 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 – the device was infected. However, you might have avoided the infection if it was a document (.doc, .xls, .pdf, .one, etc.). These formats may need additional actions (e.g., enabling macros, clicking embedded content, etc.) to begin malware download/installation.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Yes, Combo Cleaner is capable of detecting and eliminating almost all known malware infections. It must be stressed that running a full system scan is paramount since sophisticated malicious programs tend to hide deep within systems.

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