How to identify scam emails like "Invitation To Supply Products"

What kind of email is "Invitation To Supply Products"?

After inspecting this "Invitation To Supply Products" email, we determined that it is spam. This fake message offers the recipient an opportunity to supply products sought by the sender.

It must be emphasized that this spam campaign is not associated with any legitimate entities. The motivation behind this scam mail could be to extract sensitive data or victims' funds.

"Invitation To Supply Products" email scam overview

The spam email with the subject "Supply Request - MolGroup" (may vary) invites the recipient's company to supply the products detailed in the attachment. The message requests an official quotation to be sent for consideration and approval. The PDF document attached to this email is disguised as an RFQ (Request For Quotation).

It must be stressed that the claims made by this email are false, and this mail is not associated with the actual MOL Plc. (MOL Group) or any other genuine entities.

The exact goals of this spam campaign are unknown. Generally, scammers behind these kinds of emails can request victims to provide sensitive information that could concern their companies, identities, or finances. Cyber criminals may ask to be sent money for legitimate-sounding reasons like paying taxes or fees.

Spam is commonly used to run phishing scams that target log-in credentials. Emails are of particular interest to scammers, as they often contain confidential data and may even serve as an avenue for hijacking linked accounts, platforms, and services. Work accounts (like emails) may be used to infect the corporate network with trojans, ransomware, and other malware.

Scammers can steal account (e.g., email, social networking/media, messenger, etc.) owners' identities and request loans or donations from contacts/friends/followers, endorse scams, and spread malware by sharing malicious links or files. Stolen finance-related accounts (e.g., e-commerce, money transferring, digital wallets, online banking, etc.) can be used to make fraudulent transactions and online purchases.

To summarize, by trusting an email like "Invitation To Supply Products" – users may experience system infections, serious privacy issues, financial losses, and identity theft.

If you have disclosed your log-in credentials (e.g., via phishing sites/files) – immediately change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and inform their official support. If you have provided personally identifiable or finance-related information (e.g., ID card details, passport photos/scans, credit/debit card numbers, etc.) – contact the appropriate authorities without delay.

If you suspect that your device(s) has been infected – perform a complete system scan with an anti-virus and eliminate all detected threats.

Threat Summary:

Name	"Invitation To Supply Products" spam email
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Recipient is asked to provide an RFQ (Request For Quotation) to supply an ongoing project.
Disguise	MOL Plc. (MOL Group)
Attachment(s)	MOLGROUP_REQUEST FOR QUOTATION.pdf (filename may vary)
Detection Names (attachment)	N/A (VirusTotal)
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.

Spam campaigns in general

Spam campaigns promote various scams, including phishing, technical support, refund, sextortion, advance fee, and others. Deceptive emails are also used to distribute all kinds of malware.

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

"Bank Of America - Payment Processed Successfully", "Overdue Payment", "Mailbox Problem Identified", "Update Your Domain Name System Security (DNSS)", "Non-payment Of Fund", "Hosting Space Limit Notification", "Covid-19 Response Fund", "DHL - Customs Clearance", and "Product Specification For Korean Market" are just some of our latest articles on spam campaigns.

Due to how prevalent spam mail is and how well-made it can be – we highly recommend vigilance with incoming emails, DMs/PMs, SMSes, and other messages.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Malware is proliferated by spam campaigns via malicious files attached to or linked inside the emails/messages. Infectious files can be documents (PDF, Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), archives (RAR, ZIP, etc.), JavaScript, and so on.

The infection chain is initiated once such a file is opened. However, some formats require additional user interaction to begin infiltrating malware into systems. For example, Microsoft Office files need users to enable macro commands (i.e., content/editing), while OneNote documents require them to click on embedded links or files.

How to avoid installation of malware?

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

It must be mentioned that malware is not spread exclusively through spam campaigns. Therefore, we recommend being careful while browsing as the Internet is full of deceptive and dangerous content.

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

It is essential to device integrity and user safety to have a reputable anti-virus installed and kept up-to-date. This software 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 "Invitation To Supply Products" email letter:

Subject: Supply Request - MolGroup

Greetings,

We are pleased to invite you and your company to source for the below items and email me your official quotation for possible approval and supply, we are in need of the products(s) urgently for our ongoing project.

Details of the product below:

Product Name: OMTCRH19M-345HNMH3 PUMP
Quantity. 38 Pieces

Compulsory, Kindly send your quotation to: (orders@molgroup-supplies.com) for immediate approval.

Regards
Tamás Gyömbér
Procurement Leader

MOL GROUP
Dombóváriút 28.
1117 Budapest, Hungary
Tel: +36 12 114091
Email: orders@molgroup-supplies.com 

Screenshot of this spam email's attachment ("MOLGROUP_REQUEST FOR QUOTATION.pdf"):

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Quick menu:

• What is "Invitation To Supply Products" spam 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. Cyber criminals distribute these messages by the thousand with the hopes that at least some recipients will fall for their scams.

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 potentially compromised accounts and inform their official support. However, if you have disclosed other private information (e.g., passport photos/scans, ID card details, credit card numbers, etc.) – contact the corresponding authorities without delay.

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

No, merely reading an email does not pose an infection threat. Systems are compromised 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 file was an executable (.exe, .run, etc.) – most likely, yes – the device was infected. However, some formats require additional user interaction to initiate infection processes. For example, documents (.doc, .xls, .one, .pdf, etc.) may need users to enable macros, click embedded content, or perform other actions to jumpstart malware download/installation.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Yes, Combo Cleaner can detect and remove nearly all known malware infections. It must be stressed that running a full system scan is paramount since high-end malicious programs typically hide deep within systems.

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