Do not trust fake "Email Account Storage Limit Is Almost" emails

What kind of email is "Email Account Storage Limit Is Almost"?

"Email Account Storage Limit Is Almost Full" is spam mail targeting email account log-in credentials. The letter encourages to increase their inbox storage quota by signing in through a phishing website that mimics the recipient's email account sign-in page.

"Email Account Storage Limit Is Almost" email scam overview

The spam email with the subject "upgrade" (may vary) informs the recipient that their mail account storage limit is close to reaching its limit. Due to this, they may be unable to send and receive messages.

The recipient is urged to upgrade their email quota limit in order to continue using the service uninterrupted. Failure to comply within 48 hours will result in account suspension.

As indicated in the introduction, all the claims made by this letter are false, and this mail is not associated with any legitimate service providers.

After we clicked the "Upgrade Nοw" button, we were redirected to a phishing site mimicking the recipient's email sign-in page. Despite its relatively legitimate appearance, this webpage is fake. Log-in credentials entered into this site will be recorded and sent to cyber criminals.

In addition to stealing the email accounts, scammers may also gain access to the content registered through them. To expand upon this, criminals can steal the identities of social account owners (e.g., emails, social networking, social media, messengers, etc.) and ask the contacts/friends for loans or donations, promote scams, and proliferate malware by sharing malicious files or links.

Furthermore, hijacked finance-related accounts (e.g., online banking, money transferring, e-commerce, etc.) can be used to make fraudulent transactions and/or online purchases. What is more, sensitive, confidential, or compromising content discovered on stolen data-storage or similar platforms could be used for blackmail or other various purposes.

To summarize, by trusting an email like "Email Account Storage Limit Is Almost" – users can experience severe privacy issues, financial losses, and even identity theft.

If you have already entered your log-in credentials into a phishing website – immediately change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and inform their official support.

Threat Summary:

Name	"Email Account Storage Limit Is Almost" phishing email
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Email account storage is almost full.
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

"Email Routine Check", "Documents And Funds Have Been Credited", and "Deceased Relative" are just a few examples of phishing emails we have analyzed recently. This type of spam mail predominantly targets log-in credentials, personally identifiable details, credit card numbers and other finance-related data.

Various scams are facilitated through spam, and it is even used to distribute malware. Spam emails can be full of errors or competently crafted as messages from genuine service providers, companies, organizations, authorities, and other entities.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Cyber criminals often use spam campaigns to spread malware. Deceptive emails/messages can include infectious files as attachments or download links. These files can be in various formats, e.g., archives (RAR, ZIP, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), documents (PDF, Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, etc.), JavaScript, and so on.

The malware download/installation process is triggered once such a file is opened. However, some formats can require additional user interaction to jumpstart infection chains. For example, Microsoft Office files need users to enable macro commands (i.e., editing/content), while OneNote documents require them to click on embedded files or links.

How to avoid installation of malware?

We highly recommend exercising caution with incoming emails, DMs/PMs, SMSes, and other messages. Attachments or links present in suspicious/irrelevant mail must not be opened, as they can be virulent.

Another recommendation is to use Microsoft Office versions released after 2010 since their "Protected View" mode prevents automatic macro command execution

It must be mentioned that malware is not proliferated only through spam mail. Therefore, we also advise downloading only from official and trustworthy sources.

It is just as important to activate and update programs using functions/tools provided by legitimate developers, as illegal activation ("cracking") tools and third-party updates may contain malware.

Since fake and malicious online content usually appears genuine and harmless – it is essential to be vigilant while browsing.

We must stress the importance of having a dependable anti-virus installed and kept up-to-date. Security software must be used to perform 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 "Email Account Storage Limit Is Almost" spam email letter:

Subject: upgrade

Hello -,
 
Your email account storage limit is almost full, you may not be able to send or receive multiple messages, please upgrade your email quota limit to continue using your mailbox effectively. This service is free

Upgrade Nοw

Note: Failure tο upgrade in 48 hrs may result in account suspension.

Sincerely,  
EMAIL Admin Team 2023.

Screenshot of the phishing website promoted by the "Email Account Storage Limit Is Almost" spam campaign:

Another example of an email from "Email Account Storage Limit Is Almost" spam campaign:

Text presented within:

Subject: ********** Your Mailbox is Now Full - [13] New Incoming e-Mails pending

Attention **********,
Email Account Storage Is Full,

You have now used 99% of your email storage, kindly add extra space to release pending mails to inbox.
Delete unnecessary files and messages otherwise new emails may be  delayed or rejected,

ADD EXTRA STORAGE NOW

CLEAR STORAGE NOW

Note: You have (13) incoming emails pending on ********** server.

Thanks and Regards,
Mail Cpanel Host (C) 2023 Secured Service.

Screenshot of the promoted phishing site developed to imitate the design accordingly to user's email address:

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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 "Email Account Storage Limit Is Almost" 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. This mail is sent out in massive campaigns – therefore, thousands of users receive identical emails.

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

If you have provided your account credentials – immediately change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and inform their official support. And if the disclosed information was of a different personal nature (e.g., ID card details, credit card numbers, etc.) – contact the appropriate authorities without delay.

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

No, opening/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 – your device was compromised. You might have avoided an infection if it was a document (.doc, .pdf, .xls, .one, etc.). These formats may require extra actions to start downloading/installing malware (e.g., enabling macro commands, clicking embedded files/links, etc.).

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Yes, Combo Cleaner is designed to detect and eliminate all manner of threats. It is capable of removing nearly all known malware infections. It must be emphasized that performing a complete system scan is essential since sophisticated malicious software usually hides deep within systems.

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