TicketSales Email Virus

What is TicketSales Email Virus?

"TicketSales Email Virus" is another spam email campaign used to distribute a high-risk trojan called Ursnif. It is very similar to "Swisscom Email Virus" and many others. As usual, users receive deceptive email messages encouraging them to open certain files, but opening them leads to infiltration of the Ursnif virus.

"TicketSales Email Virus" emails are essentially notifications from the TicketSales.com website that contain download links to tickets in the PDF format. In fact, the downloaded file is not even a PDF document, but rather an archive that contains a malicious JavaScript file. Be aware that TicketSales.com is a legitimate website and has nothing to do with this scam campaign.

Cyber criminals simply hide behind the name of this company. This behavior is common to these criminals - they claim to be employees of legitimate companies or governmental agencies to increase the number of infections. Users are much more likely to open files when the sender looks familiar.

Ursnif is an information-tracking trojan. Its main purpose is to gather victims' account details (mainly from banking websites). Once recorded, the data is saved to a remote server controlled by Ursnif developers.

These people aim to generate as much revenue as possible and there is a high probability that hacked accounts will be misused through online purchases, money transfers, and so on. The presence of the Ursnif trojan might thus lead to serious privacy issues and significant financial loss.

If you have already opened files distributed through the "TicketSales Email Virus" campaign, you should immediately scan the system with a reputable anti-virus/anti-spyware suite and eliminate all threats.

Threat Summary:

Name	TicketSales spam
Threat Type	Trojan, Password stealing virus, Banking malware, Spyware
Symptoms	Trojans are designed to stealthily infiltrate victim's computer and remain silent thus no particular symptoms are clearly visible on an infected machine.
Distribution methods	Infected email attachments, malicious online advertisements, social engineering, software cracks.
Damage	Stolen banking information, passwords, identity theft, victim's computer added to a botnet.
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.

Ursnif is similar to dozens of other trojan-type viruses distributed using email spam campaigns. The list of examples includes (but is not limited to) Adwind, FormBook, TrickBot, Emotet, Hancitor, and LokiBot. 

The developers of these viruses are different and, therefore, the behavior of them might also differ slightly (some gather information, whilst others distribute additional viruses, and so on). Essentially, all have one thing in common: they pose a direct threat to your privacy and Internet browsing safety. Therefore, eliminate them immediately.

How did TicketSales Email Virus infiltrate my computer?

As mentioned above, "TicketSales Email Virus" campaign emails contain a link that leads to PDF file. In fact, the download link is to an archive (.zip) that contains a malicious JavaScript (.js) file. Once opened, this JavaScript file executes commands that download and run an executable (.exe) file.

This executable ultimately downloads and installs Ursnif onto the system. Ursnif only works on Microsoft Windows Operating System and users of other platforms have nothing to worry about.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Lack of knowledge and careless behavior are the main reasons for computer infections. The key to safety is caution. Therefore, be cautious when browsing the Internet. Carefully analyze each email attachment received. Unexpected files and those received from suspicious/unrecognizable email addresses should never be opened.

Furthermore, keep installed applications and operating systems up-to-date. Having a reputable anti-virus/anti-spyware suite installed and running is also essential, since these tools are likely to detect and eliminate malware before it performs malicious actions.

If you believe that your computer is already infected, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in "TicketSales Email Virus":

Subject: Subject: Ticket-6035052
Your tickets are ready to print!
Order #212228871:
(Event times are subject to change. Contact the venue or check local listings to confirm start times.)
Click here to download and print your tickets
You must print out the PDF document to gain entry to the event. The PDF document is your ticket. This email is not valid for entry to the event.
Your eTickets may display the name of the original purchaser. This is a common method of ticketing. Rest assured that all eTickets are transferable and the attendee’s name does not need to match the name on the ticket.
If your order summary indicates that you purchased mobile tickets, you must show the tickets on your smartphone to gain entry to your event.
If there is an issue at the venue, call us immediately at 844-827-0527.
Enjoy the event!
Thank you,
The TicketSales.com Team

Ursnif trojan in Windows Task Manager:

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Quick menu:

• What is TicketSales spam?
• 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.

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