Do not trust the "Your account has encountered an error 505" emails
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on
"Your account has encountered an error 505" email scam removal guide
What is "Your account has encountered an error 505"?
"Your account has encountered an error 505" refers to a spam campaign, distributing phishing emails. The term "spam campaign" is used to define a large-scale operation, during which thousands of deceptive/scam emails are sent. The letters distributed through this spam campaign claim that recipients' email accounts have been blocked and to unblock them, they must reverify their mail accounts. This spam campaign is designed to steal recipients' email account log-in credentials (i.e. passwords) by requesting users to verify their accounts via phishing website.
The "Your account has encountered an error 505" emails, with the subject/title "Mailbox Noticification", state that recipients' email accounts have been blocked, due to an error that is specified as "error 505". Since the accounts are supposedly blocked - incoming mail cannot reach them. To recover the accounts, recipients are informed that additional security is required. Hence, they are instructed to confirm the detected activity and remove the error by verifying their account again. Users are to do this by clicking the provided link. The link opens a phishing website, which is disguised as a generic log-in page. This webpage is designed to collect any of the entered data, in other words - the passwords of email accounts. Scammers are particularly interested in stealing mail accounts, as they are commonly connected to other accounts. Therefore, through a hijacked email - scammers may gain access to associated accounts. Via stolen social media, social networking, messaging and other communication accounts - scammers can ask the contacts/friends for loans and/or proliferate malware by sharing infectious files - under the guise of the real owner. Accounts that directly deal with and/or store financial information (e.g. banking accounts or credit card details) can be used to make fraudulent transactions and/or online purchases. It must be emphasized that all of the information provided by the "Your account has encountered an error 505" letters is false. By trusting these scam emails - users risk loosing their email accounts (as well as ones connected to them) and this may result in severe privacy issues, financial loss and even identity theft. If attempts to log-in through the phishing website have already been made, users must immediately change the credentials (i.e. passwords) of their emails and all the accounts connected to them. Additionally, it is recommended to contact the official support of all potentially affected accounts.
| Name | Your account has encountered an error 505 Email Scam |
| Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud |
| Fake Claim | Emails claim users must reverify their accounts to unblock them. |
| Related Domains | carimbosuberaba.com[.]br |
| 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 Malwarebytes. |
"Important: You have 19 Pending incoming email(s)", "ProtonMail Email Scam", "Roundcube Email Scam" and "Last Warning: Upgrade your email to avoid Shutting Down" are some examples of spam campaigns, similarly targeting email accounts. Spam mail can have a wide variety of purposes and disguises; however, the end-goal is always the same - to generate profit for the scammers / cyber criminals. Scam letters are typically presented as "official", "important", "urgent" or otherwise "priority" mail. These emails can be used for phishing and other scams, as well as malware proliferation (e.g. trojans, ransomware, etc.).
How do spam campaigns infect computers?
Systems are infected via virulent files sent in spam campaigns. These files can be attached to the emails and/or the letters can contain download links of infectious content. Malicious files can be in various formats, such as archives (RAR, ZIP, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), Microsoft Office and PDF documents, JavaScript, and so on. When virulent files are executed, run or otherwise opened - the infection process/chain is initiated (i.e. malware download/installation is triggered). For example, Microsoft Office documents cause infections by executing malicious macro commands. In Microsoft Office version released before 2010 - this process begins automatically upon the document's opening. However, the newer versions have "Protected View" mode. Hence, once a document is opened in them - users are asked to enable macro commands (i.e. to enable editing/content). Therefore, infection processes can only begin if macros are enabled manually.
How to avoid installation of malware?
To avoid malware distributed through spam campaigns, it is strongly advised not to open suspicious and/or irrelevant emails, especially ones received from unknown/suspect senders (addresses). It is crucial not to open any attachments or links found in dubious mail - as that can result in a high-risk infection. However, malicious programs are also distributed via untrustworthy download channels (e.g. unofficial and free file-hosting websites, Peer-to-Peer sharing networks and other third party downloaders), illegal activation tools ("cracks") and fake updaters. Therefore, it is important to only download from official/trustworthy sources, as well as activate and update software with tools/functions provided by legitimate developers. To ensure device integrity and user safety, it is paramount to have a dependable anti-virus/anti-spyware suite installed. Furthermore, these products must be kept up-to-date, used to run regular system scans and to remove detected threats/issues. If you've already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Malwarebytes for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.
Text presented in the "Your account has encountered an error 505" email letter:
Subject: Mailbox Noticification
- Service
Hello User,
Your account - has encountered an error 505 .
This has blocked some of your incoming mails on our servers.
To unblock, additional security is required.
We need you to verify your account again.
For your security and usage, we ask you to confirm your account.
Then please click on the following link:
Confirm activities and clear error.
This is an automated email from rcs.lt Mail Administrator; if you received it, action is required before 24hrs.
Copyright© 2020 cPanel, Inc.
Screenshot of the phishing website:
Instant automatic malware removal:
Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced computer skills. Malwarebytes is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
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Quick menu:
- What is "Your account has encountered an error 505"?
- STEP 1. Manual removal of possible malware infections.
- STEP 2. Check if your computer is clean.
How to remove malware manually?
Manual malware removal is a complicated task - usually it is best to allow antivirus or anti-malware programs to do this automatically. To remove this malware we recommend using Malwarebytes for Windows. If you wish to remove malware manually, the first step is to identify the name of the malware that you are trying to remove. Here is an example of a suspicious program running on a user's computer:
If you checked the list of programs running on your computer, for example, using task manager, and identified a program that looks suspicious, you should continue with these steps:
Download a program called Autoruns. This program shows auto-start applications, Registry, and file system locations:
Restart your computer into Safe Mode:
Windows XP and Windows 7 users: Start your computer in Safe Mode. Click Start, click Shut Down, click Restart, click OK. During your computer start process, press the F8 key on your keyboard multiple times until you see the Windows Advanced Option menu, and then select Safe Mode with Networking from the list.
Video showing how to start Windows 7 in "Safe Mode with Networking":
Windows 8 users: Start Windows 8 is Safe Mode with Networking - Go to Windows 8 Start Screen, type Advanced, in the search results select Settings. Click Advanced startup options, in the opened "General PC Settings" window, select Advanced startup. Click the "Restart now" button. Your computer will now restart into the "Advanced Startup options menu". Click the "Troubleshoot" button, and then click the "Advanced options" button. In the advanced option screen, click "Startup settings". Click the "Restart" button. Your PC will restart into the Startup Settings screen. Press F5 to boot in Safe Mode with Networking.
Video showing how to start Windows 8 in "Safe Mode with Networking":
Windows 10 users: Click the Windows logo and select the Power icon. In the opened menu click "Restart" while holding "Shift" button on your keyboard. In the "choose an option" window click on the "Troubleshoot", next select "Advanced options". In the advanced options menu select "Startup Settings" and click on the "Restart" button. In the following window you should click the "F5" button on your keyboard. This will restart your operating system in safe mode with networking.
Video showing how to start Windows 10 in "Safe Mode with Networking":
Extract the downloaded archive and run the Autoruns.exe file.
In the Autoruns application, click "Options" at the top and uncheck "Hide Empty Locations" and "Hide Windows Entries" options. After this procedure, click the "Refresh" icon.
Check the list provided by the Autoruns application and locate the malware file that you want to eliminate.
You should write down its full path and name. Note that some malware hides process names under legitimate Windows process names. At this stage, it is very important to avoid removing system files. After you locate the suspicious program you wish to remove, right click your mouse over its name and choose "Delete".
After removing the malware through the Autoruns application (this ensures that the malware will not run automatically on the next system startup), you should search for the malware name on your computer. Be sure to enable hidden files and folders before proceeding. If you find the filename of the malware, be sure to remove it.
Reboot your computer in normal mode. Following these steps should remove any malware from your computer. Note that manual threat removal requires advanced computer skills. If you do not have these skills, leave malware removal to antivirus and anti-malware programs. These steps might not work with advanced malware infections. As always it is best to prevent infection than try to remove malware later. To keep your computer safe, install the latest operating system updates and use antivirus software.
To be sure your computer is free of malware infections, we recommend scanning it with Malwarebytes for Windows.
Outstanding!