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Do not click on the link in EMPLOYEE BENEFITS email scam

Also Known As: EMPLOYEE BENEFITS spam
Damage level: Medium

What is EMPLOYEE BENEFITS email scam?

Typically, the main purpose of phishing scams is to trick recipients into clicking on a website link that opens some deceptive page asking to enter personal information, or downloads malware, or opening an attachment that installs malicious software. Simply said, cyber criminals use phishing emails to spread malware or extract sensitive information.

Most of the times, cybercriminals behind phishing attacks pretend to be legitimate companies, organization. Also, their emails are disguised as important, official, urgent, etc.

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS phishing scam

This phishing email is disguised as a letter from the HR department. It says that the file attached to it contains a list of employees that are eligible for some benefits. The main purpose of this scam is to trick recipients into opening the attachment (HTML file), which opens a fake Microsoft login page, and entering their login credentials (email address and password) on it.

Simply said, scammers behind this phishing campaign seek to hijack Microsoft accounts. Hijacked accounts could be used to access personal, sensitive documents, photos, or other personal data.

Depending on the accessed data, it could be misused in various ways, for example, to make fraudulent purchases, transactions, steal identities, send mapslam, trick other people into making money transactions, and for other malicious purposes.

Also, scammers may sell stolen credentials/accounts to third parties (other cyber criminals), or try to use the same login credentials to access other accounts, which could lead to even more problems. Therefore, it is strongly advisable no to click on links or open files in emails without being completely sure that it is safe.

Threat Summary:
Name EMPLOYEE BENEFITS Email Scam
Threat Type Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim Employees are eligible for benefits
Disguise Letter from the HR department
Related Domain similaroutside[.]com
Detection Names (similaroutside[.]com) Emsisoft (Phishing), ESET (Phishing), Kaspersky (Phishing), Netcraft (Malicious), Full List Of Detections (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)

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It is important to know that scammers behind other phishing attacks may attempt to trick unsuspecting recipients into providing other sensitive information such as bank account numbers, credit card details, social security numbers, addresses, names, surnames, etc.

More examples of phishing emails are "Synchronize Mail Error Email Scam", "New Sign-In On Email Scam", "Ministero Dello Sviluppo Economico Email Virus", and "Energias de Portugal (EDP) Email Virus". A couple of examples of malware that cybercriminals often deliver via email are Ursnif, Emotet, Dridex, and LokiBot.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Typically, emails that are used to deliver malware contain a download link for a malicious file or malicious attachment. In one way or another, recipients install malware after downloading and executing a malicious file, for example, Microsoft Office, PDF document, ZIP, RAR or another archive file, some executable file (like .exe), JavaScript, VBS file.

It is important to mention that users who would open malicious documents with Microsoft Office 2010 or later would be asked to enable macros commands (enable editing/content). Those documents could not infect computers unless users would allow them to.

Although, it does not apply to malicious documents that would be opened with older MS Office versions: those versions do not have the "Protected View" mode that prevents malicious documents from installing malware.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Software (and files) should be downloaded from official, trustworthy websites. It is not safe to downloads from Peer-to-Peer networks, unofficial sites, third-party downloaders, free file hosting pages, and other questionable sources. Email attachments (or website links in emails) in that are received from unknown or suspicious senders should not be opened.

It is important to analyze emails that contain files or links before clicking/opening them. Installed programs have to be updated or activated with tools or functions from their official developers. Other (third party, unofficial) tend to be used to distribute malware: they have a malicious code injected in them.

Also, it is not legal to use 'cracking' tools or pirated software. The operating system should be scanned for malware and other threats regularly. It is advisable to run scans using a reputable antivirus or anti-spyware software. The installed security suite should always be up to date.

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 phishing email:

Subject: Update on ******** PoIicy at 16 February, 2021

Dear ********,

Employees in the following employment classification(s) are eligible for the EMPLOYEE BENEFITS as described in this attached Policy. E ach employee will be held for these values to ensure our continued growth and success.

Kindly review the compliance section in the attachment to proceed .
           

******** HR DEPARTMENT

Screenshot of the fake Microsoft login website:

employee benefits email scam fake microsoft login page

Instant automatic malware removal: Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced IT skills. Combo Cleaner 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:

Types of malicious emails:

Phishing email icon 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.

Email-virus icon 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 email icon 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:

Example of an email spam

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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About the author:

Tomas Meskauskas

Tomas Meskauskas - expert security researcher, professional malware analyst.

I am passionate about computer security and technology. I have an experience of over 10 years working in various companies related to computer technical issue solving and Internet security. I have been working as an author and editor for pcrisk.com since 2010. Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn to stay informed about the latest online security threats. Contact Tomas Meskauskas.

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Malware activity

Global malware activity level today:

Medium threat activity

Increased attack rate of infections detected within the last 24 hours.

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