Do not provide details on the fake TIM website (refund form)

What is the TIM email scam?

Typically, scammers behind phishing emails attempt to trick recipients into installing malware or providing sensitive information. They send emails containing malicious attachments (or download links for malicious files) or links designed to open deceptive websites asking to enter/provide personal information.

In most cases, scammers impersonate legitimate organizations/companies and design their emails to seem like important, official messages.

In this particular case, scammers masquerade as TIM, an Italian telecommunications company.

As mentioned, this phishing email is disguised as a message from an Italian telecommunications company. Scammers behind it attempt to trick recipients into believing that they have settled the same invoice twice (made a double payment) and, to receive the over-payment refund, they need to complete a request for refund form.

The email contains the "Confermare il rimborso" hyperlink, which opens a fake refund form (deceptive website) asking to provide details such as name and surname, fiscal code (tax code), date of birth, credit card number and its expiration date, and the CVV number (card security code).

In this way, scammers behind this phishing scam attempt to trick recipients into providing their credit card details. Credit card information can be used to make unauthorized purchases and transactions, either in person or online, to steal identities, open new accounts, and for other malicious purposes.

The obtained information can also be sold to other cyber criminals on the darkweb. Therefore, it is important to study emails and websites (and their URLs) before providing any sensitive personal information.

Phishing emails can be used to trick recipients into providing information such as usernames, passwords, email addresses, and other login credentials, and into installing malware (e.g., ransomware, Trojans).

More examples of phishing emails are "Synchronize Mail Error Email Scam", "Banco De Espana Email Scam", "Energias de Portugal (EDP) Email Virus", and "Ministero Dello Sviluppo Economico Email Virus".

All of these scams attempt to appear as if they are from a bank, credit card company, telecommunications company, courier, email service provider or other entity, and contain a website link or attachment (such as a fake invoice or other document).

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Phishing emails that are used to deliver malware generally contain a download link for a malicious file or attachment. Typically, cyber criminals attempt to trick recipients into opening a PDF or Microsoft Office document, JavaScript file, an executable file (.exe), ZIP, RAR, or other archive file that is designed to install specific malicious software.

Note that malicious MS Office documents can install malware only when users enable editing/content (macros commands). If the documents are opened with MS Office versions prior to 2010, however, the documents install malicious software automatically, since these older versions do not include "Protected View" mode.

How to avoid installation of malware

Do not trust irrelevant emails that have files attached (or contain website links) and are received from unknown, suspicious addresses. Software should not be downloaded or installed through third party downloaders, installers, unofficial pages or other similar sources/tools.

Use only official websites and direct links. Installed software should never be updated or activated with third party, unofficial tools, since they can install malware. Furthermore, it is illegal to use third party tools to activate licensed software.

The only legitimate way to update and activate software is to use tools and functions that are provided by the official developers. Regularly scan your computer with reputable antivirus or anti-spyware software and keep this software up to date.

If you have already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text in the email:

Subject: Conf‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌e rmare il rimbo‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌r so di fattura

TIM

Gentile cliente:

ABBIAMO notato Che hai pagato la Fattura Nello Stesso tempo Due volte.

Riferimento : TIM - 00722-85

Si prega di compilare il modulo e confermare il rimborso

Confermare il rimborso

Ti aspettiamo presto su

hxxps://www.tim.it/assistenzai

Grazie da TIM.

©2021 Telecom Italia - Partita IVA: 00488410010

Appearance of the fake TIM website (refund form) (GIF):

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Quick menu:

• What is TIM 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.