Avoid losing your email account via "Account Service" phishing emails

What is the "Account Service" scam email?

"Account Service email scam" refers to a spam campaign - a mass-scale operation during which deceptive emails are sent by the thousand. These letters claim that multiple emails failed delivery (i.e., did not arrive into the inbox).

The claims are false and intended to trick recipients into visiting the promoted phishing website. The site is presented as the email account sign-in page.

Information (e.g., email addresses and passwords) entered into the phishing webpage will be recorded and revealed to the scammers, thereby allowing them to steal the corresponding accounts.

The "Account Service" scam emails (subject/title "Server Center: Message Clutter on Cloud - 7C626989"; may vary) state that recipients have thirteen undelivered messages on their cloud storage. According to the deceptive letters, the emails failed delivery due to "secure sockets layer malfunction".

To release the nonexistent messages, the scam letters urge recipients to "reload current session". The buttons presented in these deceptive emails redirect to a phishing site.

Scammers especially target email accounts as they are typically connected with other platforms and services (e.g., they registered through the emails). Hence, via hijacked emails, access/control may be gained over associated accounts.

To elaborate on how this unauthorized access can be used, then stolen communication platforms (e.g., emails, social networking, social media, messengers, etc.) can be employed to proliferate malware by sharing infectious files or malicious links.

Alternatively, these platforms can be used to ask contacts, friends, or followers for loans - under the guise of the genuine owner. Accounts related to finances (e.g., banking, e-commerce, online money transferring, digital wallets, etc.) can be used to make fraudulent transactions and/or online purchases.

To summarize, by trusting the "Account Service" scam letters, users can lose their email accounts, experience severe privacy issues, financial losses, and identity theft.

If attempts to log in through the phishing page have already been made, it is strongly advised to immediately change the passwords of endangered accounts. Furthermore, it is recommended to contact the official support of the potentially compromised platforms/services.

Threat Summary:

Name	Account Service Email Scam
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Scam emails claim 13 messages were undelivered to the email inbox.
Related Domains	calhounaokrvcampground[.]com
Serving IP Address (calhounaokrvcampground[.]com)	172.67.177.59
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.

"EMS email scam", "AlWasail Industrial Company email scam", "cPanel email scam", and "Monthly Email Validation email scam" are a few examples of phishing spam campaigns.

The letters distributed through these large-scale operations - are usually presented as "official", "urgent", "important", or similar. The deceptive emails are used not only for phishing but also to facilitate other scams.

Additionally, these letters can be employed to spread malware (e.g., trojans, ransomware, etc.). Spam mail is widespread; therefore, it is important to exercise caution with incoming emails.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Systems are infected via malicious files proliferated through spam campaigns. These files can be attached to the emails, and/or the letters can contain download links of such content.

Virulent files can be in various formats, e.g., executables (.exe, .run, etc.), archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), PDF and Microsoft Office documents, JavaScript, and so on. When the files are executed, run, or otherwise opened - the infection process (malware download/installation) is initiated.

For example, Microsoft Office documents cause infections by executing malicious macro commands. This process is automatic (triggered the moment a document is opened) - in Microsoft Office versions released before 2010.

Later versions have "Protected View" mode, which prevents immediate execution of macros. Instead, users are asked to enable editing/content (i.e., macro commands) and warned of the potential risks.

How to avoid installation of malware?

To avoid infecting the device via spam mail, it is expressly advised against opening suspect/irrelevant emails - especially any attachments or links present in them. It is recommended to use Microsoft Office versions released after 2010.

Malware is not spread exclusively through spam campaigns, it is 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 updates. Therefore, only official and verified download sources should be used.

Additionally, all programs must be activated and updated using tools/functions provided by legitimate developers. To ensure device and user safety, it is crucial to have a reputable anti-virus/anti-spyware suite installed and updated.

This software has to be used to run regular system scans and remove detected/potential threats. 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 "Account Service" scam email letter:

Subject: Server Center: Message Clutter on Cloud - 7C626989

 

******** Account Service

You have 13 undelivered messages on your cloud, this emails failed to deliver as a result of secure sockets layer malfunction.

 

We recommend you reload current session.

Release Messages
Enable Automatic SSL reload

Thanks.

This email was sent to {********}.

Screenshot of the phishing website promoted through the "Account Service" spam campaign:

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Quick menu:

• What is Account Service 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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