How to spot emails used to deliver malware like the DUY THANH EXPORT email
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on
What is the "DUY THANH EXPORT" email virus?
Our team has examined this email and discovered that the cybercriminals behind it aim to trick recipients into opening the attached file. They pretend to be a company called "DUY THANH EXPORT & IMPORT CO .LTD" and claim that the file attached to this email is a purchase order. That file is malicious and likely to be used to deliver NanoCore RAT.
More about the "DUY THANH EXPORT" malspam campaign
The threat actors behind this email are pretending to be Alice Nguyen. They claim that this person wrote this email from an alternative email account because the main server is currently down. Their goal is to trick recipients into believing that they have received a purchase order.
The file attached to this email is an .IMG file named "Purchase Order DTEI.CO#20220510.img" (its name may vary). It is unknown what specific malware this file injects. There is reason to believe that it infects computers with NanoCore - a remote access Trojan. Cybercriminals use RATs to steal sensitive information, inject additional malware, and for other purposes.
| Name | DUY THANH EXPORT malspam |
| Threat Type | Trojan, password-stealing virus, banking malware, spyware. |
| Hoax | File attached to this email is a purchase order |
| Attachment(s) | Purchase Order DTEI.CO#20220510.img (its name may vary) |
| Detection Names | Avast (Win32:PWSX-gen [Trj]), Combo Cleaner (Trojan.GenericKD.39631944), ESET-NOD32 (A Variant Of MSIL/TrojanDownloader.Agent.LSV), Kaspersky (HEUR:Backdoor.MSIL.NanoBot.gen), Microsoft (Trojan:MSIL/NanoBot.SSS!MTB), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal) |
| Symptoms | Trojans are designed to stealthily infiltrate the victim's computer and remain silent, and thus no particular symptoms are clearly visible on an infected machine. |
| Payload | Unknown (possibly the NanoCore RAT) |
| Distribution methods | Infected email attachments, malicious online advertisements, social engineering, software 'cracks'. |
| Damage | Stolen passwords and banking information, identity theft, the 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. |
Emails used to deliver malware in general
Most cybercriminals behind emails used to deliver malware pretend to be legitimate companies or other entities. They send emails with malicious links or attachments in them. In both cases, they seek to trick recipients into executing malware (a malicious file).
Examples of similar malspam campaigns are "DHL Air Waybill Email Virus", "SECRETO PROFESIONAL Y CONFIDENCIAL Email Virus", and "DHL Express Import Shipment On Hold Email Virus".
How did "DUY THANH EXPORT" email virus infect my computer?
The file attached to this email infects computers after downloading and running it. It is important to know that cybercriminals can also use other files to distribute malware. For example, Microsoft Office, PDF documents, JavaScript files, executable files, and archive files (like ZIP, RAR) containing malicious files.
How to avoid installation of malware?
Do not download files and software from unreliable sources or open attachments (and links) presented in irrelevant/suspicious emails sent from unknown addresses. Use official pages and direct links as sources for downloading software. Also, update and activate the installed software (and the operating system) with tools/functions provided by its official developers.
Use reputable antivirus software for computer protection and scan the operating system with it regularly. If you've already opened "DUY THANH EXPORT" email virus, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.
Text presented in the "DUY THANH EXPORT email virus" email letter:
Subject: DUY THANH EXPORT & IMPORT CO .LTD / Purchase Order DTEI.CO #20220510
Dear Sir/Madam,This is Ms. Alice Nguyen, sorry for writting you through our alternative email account, our main server is down but will be replaced soon.
As regarding our previous discussions, sorry for delay in responding to your mails concerning the order, our Boss has been out of the country for 2months but back now and your quotations has been approve so we can move forward now.
Find attached Purchase Order DTEI.CO#20220510, hope your prices are still the same ?
Please give us acknowledgement against attached PO, Also share its invoice for further payment processing as agreed. (If you are not the concern person, please forward my email to concerned one).
Best regards,
Ms. Alice Nguyen
Phone: +84 28 3620 5731/+84 28 3620 5732
Fax: +84 28.3620 5730DUY THANH EXPORT & IMPORT CO .LTD
Address: 400/1B Nguyen Kiem street, Phu Nhuan district,
Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam
Phone: (+84) 4.38622470 – Fax: (+84) 4.38622471
Detection names for the malicious attachment distributed via "DUY THANH EXPORT" email:
Instant automatic malware removal:
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Quick menu:
- What is DUY THANH EXPORT malspam?
- 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.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Why did I receive this email?
Most probably, cybercriminals have obtained your email address after a data breach and used it in their campaign. It is very uncommon for these emails to be personal (threat actors send the same email to all addresses in their database).
I have downloaded and opened a file attached to this email, is my computer infected?
If you have not executed the contents of this file, then your computer is not infected unless the operating system automatically ran the IMG file after you double-clicked it.
I have read the email but didn't open the attachment, is my computer infected?
No, emails cannot infect computers. They get infected via links or attachments in emails.
Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections that were present in email attachment?
Yes, Combo Cleaner can detect and eliminate almost all known malicious software. Since high-end malware usually hides deep in the system, it is required to scan the operating system fully (using a full scan).
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