How to spot scam emails like "E-Mail Storage Bandwidth Limit"
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on (updated)
What is "E-Mail Storage Bandwidth Limit"?
We investigated this email and learned that it was sent by scammers who aim to trick unsuspecting recipients into providing personal information on a deceptive page. This email is disguised as a letter from an email service provider. It instructs recipients to validate their email accounts.
More about the "E-Mail Storage Bandwidth Limit" scam email
Scammers behind this scam email claim that recipients have reached their email storage bandwidth limit. Most of their incoming emails will be placed on hold. This email instructs recipients to validate their emails (click the "VALIDATE YOUR EMAIL" button).
Clicking the button opens a deceptive email account login page that chooses its design according to the recipient's email service provider. For instance, if the recipient uses Bing as the email service provider, then clicking the "VALIDATE YOUR EMAIL" leads to a page disguised as a Microsoft Bing page.
In any case, the opened deceptive website requests to enter an email address and password to sign in. Crooks behind this scam aim to obtain login credentials and steal email accounts. Providing login information on phishing pages can lead to the loss of multiple accounts when the same information can be used to access more than one account.
| Name | E-Mail Storage Bandwidth Limit Email Scam |
| Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud |
| Fake Claim | Most of the incoming emails will be placed on hold |
| Disguise | Letter from an email service provider |
| 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. |
Similar scam emails in general
Phishing emails usually are disguised as letters from legitimate companies, organizations, or other entities. Scammers behind them aim to lure recipients into providing sensitive information directly via email or a deceptive phishing page. Usually, fraudsters aim to extract credit card details, passwords, ID card information, social security numbers, etc.
Examples of similar scams are "YоuTubе Suppоrt Shared An Item Email Scam", "We Are Using Your Company's Server To Send This Message Email Scam", and "FIFTH THIRD BANK Email Scam". Emails can be used not only to obtain sensitive information but also to infect computers with malware.
How do spam campaigns infect computers?
Emails that cybercriminals send to trick recipients into infecting their computers contain malicious links or attachments. Recipients infect computers via malicious pages or executed/opened files. Most threat actors use malicious MS Office, PDF documents, JavaScript files, ISO files, executables, or archive files to distribute malware.
How to avoid installation of malware?
Do not open files and links received from unknown email addresses, especially when emails are irrelevant. Inspect emails before opening their contents. Download programs and files from official pages and stores. Keep the installed software updated (including the operating system). Activate and update software with tools/functions provided by its official developer.
Use reputed antivirus software and run system scans regularly. 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 "E-Mail Storage Bandwidth Limit" email letter:
Subject: Mail Delivery Failure Via ******** 11/17/2022 6:17:43 a.m.
View this email in your browserWelcome!
********,
You have reached your E-Mail storage bandwidth limit. Most of your incoming mails will be placed on hold.
VALIDATE YOUR EMAIL
Regards.
********
Email Account Server {C} 2022
Sent from a trusted sender.Curious to know more? Contact ******** IT directly.
Copyright (C) 2022 ********, Ltd.. All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website.Our mailing address is:
********, Ltd.********
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can update your preferences or unsubscribe
Phishing website used in this scam campaign:
Another example of email storage bandwidth-themed spam promoting a phishing site:
Text presented within:
Subject: - Tienes 10 emails entrantes pendientes
You have reached your email storage bandwidth limit,10 incoming mails are placed on hold re-validate to recieve withheld mails and increase storage capacity.
CLICK TO RE-VALIDATE YOUR EMAILAfter re-validating your email account all your incoming emails on hold will deliver to your mailbox. Regards. Email Account Server {C} 2022
Screenshot of the promoted phishing site:
Instant automatic malware removal:
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Quick menu:
- What is E-Mail Storage Bandwidth Limit phishing email?
- 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?
Scammers behind this email do not target any specific individuals. They sent the same email to all recipients.
I have provided my personal information when tricked by this email, what should I do?
Change your passwords, especially if the provided password can be used to access other accounts.
I have downloaded and opened a malicious file attached to an email, is my computer infected?
Malicious executables infect computers right after opening them. However, other files (e.g., MS Office documents, archives like ZIP and RAR) do not infect computers until additional steps are taken. It depends on the file type.
I have read the email but didn't open the attachment, is my computer infected?
It is safe to open any email. Computers cannot be infected without opening links or files received via email.
Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections that were present in email attachment?
Yes, Combo Cleaner removes malware (it can detect almost all known malware). Typically, high-end malware hides deep in the system. Computers infected with malware of this kind must be scanned fully (using a full scan option).
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