How to spot fake emails like "Quotation Of Goods" scam email
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on
What is "Quotation Of Goods"?
While inspecting this letter, we discovered that it is a phishing email masquerading as a letter regarding a quotation of goods. Scammers behind this email aim to trick recipients into providing personal information via the attached HTML file. Recipients should ignore this letter.
More about the "Quotation Of Goods" scam email
The email seems to be a standard phishing email that attempts to trick recipients into opening attachments that could potentially compromise their personal information. The email appears to be a simple, generic message.
The email attempts to create a sense of urgency or importance by referencing a previous message and expressing a desire to purchase products. It could be a tactic to get the recipient to respond quickly without questioning the legitimacy of the message.
The file attached to this email (named "Q1.html") opens a fake Microsoft sign-in page requesting to confirm identity by entering an email address and password. The purpose of this phishing page is to steal login credentials.
Typically, scammers use the obtained login credentials to hijack accounts and misuse them for malicious purposes. They can use stolen email addresses and passwords to send phishing emails to the victim's contacts, access the victim's personal information and financial accounts, send spam emails to other people, log in to other accounts belonging to the victim, and more.
| Name | Quotation Of Goods Email Scam |
| Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud |
| Fake Claim | Email has a quotation of goods attached to it |
| Attachment | Q1.html |
| Detection Names | AhnLab-V3 (Phishing/HTML.Generic.S1605), Ikarus (Phishing.HTML.Doc), Full List Of Detections (VirusTotal) |
| Disguise | Letter from Karen Williams |
| 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 are online scams in which scammers attempt to steal personal or sensitive information from unsuspecting individuals by posing as trustworthy entities. This can include individuals, businesses, or even government organizations.
The purpose of phishing emails is to trick individuals into divulging sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, financial information, and other personal information. Phishing scams are designed to be convincing and often use tactics such as urgency, fear, and other emotions to get the recipient to act quickly and without thinking.
Examples of phishing letters are "CREDIT FROM FEDERAL RESERVE BANK Email Scam", "Password Expiry Notification Email Scam", and "DHL - Shipment Designated Email Scam". Cybercriminals also use email to trick recipients into infecting their computers.
How do spam campaigns infect computers?
In order to infect computers, threat actors depend on recipients willingly downloading and activating malware, which can be accomplished by either opening malicious attachments or clicking on links in email messages. It is worth mentioning that not all malicious files will infect computers instantly upon being opened.
Cybercriminals utilize various file types to distribute malware, including malicious MS Office or PDF documents, executables, JavaScript files, archives, and ISO files.
How to avoid installation of malware?
It is advisable to avoid opening links or files in emails from unfamiliar sources, especially if they seem irrelevant. It is important to download software only from reliable sources, such as official pages or verified stores, and avoid clicking on ads on untrustworthy websites.
Additionally, keeping your operating system and installed software up to date is crucial for your safety. Employing reputable antivirus software and running regular scans to detect potential threats on your computer is also recommended.
If you've already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.
Text in the phishing email:
Subject: GOOD DAY
Dear,
I am writing to follow up on the quotation of goods that I sent
to you earlier. I am interested in purchasing the products listed
in the quotation, and I am hoping to receive your response soon.Best regards,
[Name: karen williams]
Screenshot of the attached HTML file ("Q1.html"):
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Quick menu:
- What is Quotation Of Goods 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?
Fraudsters send out identical letters to thousands of recipients with the expectation that they will trick at least one person. These spam emails lack any personalization.
I have provided my personal information when tricked by this email, what should I do?
In the event that you have provided any account credentials, it is crucial to change all passwords immediately.
I have downloaded and opened a malicious file attached to an email, is my computer infected?
Your computer is likely infected if the opened file is executable. However, if it is a document such as a PDF or DOC file, there is a chance that the infection has ben avoided, as malware may not always infiltrate the system solely by opening the document.
I have read the email but did not open the attachment, is my computer infected?
Simply opening an email is entirely safe. It is clicking on links within the email or opening attached files that can result in system infections.
Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections that were present in email attachment?
Combo Cleaner is capable of detecting and removing nearly all known malware infections. However, it is important to note that sophisticated malware often conceals itself deeply within the system. As a result, performing a full system scan is essential.
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