Do not trust fake "Voice Message In Your Office365 Extension" emails

What kind of email is "Voice Message In Your Office365 Extension"?

Our inspection of the "Voice Message In Your Office365 Extension" email revealed that it is spam. This fake letter is presented as a notification from Microsoft regarding a voice message sent to the recipient. It must be stressed that this phishing email is in no way associated with Microsoft or any services provided by this corporation.

"Voice Message In Your Office365 Extension" email scam overview

The spam email is disguised as a notification from Microsoft regarding a received voice message. It states that the recording arrived in the recipient's "Office365 Extension VoіceMailbox". The letter then lists the message's details, such as receipt date and duration.

At the time of research, when we clicked the "Lіsten to Voіce Messɑge" button, it resulted in a redirect to a nonfunctional webpage. Our experience allows us to infer that it was supposed to operate as a phishing site – a webpage that records information entered into it. And it must be emphasized that the email could redirect to an operational page in future releases of this spam campaign.

Typically, mail of this kind promotes phishing websites disguised as email account sign-in pages. Attempts to log-in through such a webpage will expose the provided email address and its corresponding password. In addition to stealing the email account, scammers may hijack the content registered through it.

To elaborate, cyber criminals can steal the identities of social account owners (e.g., emails, social networking, social media, messengers, forums, etc.) and ask the contacts/friends/followers for loans or donations, promote scams, and even spread malware by sharing infectious files/links. Furthermore, finance-related accounts (e.g., online banking, e-commerce, digital wallets, etc.) can be used to make unauthorized transactions and online purchases.

To summarize, by trusting an email like "Voice Message In Your Office365 Extension" – users can experience system infections, serious privacy issues, financial losses, and even identity theft.

If you've disclosed your log-in credentials – immediately change the passwords of all potentially exposed accounts and contact their official support.

Threat Summary:

Name	"Voice Message In Your Office365 Extension" spam email
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Recipient has received a voice message.
Disguise	Microsoft
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.

Phishing spam campaign examples

We have analyzed thousands of spam emails; "CREDIT FROM FEDERAL RESERVE BANK", "Payment Via ATM Visa Card Will Be Shipped", "Webmail Password Expired", "Trunk Box Delivery", "Password Expiry Notification" – are just some examples of letters used for phishing.

This mail is employed to facilitate a wide variety of scams and even to proliferate malware (e.g., trojans, ransomware, cryptominers, etc.). These emails are typically disguised as "official", "urgent", "priority", and similar.

Due to how prevalent and well-crafted spam mail can be, we strongly recommend exercising caution with incoming emails and other messages.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Spam emails can contain malicious files as attachments or download links. These files can be in various formats, e.g., executables (.exe, .run, etc.), archives (RAR, ZIP, etc.), documents (Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, PDF, etc.), JavaScript, and so on.

When a virulent file is executed, run, or otherwise opened – the malware download/installation process is triggered. For example, Microsoft Office documents infect systems by executing malicious macro commands, while infectious OneNote files require users to click on embedded files/links.

How to avoid installation of malware?

We highly recommend being careful with incoming emails, SMSes, PMs/DMs, and other messages. The attachments and links found in suspect/irrelevant mail must not be opened, as they can be virulent. It is essential to use post-2010 Microsoft Office versions since they have the "Protected View" mode that prevents automatic macro execution.

However, it must be mentioned that malware is not spread only through spam mail. Therefore, we advise exercising caution while browsing since fraudulent and malicious online content usually appears harmless.

Additionally, all downloads must be performed from official and verified channels. It is just as important to activate and update software using legitimate functions/tools, as illegal activation tools ("cracks") and third-party updaters can contain malware.

We must stress the importance of having a dependable anti-virus installed and kept up-to-date. Security programs must be used to run regular system scans and to remove detected threats and issues. 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 "Voice Message In Your Office365 Extension" spam email letter:

Subject: New voice message for ********* #874473

Microsoft

 
Recіpient: *********

You've 1 New Voіce Messɑge In Your Office365 Extension VoіceMailbox

Detɑіls of Voіce Messɑge:

- Tіme/Dɑte: Thursday, March 16, 2023 6:20:32 AM +0200.
- Durɑtіon of Voіce Messɑge: 1:15 mins.
- Emɑіl of recіpіent: *********

Lіsten to Voіce Messɑge

©2023 Microsoft all rights reserved.

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Quick menu:

• What is "Voice Message In Your Office365 Extension" spam 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?

This mail is not personal. Cyber criminals distribute spam emails in large-scale operations with the hopes that at least some recipients will fall for their scams.

I have provided my personal information when tricked by this spam email, what should I do?

If you have provided your account credentials – change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and inform their official support without delay. And if you've disclosed other private information (e.g., ID card details, credit card numbers, etc.) – immediately contact relevant authorities.

I have read a spam email but didn't open the attachment, is my computer infected?

No, merely opening an email will not initiate any system infection chains. Devices are infected when malicious attachments or links found are opened/clicked.

I have downloaded and opened a file attached to a spam email, is my computer infected?

Whether the system was compromised might depend on the opened file's format. If it was an executable (.exe, .run, etc.) – most likely, yes. However, document formats (.doc, .xls, .one, .pdf, etc.) may require additional user interaction (e.g., enabling macro commands, clicking on embedded content, etc.) – to begin downloading/installing malware.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Yes, Combo Cleaner is designed to detect and eliminate threats. It is capable of removing most of the known malware infections. Note that running a complete system scan is crucial – since sophisticated malicious software usually hides deep within systems.

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