Avoid losing your account via fake "Webmail - Low Storage Space" emails

What kind of email is "Webmail - Low Storage Space"?

After inspecting the "Webmail - Low Storage Space" email, we determined that it is spam. This phishing letter targets email account log-in credentials by making false claims regarding low mailbox storage.

"Webmail - Low Storage Space" email scam overview

The scam email with the subject "Mailbox Alert: Your mailbox is full" (may vary) informs the recipient of low mailbox storage. After 24 hours, receiving or sending messages will no longer be possible. The recipient is instructed to click the "Clear Storage" button to avoid this issue.

As mentioned in the introduction, this letter is fake and has no association with any legitimate service providers. After the button is pressed, it redirects to a phishing site that mimics an email sign-in page. Information entered into this webpage will be recorded and sent to scammers.

Trusting this spam mail exceeds the risk of losing an email. Through a compromised email, scammers may steal linked content (e.g., accounts/platforms registered with the mail).

To expand upon the potential abuse, cyber criminals can steal the identities of social account owners (e.g., emails, social networking, social media, messengers, chats, etc.) and ask the contacts/friends/followers for loans or donations, endorse scams, and spread malware.

Sensitive/Compromising content found on data storage or similar platforms could be used for blackmail or other nefarious purposes. Hijacked finance-related accounts (e.g., online banking, money transferring, e-commerce, digital wallets, etc.) can be used to make unauthorized transactions or online purchases.

To summarize, victims of scam mail like "Webmail - Low Storage Space" can experience severe privacy issues, financial losses, and even identity theft.

If you have entered your log-in credentials into a phishing site – immediately change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and inform their official support.

Threat Summary:

Name	"Webmail - Low Storage Space" phishing email
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Recipient's email storage is low; they will be unable to receive/send messages.
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

"Voicemail Transcript", "You Have Shared Files On OneDrive", "Internationalen Lotteriekommission", and "A Spreadsheet Has Been Shared" are just a few examples of phishing emails we have examined recently.

Aside from log-in credentials, these letters commonly target personally identifiable details and finance-related information. Additionally, spam mail is used to distribute malware.

While the commonly held belief that spam emails are full of errors is not inaccurate, they may be competently crafted and even disguised as messages from genuine service providers, companies, institutions, authorities, and other entities.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Spam campaigns are widely used in malware proliferation. Deceptive emails/messages can include malicious files as attachments or download links. These files can be documents (PDF, Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, etc.), archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), JavaScript, and so forth.

The infection chain is initiated when such a file is opened. However, some formats may require additional actions to jumpstart malware download/installation processes. For example, Microsoft Office files need users to enable macro commands (i.e., editing/content), while OneNote documents require them to click embedded files or links.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Incoming emails, PMs/DMs, SMSes, and other messages must be treated with caution. Attachments or links found in dubious/irrelevant mail must not be opened, as they can be infectious. We recommend using post-2010 Microsoft Office versions since their "Protected View" mode prevents automatic macro execution.

It must be mentioned that malware is not distributed only through spam mail. Therefore, we also advise vigilance when browsing, as fraudulent and dangerous online content usually appears genuine and innocuous.

Another recommendation is to download only from official and trustworthy sources. Additionally, all programs must be activated and updated using functions/tools provided by legitimate developers, as illegal activation ("cracking") tools and third-party updaters may contain malware.

It is paramount to have a dependable anti-virus installed and kept up-to-date. This software must be used to perform regular system scans and to remove 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 "Webmail - Low Storage Space" spam email letter:

Subject: Mailbox Alert: Your mailbox is full

WEBMAIL

LOW STORAGE SPACE

Hello ********

The storage space for is low and would be unable to send or receive emails starting from the next 24 hours. Kindly free up some space from the link below to be able to send and receive messages.

Clear Storage

This action will take a brief period before this request takes effect
This is a mandatory communication about the service. To set communication preferences for other cases.

This message was sent from the email address is not monitored. Do not reply to this message.

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cPanel LLC
Legal Notices / Privacy Policy / Transparency Policy

Screenshot of the phishing website promoted by the "Webmail - Low Storage Space" spam campaign:

Instant automatic malware removal: Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced IT skills. Combo Cleaner is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
▼ DOWNLOAD Combo Cleaner By downloading any software listed on this website you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. 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.

Quick menu:

• What is "Webmail - Low Storage Space" 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?

Despite any relevant details that these emails may include, they are not personal. This mail is distributed in massive campaigns – therefore, thousands of users receive identical messages.

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

If you have provided your account credentials – immediately change the passwords of all potentially exposed accounts and inform their official support. However, if the disclosed information was of a different personal nature (e.g., ID card details, passport scans/photos, credit card numbers, etc.) – contact relevant authorities without delay.

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

No, merely reading an email is harmless. Systems are infected when malicious attachments or links are opened/clicked.

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

Whether your device was compromised might depend on the format of the opened file. If it was an executable (.exe, run, etc.) – most likely, yes – the system was infected. However, you might have avoided this if it was a document (.doc, .xls, .one, .pdf, etc.). These formats may require additional interaction (e.g., enabling macro commands, clicking embedded files/links, etc.).

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Yes, Combo Cleaner can detect and eliminate most of the known malware infections. It must be stressed that performing a complete system scan is essential since sophisticated malicious software typically hides deep within systems.

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