How to identify fake "Messages Failed Report" emails

What kind of email is "Messages Failed Report"?

After inspecting this "Messages Failed Report" email, we determined that it is spam. This message states that there has been a mail service interruption that resulted in undelivered emails. The goal of this spam campaign is to lure recipients into visiting a phishing site that targets email account log-in credentials.

"Messages Failed Report" email scam overview

The spam email with the subject "[Messages Failed Report] : Delivery has Failed to (5) recipients - See recipients" (may vary) informs the mail account owner of a service interruption due to exceeded mailbox storage.

Hence, five recipients that the owner has sent communications to did not receive them. The message instructs to click the provided link to review the recipients and address the issue that disrupted the service. It must be emphasized that the claims made by this email are false, and this mail is not associated with any genuine service providers.

After the "CLICK HERE" link in the email is pressed, it results in a redirect to a phishing website that impersonates an email account sign-in page. Log-in credentials entered into this site are recorded and sent to scammers – thus, they are enabled to steal the exposed account.

Hijacked emails can be variously misused, including to attempt stealing linked accounts, platforms, and services (e.g., social media, social networking, messengers, entertainment services, e-commerce, online banking, money transferring, digital wallets, etc.).

Scammers can assume the account owner's identity and ask for loans or donations from contacts/friends/followers, endorse scams, and spread malware by sharing malicious files or links. Finance-related accounts can be used to make fraudulent transactions or online purchases.

In summary, victims of scam mail like "Messages Failed Report" can experience serious privacy issues, financial losses, and identity theft.

If you have already entered your log-in credentials into a phishing website (or file) – immediately change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and contact their official support.

Phishing spam campaign examples

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Aside from log-in credentials, these messages often target personally identifiable information and finance-related data. However, various scams are promoted through spam mail, and it is used to proliferate malware.

Recipients are tricked by a variety of lures, such as claims concerning undelivered messages, expired passwords, important updates, account issues, security concerns, shipping mishaps, invoices/payments, refunds, suspicious activity detections, business proposals, blackmail attempts, inheritance, lotteries, and so forth.

Due to how widespread spam mail is and how well-crafted it can be – we highly recommend exercising caution within incoming emails, PMs/DMs, SMSes, and other messages.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Spam campaigns spread malware through infectious files, which can be attached to or linked inside the emails/messages. These files can be documents (Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, PDF, etc.), archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), JavaScript, and so on.

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

How to avoid installation of malware?

Incoming emails and other messages must be approached with caution. We advise against opening attachments or links found in suspicious/irrelevant mail, as they can be harmful or virulent.

However, malware is not spread exclusively via spam mail. Therefore, we recommend vigilance when browsing since the Internet is rife with deceptive and malicious content.

Additionally, all downloads must be performed from official and trustworthy sources. Software must be activated and updated using legitimate functions/tools, as illegal program activation ("cracking") tools and third-party updates can contain malware.

We must stress the importance of having a dependable antivirus installed and kept updated. Security software must be used to run regular system scans and to remove threats/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 "Messages Failed Report" spam email letter:

Subject: [Messages Failed Report] : Delivery has Failed to (5) recipients - See recipients

Messages Failed Report

Delivery has failed to these (5) recipients because your mailbox storage has exceeded on 11 Jun 2025 . CLICK HERE to see these failed recipients and fix the problem to prevent future email delivery failures.

Note: Please verify you are not a robot and not auto-generated.

System Administrator
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Screenshot of the phishing website promoted by the "Messages Failed Report" spam campaign:

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Quick menu:

• What is "Messages Failed Report" 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?

Spam messages are not personal, even if they include information relevant to the recipients. This mail is distributed in large-scale campaigns – hence, thousands of users receive identical (or incredibly similar) emails.

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

If you have disclosed your log-in credentials – change the passwords of all potentially exposed accounts and inform their official support without delay. However, if you have provided other private information (e.g., ID card details, passport scans, credit card numbers, etc.) – immediately contact the corresponding authorities.

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

No, opening/reading an email will not trigger any malware download/installation processes. 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?

If the opened file was an executable – most likely, yes – the device was infected. However, you might have avoided this if it was a document. These formats may require additional actions (e.g., enabling macros, clicking embedded links/files, etc.) to initiate malware infiltration processes.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Yes, Combo Cleaner is capable of detecting and removing nearly all known malware infections. Note that running a complete system scan is essential since sophisticated malicious programs typically hide deep within systems.