How to spot fake emails like "Your Account Is Blocked"

What kind of scam is "Your Account Is Blocked"?

We have reviewed the email and found that it is a fake notification regarding a "blocked account". Its purpose is to lure recipients into opening a deceptive web page and entering personal information. Emails like this one are classified as phishing, and recipients should ignore them.

More about the "Your Account Is Blocked" scam email

This phishing email informs the recipient that their email account has been temporarily blocked due to suspicious activity. It claims that one of the recipients they attempted to message was flagged, resulting in the temporary hold. The message urges the user to verify their identity to prevent the account from being closed and provides a link labeled "VERIFY YOUR IDENTITY".

It warns that failure to comply will lead to account termination. Clicking the provided link opens a fake login page imitating Gmail or other service providers designed to extract email addresses and passwords from unsuspecting users. The stolen information can give scammers access to the victim's email account.

With this access, scammers can read emails, reset passwords for linked services, and potentially send scam emails (or malicious files) to others. If the same password is reused across multiple platforms, such as social media, banking, or gaming, fraudsters can exploit this to gain access to those accounts as well.

This can lead to identity theft, financial loss, and unauthorized use of personal or sensitive data. Therefore, it is important to examine emails before responding, opening included links, or taking other actions.

Similar scam emails in general

These types of scam emails often appear as official, important, and urgent messages. Their goal is to pressure the recipient to take immediate action, such as clicking a link and entering login details. Recipients should be careful when receiving suspicious emails to avoid the associated risks.

Some examples of similar scam emails are "Shared Document - Business Proposal And Product List", "Server Support", and "Access To Secure Document". Sometimes, scam emails can be used to deliver malware.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

When threat actors use email as a delivery method for malware, they include attachments like documents, PDFs, script files, executables, or archives. These files often appear trustworthy, but opening them or taking additional steps (e.g., enabling macros in documents) can lead to the execution of malware.

In some cases, these emails include a link instead of an attachment. Clicking the link may lead to a malicious website designed to trick users into downloading malicious software or begin downloading malware automatically.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Carefully inspect emails (or other types of messages) before opening attachments or clicking links, especially if the message is unexpected, unrelated, or comes from an unknown sender. Regularly update your operating system and software to patch security vulnerabilities, and use a trusted antivirus tool to scan for threats.

Always download applications and files from official websites or app stores. Avoid pirated software or activation bypass tools, as these often carry hidden malware. Be cautious when browsing suspicious websites - avoid clicking on pop-ups, ads, or buttons, and never allow these pages to send you notifications.

If you have already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the "Your Account Is Blocked" email letter:

Subject: This email address is blocked. Messages has been flagged for suspicious activity

Your account is blocked

********
This user ******** has been blocked temporarily by the administrator. Some recipient you're trying to send messages to has been flagged for suspicious activity, therefore your account was withheld.
Verifying your identity will help us to prevent account closure - Click (VERIFY YOUR IDENTITY) to confirm messages were not auto-generated.
Failure to comply with regulations, accounts will be closed.
account activities
You received this email to let you know about important changes to your ******** Account and services.

Phishing page used in this scam:

Instant automatic malware removal:

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Quick menu:

• What is Your Account Is Blocked 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?

If you received such an email, your address was likely obtained through a data breach, a fake sign-up form, or a similar tactic used to gather contact information. These emails usually do not contain names, surnames, or similar details. They are generic and sent to a large number of people.

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

If you have provided your login details, change the passwords for all impacted accounts to prevent unauthorized access.

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

Launching a harmful executable file can instantly compromise a system. While documents and similar files may seem less risky, they can still pose a threat if the user is tricked into enabling macros or taking other steps.

I have read the email but did not open the attachment, is my computer infected?

Emails themselves pose no threat, but clicking on malicious links or opening infected attachments within them can result in malware infections.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections that were present in email attachment?

Combo Cleaner can detect and remove nearly all known malware threats. However, advanced malware often conceals itself deep within the system, so performing a full system scan is essential for effective removal.