How to identify fake emails like "LinkedIn Invitation"

What kind of scam is the fake "LinkedIn Invitation" email?

Our team has examined the email and found that it includes a fake message from LinkedIn to trick recipients into opening a deceptive website. The provided site is designed to steal personal information. Falling for this phishing scam can lead to account hijacking and other issues. Thus, this scam email should be ignored.

More about the "LinkedIn Invitation" scam email

The email impersonates a business inquiry from a person named Brendan James, an export manager at Sanmina Corporation. It asks the recipient to provide pricing information for products and includes links (buttons) such as "View order" and "Accept Invitation". The message also contains the LinkedIn logo and company details to make it appear legitimate.

Clicking the provided links leads to a fake "Excel Online" website. On this site, visitors are instructed to enter their email address and password to view a protected document. In reality, there is no document, and any information entered on the page is sent to fraudsters. Scammers can misuse login credentials in various ways.

They can use them to access personal accounts (e.g., social media, gaming, banking, or email). Depending on the type of the accessed accounts, scammers can use them to harvest more personal information, send malicious files or links, make fraudulent purchases (or transactions), and more.

Additionally, scammers often sell obtained login credentials to other cybercriminals. Therefore, it is highly advisable to ensure received emails are legitimate before opening files or links, or responding.

Conclusion

This email is a phishing attempt and is designed to trick recipients into revealing login information. It uses multiple details (like an address and a logo) to appear legitimate, but the links lead to a fake website designed to steal credentials. Any information entered can be exploited to access personal accounts, commit fraud, or be sold to other criminals.

Sometimes, emails of this kind can be used to distribute malware. More examples of similar scams are "Interactive Brokers Compliance Verification Notice", "Mismatch Between Purchase Order And Invoice", and "American Express - Your Password Has Been Changed".

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Threat actors often send emails with malicious attachments, including executable files, Office documents, PDFs, scripts, or compressed files like ZIP and RAR. Opening these files or enabling certain features, such as macros, can lead to the execution of malware on a device.

Emails can also contain links to fake or compromised websites that either automatically deliver malware or trick users into downloading and running it themselves. In all cases, malware infects a device if the recipient interacts with the email's attachments or links.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Do not open files or click links in emails or messages from unknown senders, especially if they are unexpected, irrelevant, etc. Avoid interacting with ads, pop-ups, buttons, and links on suspicious sites, and do not allow these sites to show notifications. Download software from trusted sources, such as official websites or app stores.

Keep your operating system and security software up to date, and run regular system scans to detect potential threats.

Text presented in the "LinkedIn Invitation" email letter:

Subject: Please give me your best price for the below products

Linked in

Hi -,
Please give me your best price for the below products on LinkedIn network. looking forward to doing business with you

Brendan James
Export Manager
Sanmina Corporation

500 March Road
Kanata, Ontario, Canada

View order

Accept Invitation
Unsubscribe | Help

Phishing website used in this scam:

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:

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.

Quick menu:

• What is LinkedIn Invitation 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 typically distribute scam emails to large numbers of recipients using email addresses obtained from data breaches, fake websites, or other sources. These messages are usually generic and not targeted.

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

Change any compromised passwords and, if banking information, identification documents, or other sensitive data could be at risk, contact your bank and the relevant authorities immediately.

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

Running an executable file can instantly compromise a computer, whereas malicious documents (or other files) usually need additional actions, like enabling macros, to become harmful. The likelihood of infection varies depending on the type of file opened.

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

Simply opening an email does not infect a device. Malware can only impact the system if the user opens a malicious attachment or clicks on a fraudulent link.

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

Combo Cleaner can eliminate most malware. However, running a full system scan is recommended to detect any hidden and (or) more sophisticated threats.