How to spot scams like "Your Email Account Has Been Hacked"

What is "Your Email Account Has Been Hacked" scam?

We have analysed the email and concluded that it is a phishing attempt. This email mimics a notification from an email service provider and includes a link to a phishing website. It claims that an email account has been compromised to trick recipients into visiting a fraudulent website and disclosing personal information.

More about the "Your Email Account Has Been Hacked" scam email

This scam email claims the recipient's email account has been hacked and urges them to "protect and login" through a provided link ("PROTECT AND LOGIN" button). It pretends to come from an IT department and warns that the account will be lost if the recipient does not comply.

The purpose is to trick the recipient into visiting a fraudulent site and submitting login credentials (most likely an email address and a password). Any entered information is sent to scammers who can exploit it for malicious purposes. Once fraudsters have login details, they can access email accounts.

They can use these accounts to harvest personal information, send scam emails (or send spam), deliver malware, or use them for other malicious purposes. Additionally, scammers may attempt to access banking, social media, or other accounts using the obtained information or sell the stolen details to other cybercriminals.

Overall, this is a scam, and it should be ignored to avoid issues like account hijacking, identity theft, monetary loss, or other outcomes.

Conclusion

Overall, this email is a phishing attempt designed to trick recipients into disclosing sensitive information. Users should avoid interacting with it and always use official channels to verify account security (or perform other steps) to prevent unauthorized access and potential misuse.

Some examples of similar scams are "SOA & Invoices", "Interactive Brokers - Renewal of W-8BEN Form Required", and "Changes In The cPanel Webmail Server". It is important to note that scam emails can be designed to deliver malware.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Cybercriminals often spread malware through email by including it in attachments, such as Office files, PDFs, compressed files (ZIP or RAR), script files, or executables. The malware usually infects the system once the recipient opens the file or follows specific instructions (e.g., after the recipient enables macros in infected documents).

Emails can also contain links to untrustworthy or stolen websites, where users may be deceived into downloading malware, or the site may automatically download it without their knowledge and consent.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Avoid opening attachments or clicking links in emails or messages that seem suspicious, irrelevant, unexpected, or come from unknown senders. Always download software and files from trusted sources, such as official websites or app stores, and steer clear of pirated programs, cracks, or keygens. Keep your system and applications up to date.

Do not click ads, pop-ups, or links on untrustworthy websites, and never allow such sites to show notifications. Also, use reliable security software and perform regular scans.

Text presented in the "Your Email Account Has Been Hacked" email letter:

Subject: PROTECT YOUR E-MAIL ACCOUNT

E-MAIL PROTECTION
Your E-mail Account ******** has been hacked and needs to be protected .
Kindly click on protect and login to enable us protect your E-mail Account and recovery
This is from ******** IT Department
PROTECT AND LOGIN
YOU WILL LOSE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS IF YOU DO NOT PROTECT YOUR ACCOUNT.

Regards
© 2025 All Rights Reserved.

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Quick menu:

• What is Your Email Account Has Been Hacked 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 a scam email?

Scammers most likely obtained your email from compromised databases or phishing sites. Also, scam emails are usually not targeted and sent to a number of addresses at once.

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

If credentials were submitted on the fraudulent site, immediately change the passwords for your email and any connected/associated accounts (and accounts that can be accessed using the same details). If other sensitive data, such as payment card or identification information, was shared, notify your bank or the appropriate authorities.

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

A device can become infected by opening a malicious file, though the level of risk depends on the file type. Executable files can trigger malware immediately, while documents often require the user to enable macros or take other actions before they can cause harm.

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

Opening an email is safe. A device is only at risk of infection if the recipient opens a malicious attachment or clicks a deceptive link.

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

Combo Cleaner is capable of identifying and removing almost all known malware. To ensure no hidden or advanced threats are left undetected, performing a full system scan is advised.