How to spot scams like "POP3/SMTP Setup Problem Notification"

What is the fake "POP3/SMTP Setup Problem Notification"?

Our inspection has revealed that this is a phishing email posing as an urgent notification from the email service provider. Scammers' purpose is to lure recipients into a fake website and steal personal details. Victims of this scam may be unable to access their accounts and encounter additional issues.

More about the "POP3/SMTP Setup Problem Notification" scam email

This scam email claims the recipient has six inaccessible messages due to a problem with their POP3 or SMTP settings. It warns that unless immediate action is taken, the user may be restricted from sending or receiving emails. The message urges the recipient to check and fix their settings.

The link in this email ("check and fix now" button) opens a fake login website instructing visitors to enter their credentials (email addresses and passwords) to access their account. Entering these details on the site allows scammers to access email and possibly other accounts (e.g., social media, banking, or gaming).

Depending on the accessed accounts, scammers can misuse them to trick others into downloading malware, paying money, or disclosing sensitive information. Also, scammers may use those accounts to make fraudulent purchases or transactions, or collect personal information (e.g., credit card details).

Overall, victims of this scam may lose access to their accounts and encounter issues such as identity theft, financial loss, reputational damage, or other adverse consequences. Thus, it is important to recognize phishing attempts and ignore them.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this scam email is designed to steal login credentials. The fake login page linked in the email allows scammers to gain access not only to the victim's email but potentially to other accounts, putting personal, financial, and social information at risk.

Recognizing such phishing attempts and avoiding interaction with them is crucial for protecting personal and sensitive information. Sometimes, falling for such scams can lead to computer infections. Examples of similar scams are "Webmail Server Report", "Check Inbox Failed Messages", and "Held Messages — Action Recommended".

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Email can be used as a channel for malware distribution when recipients engage with malicious content, such as infected attachments or deceptive links. Scam emails often include infected files such as documents, executables, scripts, or compressed archives like ZIP and RAR. Opening these files or enabling functions like macros in documents can activate the malware.

In other cases, clicking on links may lead users to fraudulent websites that either silently download malware or trick the user into downloading it themselves.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Be careful with emails, especially when they are irrelevant or unexpected and have files or links in them. Do not open attachments or links if there is a reason to believe that they may be malicious. Also, protect your device by using reputable antivirus or anti-malware software.

Keep the operating system, browser, and applications up to date. Avoid interacting with ads, pop-ups, or other content on untrustworthy websites. Do not allow questionable sites to send notifications. Additionally, do not download or use pirated software, cracks, or key generators.

Text presented in the "POP3/SMTP Setup Problem Notification" email letter:

Subject: (System Error) There are (6) inaccessible messages.

POP3/SMTP Setup Problem Notification

There are (6) messages that have been interrupted.

A problem has been detected with your POP3 or SMTP settings and needs to be fixed immediately.

If you don't take action now, you may be restricted from sending and receiving messages.
check and fix now

This email was sent automatically. Please check your settings and keep receiving emails normally

Phishing page used in this scam:

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Quick menu:

• What is Fake POP3/SMTP Setup Problem Notification?
• 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?

Getting a scam email indicates that your email address may have been collected by fraudsters. Such messages are usually generic and sent to large numbers of recipients simultaneously.

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

If login credentials were entered, immediately change the passwords for those accounts. For any other sensitive information, such as financial or identification data, contact the relevant authorities and (or) service providers to secure your information.

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

Malicious executables (like .exe files) can infect a device as soon as they are opened. Word or Excel files are generally safer, but activating macros or similar features can trigger malware. The risk of infection varies depending on the type of file.

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

Simply opening or viewing an email does not put a device at risk. Infection can only happen if the recipient interacts with a malicious attachment or clicks on a harmful link.

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

Combo Cleaner can remove most known malware, but performing a full system scan is advisable to identify more advanced or hidden threats.