How to avoid getting scammed by fake "Urgent Action Required" emails

What kind of email is "Urgent Action Required"?

Our review of the "Urgent Action Required" email revealed that it is spam. It urges the recipient to upgrade their mailbox to retrieve pending messages. The purpose of this phishing campaign is to deceive users into revealing their email account log-in credentials.

"Urgent Action Required" email scam overview

The spam email with the subject "Immediate Action Required" (may vary) informs the recipient about undelivered messages regarding contracts and RFQs (Requests For Quote). The message instructs to upgrade the mailbox to retrieve these emails. It must be stressed that the claims in this message are false, and this email is not associated with any genuine service providers.

When the user presses the "Upgrade Your Mailbox Now" button, they are redirected to a fake email account sign-in page. This is a phishing website designed to record provided information and send it to cyber criminals. Hence, by attempting to sign in through this webpage, users unintentionally expose their email accounts.

Stolen emails can be variously abused; scammers may even try to hijack linked accounts, platforms, and services. To elaborate, cyber criminals can steal the account (e.g., email, social networking/media, messenger, etc.) owner's identity and ask for loans or donations from contacts/friends/followers, endorse scams, and distribute malware by sharing malicious links or files.

Stolen finance-related accounts (e.g., e-commerce, money transferring, digital wallets, online banking, etc.) can be used to make fraudulent transactions and online purchases.

To summarize, victims of scam emails like "Urgent Action Required" can experience severe privacy issues, financial losses, and identity theft.

If you have already entered your log-in credentials into a phishing site/file – change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and contact their official support without delay.

Phishing spam campaign examples

"Booking.com - Reservation Messages", "Security Update Required", "My Benefits - Your Claim Statement Is Ready", "Security Challenges", and "WordPress Email Address Verification" are merely some of our latest articles on phishing campaigns.

Commonly targeted information includes log-in credentials, personally identifiable information and financial data. Spam campaigns are not used exclusively for information-phishing purposes. This mail promotes various scams and is utilized in malware proliferation.

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

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Malspam is a prevalent malware distribution technique. To elaborate, it involves malicious files that are attached to or linked inside the spam emails/messages. These files come in different formats, such as documents (Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, PDF, etc.), executables (EXE, RUN, etc.), archives (RAR, ZIP, etc.), JavaScript, and others.

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

How to avoid installation of malware?

Caution is key to ensuring device and user safety. Therefore, be vigilant with incoming emails and other communications; do not open attachments or links found in suspicious/irrelevant mail.

Malware is not distributed only through spam campaigns. Hence, be cautious when browsing since the Internet is full of deceptive and malicious content.

Additionally, download only from official and verified channels. Activate and update software using functions/tools provided by legitimate developers, as illegal program activation ("cracking") tools and third-party updates may contain malware.

It is paramount to have a dependable antivirus installed and kept up-to-date. Security software must be used to perform regular system scans and to remove detected 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 "Urgent Action Required" spam email letter:

Subject: Immediate Action Required

**Urgent Action Required!**

You have important contracts, RFQs, and quotations waiting in your mailbox. Upgrade your mailbox now to retrieve them. Don't miss out on this opportunity!

Upgrade Your Mailbox Now

For assistance, please contact ********
Powered by ********.

Screenshot of the phishing website promoted by the "Urgent Action Required" spam campaign:

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Quick menu:

• What is "Urgent Action Required" 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 emails are not personal, even if they include information of such nature. Thousands of users receive identical (or incredibly similar) emails, as they are sent out in large-scale operations.

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

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

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

Reading an email is harmless; devices 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?

Whether the system was infected might depend on the format of the opened file. Executables cause infections almost without fail (upon being opened). However, certain formats – such as documents – may need extra interaction to initiate malware download/installation. For example, the infection could be triggered after macros are enabled, embedded content is clicked, or other actions are performed.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Combo Cleaner is capable of detecting and removing nearly all known malware infections. Keep in mind that performing a full system scan is crucial since sophisticated malicious software typically hides deep within systems.