How to identify fake "Urgent Notice - Service Update Required" emails

What kind of email is "Urgent Notice - Service Update Required"?

After reviewing this "Urgent Notice - Service Update Required" email, we determined that it is spam. This message urges recipients to update their accounts to ensure uninterrupted access. The purpose of this spam campaign is to lure victims into revealing their email account log-in credentials to a phishing website.

"Urgent Notice - Service Update Required" email scam overview

This spam email is presented as an urgent notice. It states that important updates to ensure uninterrupted account access are being implemented. The recipient must confirm the updates to avoid service interruptions, such as access or communication delays. It must be stressed that the information in this message is false, and this email is not associated with any legitimate service providers.

Pressing the "Confirm & Update Now" button redirects the user to a phishing website disguised as an email account sign-in page. Phishing sites are designed to record entered information. Log-in credentials entered into fake sign-in pages expose the accounts to scammers.

Hijacked emails can be used for a variety of nefarious purposes; cyber criminals may try to steal linked accounts (e.g., social networking, messengers, cloud storage, entertainment, e-commerce, online banking, etc.).

Scammers can steal the account owner's identity and request loans or donations from contacts/friends/followers, endorse scams, and spread malware by sharing malicious links or files. Stolen finance-related accounts can be used to make fraudulent transactions and online purchases. It is noteworthy that work accounts are often targeted to attempt to infect corporate networks with malware (e.g., trojans, ransomware, etc.).

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

If you have provided your log-in credentials – immediately change the passwords of all possibly compromised accounts and inform their official support.

Phishing spam campaign examples

"cPanel Account Status Changed", "Official Account Restriction Notification", and "Email Security Reminder" are merely a couple of our latest articles on phishing emails.

Aside from targeting log-in credentials, these messages commonly seek personally identifiable information and financial data. It must be mentioned that spam mail is used to facilitate various scams and to spread all kinds of malware.

These emails are often poorly written and riddled with mistakes, but they can be competently crafted and even convincingly disguised as messages from legitimate entities. Therefore, we strongly recommend caution with incoming emails, PMs/DMs, SMSes, and other communications.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Malspam is a prevalent malware distribution technique. Spam emails/messages have virulent files attached to or linked inside them. These files come in various formats, such as archives (RAR, ZIP, etc.), executables (EXE, RUN, etc.), documents (Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, PDF, etc.), JavaScript, and so on.

Merely opening a malicious file can be enough to initiate the malware download/installation chain. However, some formats require additional user interaction. To elaborate, Microsoft Office files need users to enable macro commands (i.e., editing/content), while OneNote documents require them to click embedded links or files.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Incoming emails and other messages must be approached with caution. We advise against opening attachments or links found in suspicious/irrelevant mail, as they can be malicious.

However, malware is not proliferated exclusively via spam campaigns. Therefore, we recommend vigilance when browsing, as fake and dangerous online content usually appears genuine and harmless.

Additionally, all downloads must be made from official and verified sources. Another recommendation is to activate and update software using functions/tools provided by legitimate developers, as illegal activation tools ("cracks") and third-party updates may contain malware.

It is paramount to have a reputable antivirus installed and kept updated. Security programs must be used to run regular system scans and to remove active and potential threats. 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 Notice - Service Update Required" spam email letter:

Subject: Immediate Action Required: Confirm Your ******** Account Update

******** Official Communication

Urgent Notice: Service Update Required

Dear User,

We are implementing important updates to ensure uninterrupted access to your account. Immediate confirmation is required to maintain full functionality of your services. Please complete the update process promptly to avoid delays in communication and access.

Account ********
Date 20 January, 2026
Status Pending Update

Confirm & Update Now

© 2026 ********. This message is confidential and intended for ********. Please disregard if received in error.

Screenshot of the phishing website promoted by the "Urgent Notice - Service Update Required" spam campaign:

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Quick menu:

• What is "Urgent Notice - Service Update 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?

Regardless of any relevant information that spam emails may include, these messages are not personal. Cyber criminals distribute these emails by the thousands with the hopes that at least some recipients will fall for the scams.

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

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

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?

File formats may influence infection success rates. Once opened, executables cause infections almost without fail. However, certain formats – like documents – may require additional interaction (e.g., clicking embedded content, enabling macro commands, etc.) to jumpstart malware infiltration processes.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Combo Cleaner is designed to scan systems and eliminate all kinds of threats. It can detect and remove most of the known malware infections. Remember that performing a complete system scan is crucial since sophisticated malicious programs usually hide deep within systems.