How to recognize fake emails like "You've Received A Secure Document"

What is "You've Received A Secure Document" scam?

Our analysis shows that this is a phishing email posing as a secure notification regarding a received document. Its purpose is to deceive recipients into opening the included website and sharing personal information. Falling for this scam can lead to account compromise and further negative outcomes. Thus, this email should be ignored.

More about the "You've Received A Secure Document" scam email

This scam email states that the recipient has received a secure document that must be reviewed and signed via a secure portal. It also claims that the link will expire within 24 hours and provides a sender name, reference number, and tracking code to make it appear legitimate. Its purpose is to lure recipients into a fake website via the provided link labeled "Review and Sign".

During our analysis, the page provided in this phishing email was down. Usually, scammers behind such emails use fake login websites to steal email addresses and passwords (or other login credentials). Scammers can use stolen login credentials to access the victim's email account.

Once they have this access, they can read private messages and collect personal information. They can also send fake emails to the victim's contacts. Stolen credentials can be used to log into social media, banking, or shopping accounts. Additionally, scammers might sell the login information on the dark web.

Overall, falling for scams like this one can lead to unauthorized account access, identity theft, financial loss, reputational damage, and other problems. These scams should be recognized and ignored to avoid the associated risks.

Conclusion

This scam email tries to trick recipients into visiting a fake website to steal login credentials. Falling for it can lead to various issues, including account takeover, identity theft, and financial loss. Users should ignore such emails and never click on suspicious links. In some cases, fraudulent emails are used to distribute malware.

Additional examples of scam emails are "Document Has Been Shared With You On SharePoint", "cPanel Roundcube - Email Verification", and "WeTransfer - Your Files Have Been Downloaded".

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Cybercriminals often deliver malware using email. Their emails usually include infected attachments or links. Attachments can be executables, Word or Excel files, PDFs, scripts, compressed archives like ZIP or RAR, and other files. Typically, a computer gets infected when a user opens an attachment or performs additional actions.

Clicking a link in a fraudulent email can take a user to a fake/malicious, or hacked website. The site might automatically download malware, or it may try to convince a user to download and run a malicious file or program themselves.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Regularly update your operating system and all installed applications, and use trusted security tools to scan your device. Avoid downloading software or files from unofficial sources, and never use pirated programs, cracks, or key generators. Software should be downloaded from official sites or app stores.

Exercise caution with unexpected emails or messages, particularly from unknown senders, and never click links or open attachments that seem suspicious or irrelevant. Also, do not trust ads, pop-ups, and other clickable elements on shady websites, and never permit such sites to send notifications.

Text presented in the "You've Received A Secure Document" email letter:

Subject: Secure Notification: PO_748

ENCRYPTED MESSAGE
You've received a secure document

To protect your privacy, this document has been delivered via our secure portal. Please review the details below to proceed.
Sender: ********
Reference: 750750
Tracking: PO-750
Review and Sign

© 2026 Secure Document Service. This link will expire in 24 hours.
Verification: :

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Quick menu:

• What is You've Received A Secure Document phishing attempt?
• 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?

These phishing emails are typically sent to many recipients, using email addresses collected from fake sites or data breaches, or other sources. In most cases, the attackers do not target anyone in particular.

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

If an email account is compromised or at risk, the password should be updated right away to block unauthorized access. Any potential leak of personal or sensitive data should be reported to the relevant authorities.

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

Malicious files do not always cause an immediate infection. Executable and script files can run harmful code as soon as they are opened, while Word or Excel documents typically become dangerous only if the user enables macros or takes other steps.

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

Simply opening or viewing an email is generally safe, even if it contains malicious content (files or links).

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

Most malicious software can be eliminated with Combo Cleaner, though advanced or concealed threats might need a full system scan.