How to spot scams like "Mail Services Notification - Disable Notice"

What is "Mail Services Notification - Disable Notice"?

Our inspection has revealed that it is a phishing email designed to look like an important notification from the email service provider. It includes a link to a fake website designed to steal personal details. Victims of this scam can lose access to their email and possibly other accounts.

More about the "Mail Services Notification - Disable Notice" scam email

This scam email uses the subject line "Mail Account Notification" and presents itself as an automated message from a mail service provider. It claims that the recipient's email account has been restricted or is at risk of being disabled due to supposed unwanted activity or security policy violations.

The message instructs the recipient to click an "Open Mailbox" link and log in to their email account to restore or activate it. This link opens a fake email account login site that mimics the appearance of the recipient's provider (it can pose as Gmail, Yahoo Mail, or other email providers).

The purpose of this deceptive site is to trick visitors into entering email addresses and passwords. Once scammers have these details, they can hijack email accounts and misuse them to send fraudulent messages containing malicious links or files, or harvest additional sensitive information.

Moreover, they can try to gain access to social media, gaming, and other platforms, or steal obtained passwords to third parties (other cybercriminals). Thus, it is important to examine emails before disclosing personal information on provided websites or directly via email.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this scam email is designed to steal email login credentials via a fake login page. Falling for it can lead to email account takeover and potential access to other personal accounts. Users should always verify the legitimacy of emails before providing any login information and avoid clicking links from untrusted sources.

Sometimes, interacting with links or files in such emails can lead to computer infections. Here are more examples of scam emails: "Private Document Has Been Prepared Email Scam", "You've Received A Secure Document Email Scam", and "Your Account Is Being Leaked Email Scam".

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Threat actors often exploit email to deliver malware using malicious attachments or links in their messages. They use infected documents (e.g., PDFs or MS Office documents), compressed files, executables, scripts, or other file types. The malware is usually activated when the recipient opens the attachment or enables specific features, like macros.

Links in these emails can lead to unsafe or compromised websites that either automatically download malware or persuade users to download and run malicious software themselves.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Download software and files from official websites or reputable app stores, and steer clear of pirated programs, cracks, or key generators. Make sure your operating system and all applications are up to date, and perform regular scans using trustworthy security software.

Exercise caution with unexpected emails or messages, particularly from unknown senders, and avoid opening suspicious attachments or clicking on questionable links. Do not trust ads, pop-ups, or other clickable elements on shady websites, and never enable notifications from these sites.

Text presented in the "Mail Services Notification - Disable Notice" email letter:

Subject: Mail Account Notification

Mail Services Notification
Automated System Message • Do Not Reply
DISABLE NOTICE

Due to unwanted damage activity and security policy restrictions enforced to your email account

Please click on the open mailbox and login to your email account to follow the step to activate your account

Open Mailbox

cPanel® Support Team
© 2026 cPanel, L.L.C., 2550 North Loop West, Suite 4006, Houston, TX 77092, USA.

Fake website used in this scam:

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Quick menu:

• What is Fake Mail Services Notification - Disable Notice?
• 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?

Most of the time, these emails are generic and not targeted to an individual personally. They are typically distributed to many recipients at once. The addresses used are often collected from data leaks, scam websites, or other sources.

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

When an email account is breached, changing the password right away is essential. Users should also notify the proper authorities if they suspect that personal or sensitive information has been exposed.

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

Not all infected files activate malware immediately upon opening. For example, executables can execute malicious code right away, whereas Office documents like Word or Excel generally require the user to enable macros or perform other extra steps to trigger the infection.

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

Viewing an email alone typically does not pose a risk, even if the message has malicious links or files attached.

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

Combo Cleaner is effective against most malware, but full system scans are recommended for tougher or deeply rooted infections.