How to identify scams like "Leave Balance Review"

What is "Leave Balance Review" scam?

Our analysis has revealed that this is a scam email (a phishing attempt) disguised as a "reminder" from the HR department. It includes a link that leads to a fake website. The scammers behind this fraudulent email seek to lure recipients into revealing personal information on the provided site.

More about the "Leave Balance Review" scam email

This scam email is presented as a reminder about annual leave planning and is designed to appear to come from an HR department. It instructs recipients to review their current leave balance and any upcoming time off they may be considering. It also encourages them to check their leave balance through a provided link (labeled "View your leave balance").

Additionally, the email states that employees must submit leave requests within the required timeframes and that managers should support proper leave planning to ensure smooth business operations. The included website was down during our examination. However, it is likely intended to redirect users to a fake login page.

Usually, deceptive login sites are designed to steal email addresses (or usernames) and passwords. If scammers get these details, they can try to access email, gaming, social media, banking, or other platforms. Hijacked accounts can be misused to make fraudulent transactions or purchases, harvest information, send malware, deliver scam emails, etc.

Thus, it is important to recognize phishing attempts to avoid the issues mentioned above.

Conclusion

Overall, this is a phishing email that tries to appear legitimate to trick recipients into revealing sensitive information. Links in such emails often lead to fake sites designed to steal login credentials, which attackers can then misuse for fraud, spreading malware, stealing identities, and other malicious purposes.

Recognizing and avoiding these emails is essential to prevent the associated risks. Examples of similar phishing emails are "Webmail Support Email Scam", "Webmail - Email Account Closure Scam", and "Mail Services Notification - Disable Notice Email Scam".

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Cybercriminals often use fraudulent emails to spread malware by adding harmful attachments or links. These attachments can be PDF files, Word or Excel documents, ZIP folders, executable files, scripts, or other file types that contain malware. If a recipient opens one of these infected files or follows the instructions inside, the system can become compromised.

In other cases, these emails include links that direct users to unsafe (or hijacked) websites. These sites may automatically download malware or trick visitors into manually downloading and installing a harmful program.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Keep your operating system and all installed programs up to date. Use trusted security software and run routine scans to detect and eliminate possible threats. Download applications from official websites or reputable app stores, and avoid using pirated software, cracks, or key generators.

Be cautious when browsing the internet - do not click suspicious ads, pop-ups, or unfamiliar links on unreliable websites, and never allow such sites to send you notifications. Also, treat unexpected or unsolicited emails with care, especially if they contain attachments or links.

Text presented in the "Leave Balance Review" email letter:

Subject: [SPAM] Annual leave planning reminder

Dear Team,

As part of our annual planning, please take a moment to review your current leave balance and any upcoming leave you may be considering.

You can check your leave balance using the link below:

View your leave balance

If you have any pending or planned leave, please ensure requests are submitted within the required timelines. Managers are encouraged to support effective leave planning while maintaining smooth business operations.

If you have any questions or need clarification, feel free to reach out to the HR team.

Kind regards,

HR Department

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Quick menu:

• What is Leave Balance Review 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?

These emails are often sent to multiple addresses obtained from leaked databases, scam websites, or other sources. Usually, their recipients are not targeted individually.

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

When an account is compromised, users should change the password as soon as possible. If personal or financial information may have been leaked, users should contact the relevant authorities.

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

Certain files, like executables, can run malware immediately upon opening. Other files, such as Word or Excel documents, usually need the user to enable macros or take extra steps before they can cause harm. Therefore, the risk of infection depends on the type of file involved.

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

Simply opening an email generally does not infect a device, even if the message contains malicious content.

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

Combo Cleaner can detect and remove many types of malware, but running a full system scan is recommended to identify more sophisticated or hidden threats.