How to recognize scams like "Unusual Activity On Your Account"

What kind of scam is "Unusual Activity On Your Account"?

Our team has inspected the email and found that it contains a fake notification about suspicious activity on the recipient's account. The message also includes a link to a deceptive page designed to pilfer personal details. Such messages are classified as phishing attempts, and they should be ignored.

More about the "Unusual Activity On Your Account" scam email

This deceptive email is crafted to appear as an official account alert about a suspended email account. It claims that unusual activity was detected, which supposedly caused both incoming and outgoing email services to be suspended. According to the message, all new emails are being blocked until the account is verified.

It instructs the recipient to verify their account to restore full access and resume mail delivery. The email warns that if no action is taken, the restrictions will remain in place. It includes a "Verify Account" button/link, which opens a fake website that can mimic the recipient's email service provider (e.g., Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and others).

On this page, visitors are instructed to enter their email account login credentials to log in. However, the provided details are sent to scammers. If stolen, this information can be used to access email accounts, search for sensitive information in emails, send fraudulent messages to others, distribute malware, or perform other malicious actions.

Additionally, fraudsters may sell the stolen login credentials to third parties or attempt to use them to access other accounts (e.g., social media, banking, gaming). Thus, it is highly advisable to be careful with suspicious emails to avoid the aforementioned risks.

Conclusion

In summary, this email is a phishing attempt designed to steal login credentials by pretending to be an official account alert. Recipients should avoid interacting with it to protect their accounts and personal information. Sometimes, falling for such scams can result in computer infections.

More examples of similar scams are "Messages Held For Security Reasons Email Scam", "Leave Balance Review Email Scam", and "Webmail Support Email Scam".

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Threat actors deliver malware via email using attachments or links. They usually include infected executable files, Word or Excel documents, PDFs, compressed files like ZIP or RAR, scripts, or ISO files. A device becomes infected when the recipient opens the attachment or follows instructions (takes additional steps) within it.

Malicious links may take users to fake or hacked websites, where malware can be downloaded automatically or trick the user into downloading and running it, causing the device to become infected.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Avoid interacting with ads, pop-ups, or other clickable elements on untrusted websites, and do not permit these sites to send notifications. Do not download software, files, or apps from unofficial sources, and never use pirated programs, cracks, or key generators.

Be cautious with unexpected, irrelevant, or suspicious emails and messages from unknown senders, and avoid opening attachments or clicking links unless their legitimacy is confirmed. Keep your operating system and all applications up to date, and run regular scans using trusted security tools.

Text presented in the "Unusual Activity On Your Account" email letter:

Account Notification

Dear ********,

We detected unusual activity on your account which has resulted in the suspension of both incoming and outgoing mail services. To protect your account, all new messages are currently being blocked until verification is complete.

You are required to verify your account in order to restore full access and resume mail delivery. If no action is taken, restrictions will remain in place.

Verify Account
© 2026 Email Operations Team

Scam website used in this scheme:

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Quick menu:

• What is Unusual Activity On Your Account 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 usually sent to addresses collected from data breaches or fraudulent websites. In most cases, they are random and not aimed at specific individuals (all recipients get the same message).

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

If there is a chance an account is compromised, the password should be reset as soon as possible. Any sensitive personal or financial information that may have been exposed should be  reported to the appropriate service providers or authorities.

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

Executable files can infect a computer immediately upon being opened. Other files, such as Word or Excel documents, usually require the user to perform additional actions, like enabling macros, for the malware to run. The likelihood of infection depends on the type of file.

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

Simply opening an email does not infect a device, even if the message includes a malicious attachment or link.

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

Combo Cleaner can detect and remove most malware, but running a full system scan is recommended to find and eliminate more advanced or hidden threats.