How to spot scams like "Fraudulent Activity"

What is "Fraudulent Activity" scam?

We have checked the message and discovered that it is from scammers. This deceptive email is presented as a notification from an email service provider. It warns recipients about a supposedly detected fraudulent activity to trick them into opening a fake website. The purpose of this scam email is to steal information. Such scams are classified as phishing attempts.

More about the "Fraudulent Activity" scam email

This scam email claims that unusual or fraudulent activity has been detected on the recipient's account. It warns that some account features have been temporarily restricted for security reasons. The message instructs the recipient to confirm the activity and restore account functionality by checking their account security via the provided "CHECK ACCOUNT SECURITY" link.

This link opens a fake email account login website that can imitate the appearance of the recipient's email provider, such as Gmail, Yahoo Mail, or others. This fraudulent page is designed to trick visitors into entering their email addresses and passwords to "sign in". However, the provided details are sent to scammers.

Once scammers have stolen email account login credentials, they can look for sensitive information in emails, send scam emails to others, distribute malware, try to access other accounts (e.g., social media or financial services), and perform other malicious actions. Also, stolen information can be sold to third parties.

Overall, falling for this scam can result in account hijacking and further issues, such as monetary loss, identity theft, or reputational damage. Therefore, this email should be ignored and deleted to avoid any potential issues.

Similar scam emails in general

Scams like this are used to steal email login details. If the credentials are entered, scammers can hijack an account, access sensitive information, send scam messages, or target other accounts. Falling for such scams can lead to identity theft, financial loss, and other problems. Sometimes, it can lead to computer infections.

More examples of phishing attempts are "Update Your Ledger Firmware Email Scam", "Email Will Automatically Password Reset Scam", and "cPanel - Insufficient Mailbox Synchronization Email Scam".

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Threat actors use email to deliver malware by sending infected attachments. These can be documents (e.g., Word, Excel, or PDF files), compressed files, scripts, or executables that activate malware when opened or when features like macros are enabled.

Another common method is including links that lead to fake or compromised websites. These sites can either download malware automatically or convince users to download and run malicious files or software themselves.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Be cautious with unexpected or irrelevant emails or messages, particularly those with attachments or links. Files and links in such messages should not be opened unless you are sure they are not malicious. Also, do not interact with ads, pop-ups, or links on untrustworthy websites, and never allow these sites to send notifications.

Always keep your operating system and applications up to date. Regularly scan your device using trusted security software, and only download programs from official sites or reputable app stores, avoiding pirated software, cracks, or unauthorized activation tools.

Text presented in the "Fraudulent Activity" email letter:

Subject: Fwd:NEW LOGIN IP DETECTED.

DETECTED FRAUDULENT LOGIN ALERT

Dear ********
We've detected unusual Fraudulent activity associated with your account. To ensure your security, certain features have been restricted temporarily.

Please confirm this activity and restore your account functionality by Checking your Account Security.

CHECK ACCOUNT SECURITY

If you believe this action was taken in error, please contact our support team immediately.

Thank you for your cooperation.

This message was sent to ********
******** © 2026. All rights reserved.

Fake website used in this scam:

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Quick menu:

• What is Fake "Fraudulent Activity" email notification?
• 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?

Scam emails are usually sent to many people at once and are rarely include individual details. The email addresses used are often collected from data breaches, fake websites, or other similar sources.

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

Change the passwords and any other login details that may have been exposed, and notify your bank or the appropriate authorities if your financial information could be at risk.

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

Malicious executable files can infect a device immediately upon being opened. Other files, such as documents, typically deploy malware when a user enables certain features or takes additional actions. This means the risk of infection depends on both the type of file and the user's behavior.

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

Simply opening a scam email is usually harmless. A device can only be infected if the user clicks on links or downloads and runs malicious files.

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

Combo Cleaner can remove most malware, but performing a full system scan is advised to detect hidden or more advanced threats.