How to identify scams like "Unusual Spam Activity" fake email

What is "Unusual Spam Activity" scam?

We have reviewed the email and found that it is designed to appear as a security notification from the email provider. In reality, this is a scam email that provides a link to a fake website designed to trick visitors into entering personal information. Victims of this scam may lose access to personal accounts. Thus, this message should be ignored.

More about the "Unusual Spam Activity" scam email

This fraudulent message claims that the recipient's email account has been targeted by unusual spam activity and that internal security systems have detected suspicious inbound and outbound messages. It warns that the mailbox could be blacklisted and urges the recipient to re-sync security certificates to restore protection, recalibrate spam filters, and verify credentials.

The email also warns that failure to complete the process within 24 hours will result in temporary suspension of the account's send and receive functions to protect the organization's reputation. It is designed to trick the recipient into clicking the provided link ("Sync Mailbox Security" or "Purge Spam Queue").

That link opens a fake "re-authentication" website designed to pilfer email account login credentials (email addresses and passwords). It is important to note that the page may mimic the appearance of the recipient's email provider (e.g., Gmail or Yahoo Mail). Once the requested details are entered, they are sent to scammers.

Cybercriminals can hijack email accounts and misuse them to send scam emails, distribute malware, collect information, and more. Also, they can try to gain access to social media, financial, or other accounts using the stolen login credentials. This may result in additional issues, including financial losses and identity theft.

For these reasons, it is important to examine questionable emails before disclosing personal information, opening the provided links, or files.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this email is a phishing scam designed to trick recipients into revealing their email login credentials through a fake verification page. Falling for such scams can lead to compromised accounts, financial losses, identity theft, and further malicious activity. Sometimes, scam emails can lead to computer infections.

Here are more examples of similar scams: "Robinhood Unrecognized Sign-In", "Online Promotional Sweepstakes", and "Email Deliverability Alert".

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Malware is often distributed through email attachments disguised as legitimate files. These attachments may be documents (e.g., PDF or MS Office files), archives, scripts, or executable files, and opening them or taking additional steps can trigger the execution of malicious software.

Scam emails may also contain links leading to malicious or compromised websites. Such pages can automatically download malware or deceive users into downloading and executing it themselves. In most cases, infections occur only after users interact with the malicious attachment or link.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Unexpected or suspicious emails should be examined carefully, particularly when they contain attachments or links. Software should always be downloaded from official and trustworthy sources, while pirated applications, cracking tools, and key generators should be avoided.

Also, users should exercise caution when browsing questionable websites and refrain from clicking advertisements, links, pop-ups, or other interactive elements displayed on them. It is also recommended to keep the operating system and installed software up to date and to use reliable security tools.

Text presented in the "Unusual Spam Activity" email letter:

Subject: Attn: Security Information Center.

Security Information Center

Mailbox Protection Alert

Unusual Spam Activity Detected

Internal security filters have flagged an abnormal volume of outbound and inbound spam attempts targeting your account: email.
To prevent your mailbox from being blacklisted and to stop the delivery of unauthorized messages, you must re-sync your security certificates immediately. This update will re-calibrate your SpamAssassin filters and verify your credentials against our new encrypted gateway.

Sync Mailbox Security

Purge Spam Queue
Note: If this synchronization is not completed within 24 hours, the mail server will temporarily suspend "Send/Receive" capabilities for email to protect the organization's IP reputation.

Thank you for your immediate cooperation.
Regards,
Mailbox Security

Fake website used in this scam:

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Quick menu:

• What is Unusual Spam Activity fake 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?

Scammers often send the same email to numerous recipients simultaneously. These messages are usually generic and do not contain personalized information related to the recipient.

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

If login credentials are disclosed, the passwords for the affected accounts should be changed. In cases where sensitive data, such as payment card information or personal identification details, are exposed, the appropriate banks, organizations, or authorities should be notified.

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

Simply opening an email is not enough to infect a device. In most instances, malware infections occur only after a user interacts with a malicious attachment or clicks a harmful link.

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

Combo Cleaner is a security application capable of detecting and removing many types of known malware infections. Because advanced threats can hide deep within the system, running a complete system scan is strongly recommended.