How to recognize scams like "Secured Message From The Canada Revenue Agency"

What is "Secured Message From The Canada Revenue Agency" scam?

We have analyzed the email and found that it is disguised as a "secured message" from the Canada Revenue Agency. In reality, it is a phishing email written by fraudsters who aim to steal personal information via a fake website. Falling for this scam can result in account compromise and further problems (such as identity theft).

More about the "Secured Message From The Canada Revenue Agency" scam email

The email claims to be regarding an official, secured message, allegedly from the Canada Revenue Agency. It instructs the recipient to access the message by using a browser extension and following the provided steps (it implies that the content cannot be viewed directly in the email).

The message includes a button/link labeled "View Secure Message" that leads to a fake OneDrive login website. That site instructs visitors to enter their email address and password to view a document. If entered, those details are stolen by scammers who can misuse them to access personal accounts.

Cybercriminals may try to access email, social media, banking, or other accounts using the provided information. Accessed accounts may be exploited to send scam messages or distribute malware. Scammers may also be able to access personal information (e.g., credit card details or identification information).

Overall, falling for this phishing email may lead to problems such as identity theft, financial loss, reputational damage, or other negative outcomes. Thus, it is important to recognize phishing attempts and ignore them.

Conclusion

Overall, the email is a phishing attempt that impersonates the Canada Revenue Agency. Its goal is to trick the recipient into clicking a link and entering login credentials on a fraudulent website controlled by scammers. If successful, the attackers may gain unauthorized access to accounts and potentially cause identity theft, financial loss, or other issues.

It is important to note that sometimes fraudulent emails are used to deliver malware. Here are more examples of scam emails: "Unusual Spam Activity", "Robinhood Unrecognized Sign-In", and "Email Deliverability Alert".

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Malware is commonly spread through email attachments that are disguised as legitimate files. These attachments typically are infected documents such as PDFs or Microsoft Office files, archives, scripts, or executable files, and interacting with them or taking additional steps may result in malicious software being run on the system.

Scam emails may also include links that take users to deceptive or compromised websites. These sites can either automatically initiate malware downloads or trick users into manually downloading and running malicious software.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Carefully review any emails or messages that include links or attachments, particularly when they are unexpected or come from unfamiliar senders. It is also important not to download software from peer-to-peer networks, unofficial downloaders, untrusted websites, or third-party app stores. Applications should only be obtained from official websites or trusted app stores.

Keep the operating system and installed applications up to date, and perform regular system scans using a reliable security solution. Refrain from interacting with questionable websites, including clicking on advertisements, pop-ups, buttons, or links. In addition, do not grant permission for such sites to send browser notifications.

Text presented in the "Secured Message From The Canada Revenue Agency" email letter:

Subject: Important Information About Your Federal Deposit

You have received a secured message from the Canada Revenue Agency secure messaging system.

For your security, to access the secure message

Use the extension below to view message in your browser, and follow the instructions to access the message.

View Secure Message

Encrypted message from OneDrive secure messaging system
This message is confidential for the use of the addressee only
Privacy Statement

Email encryption powered by Office 365. Learn More
Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052

Fake OneDrive login site used in this scam:

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Quick menu:

• What is Fake Message From The Canada Revenue Agency?
• 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 messages are usually to many recipients at once. Scammers get addresses from fake sites, leaked databases, or similar sources.

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

If account credentials have been exposed, affected passwords should be changed. In cases when sensitive data such as financial information or identity-related details has been compromised, the appropriate banks, service providers, and (or) relevant authorities should be contacted.

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

Receiving or viewing an email typically does not compromise a device. Infections usually happen only after opening a file attached to the message or opening a link that leads to malicious content.

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

Combo Cleaner is capable of removing most infections. Because some advanced threats can hide deeply, running a full system scan increases the likelihood of detecting and eliminating all malicious components.