How to identify scams like "Photos & Documents Will Be Deleted"

What is "Photos & Documents Will Be Deleted" scam?

We have inspected the message and concluded that it is a scam email disguised as a notification from the cloud service provider. It urges recipients to take immediate action to "save" their files. The scammers behind this message seek to trick recipients into opening fake websites and following the instructions.

More about the "Photos & Documents Will Be Deleted" scam email

The scam email claims that the recipient's account is unverified and that their stored photos and documents are scheduled for deletion due to an inactivity policy and server maintenance. It urges the recipient to take immediate action by confirming their activity status to prevent the supposed file cleanup and keep their data.

The link in this email ("Keep My Files") leads to deceptive websites that claim payment information has expired, cloud storage has been disabled, photos and videos will be deleted, subscription renewal has failed, storage is currently full, and display similar messages.

The purpose of these sites is to trick visitors into clicking the provided options (e.g., "UPGRADE & FIX NOW", "RENEW NOW", or "Renew Subscription") that lead to other shady pages. The links on these websites contain affiliate IDs, which let scammers earn money whenever a user signs up, buys something, or completes another action.

These pages may eventually redirect to real products like McAfee or XSHIELD, even though the promotion started from a misleading source. Legitimate companies do not promote their services through fake emails or deceptive websites.

Conclusion

Overall, this scam uses fake messages about deleted files and expired accounts to pressure users into clicking on malicious links. Those links lead to fake warning pages designed to push unnecessary actions. The goal is to generate profit through affiliate tracking. Even if real products appear in the final redirects, the promotion is deceptive and should be ignored.

More examples of similar scams are "iCloud Storage Full", "Cloud Files Are Scheduled For Permanent Deletion", and "Cloud Storage Plan Has Been Paused". Sometimes, scams like these can be used to distribute malware.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Cybercriminals often distribute malware through fake emails that contain attachments. These attachments can be malicious documents, compressed archives, scripts, or executables. Once opened (or interacted with after being opened), these malicious files can allow malware to infect the device.

In other cases, scam emails may contain links that lead users to fake or hijacked websites, where malware may be downloaded automatically or deployed after the user is deceived into initiating the download.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Users should only download software from official websites or trusted app stores, keep their operating system and applications up to date, and regularly scan their devices with reliable security tools. It is also recommended to deny notification requests from unknown or untrusted websites.

Also, users should avoid interacting with suspicious content on unreliable websites, including pop-ups, fake buttons, ads, or misleading links. Unexpected or irrelevant emails and messages, especially those containing links, attachments, or sent from unfamiliar addresses, should be treated with caution.

Text presented in the "Photos & Documents Will Be Deleted" email letter:

Subject: Your documents and photos need your action

Final Notice: File Cleanup Pending

Photos & Documents will be deleted

Due to a recent update in our inactivity policy, unverified accounts are scheduled for maintenance. Your files have been flagged for automatic removal to save server resources.
Account Status: Unverified
Action: Delete Old Backups
Scheduled Date: Tomorrow

How to keep your files?

Simply confirm your activity status below. This will whitelist your data and cancel the scheduled cleanup immediately.
Keep My Files

This is an automated system message.

Manage Preferences

Fake websites used in this scam;

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Quick menu:

• What is Photos & Documents Will Be Deleted 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?

Cybercriminals usually send the same message to many people at the same time. These spam emails are often impersonal, without any details specific to the individual receiving them.

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

If any account login details have been compromised, all related passwords should be updated. In cases where sensitive information like payment card numbers, identity documents, or other personal data has been exposed, the affected banks or authorities should be informed as soon as possible.

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

It depends on the file type. For example, malicious executables can infect devices once opened, and other files, like documents, can cause an infection after taking additional steps.

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

Opening an email usually does not damage a system. Malware can infiltrate after opening malicious files or links.

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

Combo Cleaner is designed to detect and remove threats. More advanced malware may be more difficult to identify because it can embed itself deeply within a system. For that reason, performing a full system scan is an important.