How to avoid falling for the "LinkedIn Collaboration Email Scam"

What kind of email is "LinkedIn Collaboration"?

We have examined this email and determined it is a scam. It is crafted to appear as a business inquiry from a LinkedIn buyer, complete with what claims to be a signed contract attachment. The file attached is a malicious HTML document that, when opened, displays a fake LinkedIn login page designed to steal the recipient's credentials. This email should be ignored.

"LinkedIn Collaboration Email Scam" overview

The email presents itself as a message from a buyer named "Jonathan Spriggs" of Storex Trading Ltd., who claims to have found the recipient through LinkedIn. It references a signed contract for 12,000 units and asks the recipient to review the attached document.

Rather than linking to an external website, the scammers attach an HTML file named LinkedIn_Buyer_Contract_33110.pdf.html. The PDF-style name is deliberate - it is meant to lower the recipient's guard and make the file look like a safe document.

When opened in a browser, the attachment displays a fake LinkedIn login page. This page runs entirely from the victim's own device, not a remote server. It prompts users to enter their email address and password to proceed, under the pretense of a required verification step before the contract can be viewed.

Any credentials submitted on that page go directly to the scammers. A hijacked LinkedIn account can be exploited to target the victim's contacts, harvest sensitive business data, or be sold on underground markets.

LinkedIn has no connection to this scam in any way. The attackers use its logo and branding purely to make the fake login page appear trustworthy.

Email scams in general

In conclusion, this is a phishing scam hidden behind a fake LinkedIn business collaboration offer. Rather than including a phishing link, the attackers embed the fake login form inside an HTML file attachment that runs locally on the victim's device. Recipients should delete this email without opening the attachment.

More examples of similar scam emails are Your Corporate Password Has Expired, Your Mailbox Hit A Snag - Quick Update Needed, and Document Ready For Your Signature.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Malware is routinely distributed through email attachments. These can be executables, Office documents, archives, PDFs, or HTML files. Opening them - or enabling features such as malicious macro commands - can trigger an infection on the victim's device.

Emails may also carry links to harmful websites that download malware automatically or prompt the user to do so manually. In most cases, some degree of user action is required for an infection to take hold.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Be cautious with unexpected emails, especially those that arrive with attachments. If you did not initiate contact and a file arrives asking you to take action, treat it with suspicion regardless of how professional the message looks.

Download software only from official websites and trusted app stores. Avoid pirated programs, unofficial "cracked" versions, and key generators, as these frequently carry hidden malware.

Keep your operating system and all installed applications up to date, and use reputable antivirus software to run regular scans. If you have already opened a suspicious attachment, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate any threats that may have been introduced.

Text presented in the "LinkedIn Collaboration Email Scam" email letter:

Subject: Signed Contract for Business Collaboration

LinkedIn Collaboration

Global Supplier & Buyer Partnership Opportunity

Dear ********,

I would like to do business with you via LinkedIn. I'm a buyer.
Please find attached the signed contract No. #33110:12000pcs.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Jonathan Spriggs

Sales Director

Storex Trading Ltd., USA

The fake LinkedIn login page opened by the HTML attachment:

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Quick menu:

• What is LinkedIn Collaboration phishing scam?
• 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 sent in bulk and are not personally targeted. Scammers collect email addresses through data breaches, fake websites, and similar sources, then distribute the same message to large numbers of people at once.

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

Change your LinkedIn password immediately and enable two-factor authentication if it is not already active. Also update the password for any other account that uses the same login details.

If you also submitted payment information or identification documents, contact the relevant institution or authority as soon as possible.

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

The HTML file in this particular scam acts as a phishing page and does not install malware by itself. That said, other attachment types - especially executables - can compromise a system the moment they are opened.

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

No. Reading an email causes no harm. A threat only activates if you open the attachment and interact with it, such as by entering your login details on the fake page.

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

Combo Cleaner can detect and remove the vast majority of known malware infections. Running a full system scan is essential, as some more sophisticated threats may not be caught without one.