How to avoid falling for the "Phishing Email Attack" email scam

What kind of email is "Phishing Email Attack"?

We have examined this email and determined it is a phishing scam. The message is disguised as an urgent security notice from an internal IT team, urging recipients to verify their email account ownership. It should be ignored to avoid having email credentials stolen by cybercriminals.

"Phishing Email Attack" scam in detail

The email claims the recipient's organization is experiencing an active phishing attack and demands all employees verify their email ownership immediately. Recipients are told to click a "Maintain Password" button to authenticate their account and avoid losing email access.

Clicking that button leads to a fake Roundcube Webmail login page hosted at solaridea[.]cam. The page displays a username field, a password field, and a "LOGIN" button, closely mimicking the appearance of a legitimate webmail sign-in interface.

Any credentials entered on that page go directly to the scammers. With a stolen email account, criminals can read private messages, impersonate the victim, and use the compromised mailbox to target contacts with further attacks.

No legitimate IT security team communicates threats through urgent emails with embedded login buttons. The "IT Security Team" sender in this email is entirely fictional and has no connection to any real organization or security provider.

Email scams in general

In conclusion, this email is a credential phishing scam disguised as a corporate IT security alert. Its goal is to steal email login credentials through a counterfeit Roundcube Webmail login page. Recipients should delete the message without interacting with any links inside it. Scam campaigns of this kind are sometimes also used to distribute malware.

Other examples of scam emails that use similar deceptive tactics to steal login credentials or personal information are LinkedIn Collaboration, Your Corporate Password Has Expired, and Document Ready For Your Signature.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Cybercriminals often spread malware through email by attaching harmful files directly to their messages. These attachments can take many forms, including executable programs, Office documents, compressed archives, PDFs, and script files. Opening such files, or enabling malicious macro commands within document types, can trigger a malware infection on the device.

Emails may also contain links that lead to websites which automatically download malicious software or prompt the user to do so. In most cases, some interaction on the victim's part is required, such as opening an attachment or clicking a link, for the malware to actually take hold.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Treat emails from unknown or unexpected senders with caution, particularly those that demand immediate action or contain attachments and links. If a message seems suspicious, verify it directly with the supposed sender through a separate channel before clicking anything.

Download software and updates only from official websites and app stores. Avoid pirated programs, cracks, and key generators, as these are frequently used to distribute malware.

Keep your operating system and all installed applications up to date, use a reputable security tool, and do not allow unfamiliar websites to send browser notifications. If you have already opened a suspicious attachment, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to detect and remove any threats that may have been installed.

Text presented in the "Phishing Email Attack" email letter:

Subject: Verify Your Email Ownership Immediately Due to Phishing Attack

Phishing Email Attack

Hi Team,

We are currently facing an active phishing email attack targeting our system. To protect company data and ensure that only authorized users have access, all employees are required to verify their email ownership by signing into the IT protection software linked to your computer.

Please click "Maintain Password" to continue using your current password and authenticate your user information.

This step is mandatory and must be completed immediately, delaying verification may result in temporary loss of email access or security restrictions.

Thank you for your prompt action to help keep our systems secure.

[MAINTAIN CURRENT PASSWORD]

Best regards,
IT Security Team

See full terms and conditions.

Copyright © 2026 Email server

A fake Roundcube Webmail login page used in this scam:

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Quick menu:

• What is Phishing Email Attack spam campaign?
• 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 targeted at specific individuals. Scammers collect email addresses through data breaches, fake websites, and similar methods, then send the same message to large groups at once.

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

Change the password for your email account immediately, and do the same for any other accounts where you use the same password. If you also shared banking details or identification data, contact the relevant institutions as soon as possible.

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

Executable files can compromise a device almost as soon as they are opened. Document formats like Word files or PDFs generally require the user to take an additional step, such as enabling macros, before malware activates. The level of risk depends on the file type and how you interacted with it.

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

No. Simply reading or viewing an email does not infect your computer. Infection requires actively interacting with malicious content, such as clicking a link or opening a harmful file.

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

Combo Cleaner can detect and remove a wide range of known malware threats. That said, more sophisticated infections may sometimes evade detection. Running a full system scan gives the best chance of finding and eliminating any hidden threats.