What kind of scam is "Pending Mails In Quarantine"

What kind of email is "Pending Mails In Quarantine"?

We have examined this email and determined it is a phishing scam. It impersonates an email service provider, falsely claiming the recipient has messages waiting in quarantine. The goal is to lure users into entering their login credentials on a fraudulent website. This email should be ignored.

"Pending Mails In Quarantine" email scam overview

The email arrives with the subject line "Receive Pending Mails" and presents itself as a notice from a "Mail Support" service. It claims the recipient has unreviewed messages held in email quarantine and urges them to click the "View Quarantine" button promptly.

Clicking the button leads to a phishing website designed to imitate the login page of the recipient's email provider. In our investigation, the page displayed a fake Gmail interface presenting a popup stating the session had expired and requesting re-entry of login credentials.

The page included a pre-filled email field and a password entry box. To add a false sense of legitimacy, it also displayed the logo of ESET, a real cybersecurity company, whose branding was incorporated without permission to mislead visitors into trusting the page.

The phishing site appears to identify the recipient's email provider from their address and render a matching imitation. A Gmail user sees a fake Gmail login; users of other services would likely encounter an equivalent replica tailored to their provider.

Any credentials entered on that page are sent directly to the attackers. A compromised email account can be used to access linked services, read private correspondence, obtain financial information, and distribute further scam messages to contacts.

Neither ESET nor any legitimate email provider is associated with this campaign in any way. Their branding is exploited without permission solely to deceive victims.

Email scams in general

In summary, this is a phishing scam disguised as a routine email service notification. Its goal is to steal account credentials by directing recipients to a fake login page. Such emails are sometimes also used to distribute malware. The message should be deleted without engaging with any of its content.

More examples of similar scam emails are Recovery Email Was Changed, Domain Ownership Revalidation Required, and Zoho Email Address Verification.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Threat actors use email to spread malware by attaching malicious files to their messages. These files can take many forms - executable files, compressed archives, PDF documents, Microsoft Office files, and scripts, among others. Opening them can trigger an automatic download or immediately install a threat on the device.

Some emails instead contain links to malicious websites. Visiting such a site can silently download malware, or the user may be prompted to run a file manually. In most cases, some form of user interaction is still required - whether that is opening a file, enabling macros, or running an installer.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Be cautious with unexpected emails, especially those containing attachments or links. If a message claims to be from a known service but feels unusual, verify through the company's official website rather than clicking anything in the email.

Download software only from official sources and verified app stores. Avoid pirated programs, cracked software, and third-party download sites, as these are frequently used to bundle malware. Keep the operating system and all installed applications up to date.

Use a reputable antivirus program and keep it active. If you have already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate any infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the "Pending Mails In Quarantine" email letter:

Subject: Receive Pending Mails

You Got Pending Mails In Quarantine

We've identified new emails in your quarantine. To ensure you don't miss important communications, please review them promptly.
[View Quarantine]

If you wish to stop receiving these emails, unsubscribe here.

A fake email service login page used in this scam:

Instant automatic malware removal:

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Quick menu:

• What is Pending Mails In Quarantine 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?

Spam emails are not personally targeted. Scammers compile large lists of addresses through data breaches, fake websites, and similar methods, then send identical messages to as many recipients as possible.

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

Change any exposed passwords immediately, starting with the email account itself and any accounts sharing the same credentials. If financial or identification details were also provided, contact the relevant institutions or authorities without delay.

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

Executable files tend to initiate an infection right away when opened. Document-type files such as PDFs or spreadsheets are generally lower risk, though they can still lead to infection if the user is prompted to enable additional features, such as macros, and complies.

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

Simply viewing or reading an email is safe. An infection requires the user to click a link, open a file, or otherwise take an action that allows malicious content to execute on the device.

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

Combo Cleaner can detect and remove the vast majority of known malware. Running a complete system scan is the most reliable way to identify any threats present on the device. More sophisticated infections may sometimes require additional steps to fully eliminate.