What kind of scam is "Mailbox Quarantine Alert"

What is "Mailbox Quarantine Alert" scam?

We have inspected the email and found that it contains a fake notification claiming the recipient's mailbox has incoming messages stuck in quarantine due to oversized attachments. It is a phishing email designed to steal email account login credentials from unsuspecting individuals. This message should be ignored to avoid having your email account compromised.

More about the "Mailbox Quarantine Alert" scam email

The email is titled "Mail Quarantine Notification - Action Required" and appears to come from a "Mail Security . Notification Center". It claims that several incoming messages, including ones with attachments such as Quotation.pdf, have been placed in quarantine because the attached files exceeded the mailbox's server quota.

To make the message look credible, it lists fake quarantined emails with generic business-sounding subject lines like "Re: QUOTATION", "New Order No.05 29273", and "Product request". Recipients are told that these messages will be permanently deleted unless they click the "Review Quarantined Messages" button.

Clicking this button leads to a fake webmail login page styled to resemble a standard cPanel-based webmail sign-in screen. The page asks visitors to enter their email address and the password used to access that account.

Any credentials entered on this page are sent directly to the scammers. Since email accounts are often linked to other services, such as online banking, social media, and cloud storage, gaining access to a victim's mailbox can let criminals reset passwords elsewhere, steal personal information, and commit identity theft.

This email is not affiliated with any legitimate email hosting provider, cPanel, or mail security service. The fake login page simply imitates a generic webmail sign-in screen to make the scam appear more convincing.

Conclusion

In conclusion, this email is a phishing scam disguised as a mailbox quarantine notification. It aims to steal email account credentials through a fraudulent webmail login page. Recipients should ignore the email and avoid entering any details on the linked site to protect themselves from account takeover and identity theft.

Sometimes, scams like this are used to deliver malware.

More examples of similar scam emails are Account Not Validated, SWIFT Confirmation Copy, and Your Domain Account Service Will Expire Soon.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Cybercriminals often spread malware via email by attaching malicious files directly to messages. These files can take the form of executables, Microsoft Office documents, PDFs, archive files such as ZIP or RAR, or script files. Running these files, or enabling features like macros, can trigger an infection.

Other emails rely on embedded links rather than attachments. Clicking such a link can either start an automatic download of a malicious file or take the victim to a deceptive page that prompts them to download and run something manually. In most cases, malware only activates once the user interacts with the file or link.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Treat unsolicited emails with caution, especially those urging quick action regarding accounts, deliveries, or invoices. Avoid opening attachments or clicking links in messages from unknown or unexpected senders, and verify suspicious notifications directly through the official website of the service in question.

Only download software and updates from official websites or app stores, and avoid pirated programs, cracks, and key generators, as these are commonly used to spread malware. Keep your operating system and installed applications updated, and use reputable antivirus software.

If you have already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the "Mailbox Quarantine Alert" email letter:

Subject: Mail Quarantine Notification - Action Required

Mail Security . Notification Center
Mailbox Quarantine Alert
Mailbox Domain: {domain}

Some incoming messages were automatically placed in quarantine because attached files exceeded the allowed server quota.

Review the Quarantined mails below to prevent permanent removal.
Re: QUOTATION
New Order No.05 29273
Quotation.pdf
Product request
[Review Quarantined Messages]

© Copyright 2026 pcrisk.com, LLC. All rights reserved.
All registered trademarks herein are the property of their respective owners.

A fake webmail login page used in this scam:

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Quick menu:

• What is Mailbox Quarantine Alert 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?

Cybercriminals distribute these emails in bulk to large numbers of recipients, often using email addresses collected from data breaches, scraped websites, or other illicit sources. These messages are not personalized or targeted at any specific individual.

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

If you entered your email account password on the fake page, change it immediately through your email provider's official website, and enable two-factor authentication if available. If you also entered other sensitive details, contact the relevant institution right away.

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

Opening an executable file attached to a spam email can infect a computer immediately. Document files like PDFs or Word files usually require an additional action, such as enabling macros or clicking an embedded link, before any malware can be installed.

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

No. Simply opening and reading an email is safe. Infection only occurs if you click a malicious link, download an attachment, and then open or run it, or otherwise interact with the harmful content inside the message.

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

Combo Cleaner can detect and remove most common malware infections. However, running a full system scan is recommended, since some advanced threats can be more difficult to detect and may require additional scanning passes to remove completely.