What kind of scam is "24-Hour Password Expiration Notice"

What kind of email is "24-Hour Password Expiration Notice"?

We examined this email and found it to be a phishing scam. The message falsely claims that the recipient's email password is about to expire, pressuring them to click a button and log in through a fraudulent website. This email is designed to steal account credentials and should be deleted without any interaction.

"24-Hour Password Expiration Notice" email scam in detail

The email informs the recipient that their email password will expire within 24 hours. It urges them to click a "Keep Password Now" button to prevent login disruptions. The message also warns that failing to act will cause the account to enter a "Suspension Grace Period," during which email access will stop entirely.

Following the button in the email leads to a phishing page at engllsishsjhajrre-dp9bddk1ybt7[.]edgeone.dev. The page presents itself as a "gmail Portal," displaying a login form that requests an email address and password. Any credentials typed into that form are transmitted directly to the scammers operating this campaign.

Once cybercriminals gain access to an email account, the damage can reach far beyond the inbox. They may reset passwords on services linked to that email address, lock the victim out of multiple accounts, use the account to deceive the victim's contacts, or sell the stolen credentials to others.

It is important to state that legitimate email providers never send unsolicited warnings about expiring passwords with embedded login buttons. No real email service is associated with this scam in any way.

Similar scam emails in general

To summarize, this is a phishing email disguised as an urgent warning from an email service provider. Its goal is to steal login credentials through a fake website. Recipients should delete the email immediately and avoid clicking any links or entering any account information.

Scams like this are also sometimes used to distribute malware, rather than simply directing victims to credential-harvesting pages.

More examples of similar scam emails are Organization Needs Information To Keep Account Secure, Domain Service Deactivation, and Your Antivirus Payment Was Declined.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Cybercriminals commonly distribute malware via email by attaching malicious files or including links to dangerous websites. The attached files can take many formats - executables, compressed archives, PDF documents, Microsoft Office files, and scripts, among others. Opening these files or enabling certain features, such as malicious macro commands in documents, can trigger a malware infection.

Malicious links in emails may redirect users to websites that silently download harmful software or prompt them to install something manually. Typically, malware requires the user to take some action - opening an attachment, clicking a link, or running a downloaded program - before the infection takes hold.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Treat any unexpected email with skepticism, especially those creating a sense of urgency. Do not click links or open attachments from senders you do not know. If a message appears to be from a service you use, go directly to that service's official website by typing the address in your browser instead of following the link.

Download software only from official developer websites and trusted app stores. Stay away from pirated software, key generators, and cracking tools, as these frequently carry hidden malware. Keep your operating system and applications updated, and maintain active protection with a reputable security program.

If you have already opened a suspicious file from an email, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically detect and remove any malware that may have been installed.

Text presented in the "24-Hour Password Expiration Notice" email letter:

Subject: 24-hour Password Expiration Notice: ********

24-hour Password Expiration Notice

Your Email Password will expire in 24 hours. In order to avoid Log in disruption to your email, it's important that you keep your password now.
[Keep Password Now]

IMPORTANT: Unfortunately, we weren't able to process it automatically because it's your privacy. You will now need to manually keep your password.

Email | Password-Renewal | Expiring Date
******** | On | 10 July, 2026

If the email password is not kept on time, it will enter the Suspension Grace Period. During this time your Email will stop working, and no changes can be made to the email.

Copyright © 2026

A fake email login page used in this scam:

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Quick menu:

• What is 24-Hour Password Expiration Notice 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?

Scam emails like this are mass-distributed, not personally targeted. Cybercriminals collect email addresses through data breaches, fake sign-up forms, and similar methods, then send the same message to a large number of people at once.

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

Change your email password immediately, along with any other accounts that use the same password. If you suspect your account has already been accessed, contact your email provider's official support team without delay.

If other sensitive information was also shared - such as payment card details or identification documents - contact the relevant institutions or authorities as soon as possible.

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

Executable files tend to compromise a system almost as soon as they are opened. Document formats like Word or PDF files typically require additional steps to activate malware - for instance, granting permission to run macros. The actual risk depends on the file type and the actions taken after opening it.

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

No. Simply reading an email is not enough to cause an infection. A computer is only put at risk when the user actively interacts with malicious content - by opening an attachment, clicking a harmful link, or enabling macros in a document.

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

Combo Cleaner can detect and remove most known malware infections. Running a complete system scan is recommended, as sophisticated threats may hide themselves deep within the system and require a thorough scan to be found and eliminated.