What is the "We Have Shared A Secure Payment Portal" email scam

What kind of email is "We Have Shared A Secure Payment Portal"?

We have examined this email and concluded it is a phishing scam. It poses as a notification from a financial institution, claiming that a secure payment portal has been shared for a tender document. The link leads to a fake Microsoft OneDrive page designed to steal login credentials. Recipients should ignore this email entirely to avoid account compromise and identity theft.

"We Have Shared A Secure Payment Portal" email scam overview

The email uses the subject line "D-114698 Payment-Financial Institution" and is signed off by a generic "Financial Institution." It claims that a secure payment portal has been shared for a document called "D-114698 / Final Tender Document," urging the recipient to click an "Open Portal" button for confidentiality and authorization purposes.

The language is deliberately business-like, designed to look like a routine procurement or payment notification. It relies on the recipient's professional obligation to act on what seems like a standard document-sharing request.

Clicking that button takes the victim to a website at zingy-dusk-64096c.netlify[.]app that impersonates Microsoft OneDrive. The page shows the Microsoft logo along with a "Verify Your Identity" header. Visitors are told they have received a secure link to the tender document and must enter their email address to proceed.

Submitting an email address is just the first step. The site then typically redirects to a password prompt. Any credentials the victim provides are captured by the scammers, giving them access to the victim's Microsoft account and everything connected to it.

Microsoft has no association with this scam. The OneDrive branding and interface elements are being used without authorization, solely to make the fake site appear trustworthy.

Phishing spam campaign examples

In summary, this is a credential phishing campaign disguised as a business document notification. The link leads to a fake Microsoft OneDrive page built to capture login credentials. The email should be deleted without interacting with it. Campaigns like this are sometimes also used to distribute malware.

Such email scams are widespread. More examples of phishing campaigns like this one are HR POLICY/ALLOCATION UPDATE, Purchase Order Sent To You Via WeTransfer, and Wells Fargo - Account Security Update.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Threat actors distribute malware via email by attaching malicious files to messages. These can come in various formats, including executable programs, compressed archives, PDF documents, Microsoft Office files, and JavaScript files.

In other cases, emails include links pointing to websites that host malware or that trick users into downloading and running malicious software manually. Either way, infection typically requires some form of user interaction, such as opening an attachment or executing a file received through a link.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Exercise caution with emails from unknown senders, especially those that reference payments, shared documents, or authorization requests. Do not click links or open attachments in messages you did not expect to receive, even when they appear to come from a recognizable service or platform.

Only download software from official developer websites and verified sources. Pirated software, unofficial key generators, and unverified third-party download pages are common distribution points for malware.

Keep your operating system and all applications up to date, and use a reputable antivirus program. If you have already opened a malicious attachment, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the "We Have Shared A Secure Payment Portal" email letter:

Subject: D-114698 Payment-Financial Institution

Dear ********,

Good day to you !

We have shared a secure payment portal to:

D-114698 / Final Tender Document
You will be redirected to the secure portal to finalize the transaction, access the secure portal for confidentiality and recipient authorization.

[Open Portal]

Best Regards,
Financial Institution

A fake Microsoft OneDrive website used in this scam:

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Quick menu:

• What is We Have Shared A Secure Payment Portal phishing site?
• 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?

Scammers distribute these messages to large numbers of recipients at once, collecting email addresses from data breaches, fake websites, and similar sources. These emails are generally not targeted at specific individuals.

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

If you entered your Microsoft account credentials on the fake page, change your password immediately and check your account for any unauthorized activity. Enabling two-factor authentication will add an extra layer of protection.

If banking or identity details were also disclosed, contact the relevant institutions right away.

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

Executable files can compromise a device almost immediately upon being opened. Document formats such as PDFs or Office files typically need additional interaction - like enabling macro commands - before any malware activates. The actual risk depends on the file format and how the user interacts with it.

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

Reading an email without clicking links or opening files is harmless. Your computer is not at risk unless you actively engaged with the message's content.

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

Combo Cleaner is capable of detecting and eliminating the vast majority of known malware. Running a full system scan is recommended, as some sophisticated threats may hide deeper within the system and require a thorough scan to be detected and removed.