What is the "SumUp Transaction Problem" email scam

What kind of email is "SumUp Transaction Problem"?

After inspecting this email, we determined it is a phishing scam. The message is crafted to resemble an official notification from SumUp, a legitimate payment service provider used by small businesses. It pushes recipients to click a button that leads to a fraudulent website designed to collect sensitive account information. This email should be ignored.

"SumUp Transaction Problem" email scam in detail

The email arrives with the subject "Action required: Transaction with a problem." It claims that one of the recipient's transactions is currently experiencing a problem and instructs them to click the "View problem" button to see what the issue is and resolve it.

No information about which transaction is affected, or what the problem actually is, appears anywhere in the message. That deliberate vagueness is a common tactic - the scammers have no real account data to reference.

The button leads to a fraudulent website designed to impersonate SumUp's platform. Although that site is no longer accessible, it was most likely built to capture the victim's login credentials or other sensitive account details.

Any data entered on such a page would go directly to the scammers. Access to a victim's SumUp account could allow cybercriminals to execute unauthorized transactions, harvest stored payment data, or lock the legitimate owner out. In wider cases, stolen details may contribute to identity theft.

SumUp is a legitimate company and has no involvement with this campaign. Cybercriminals copied its branding only to make the message appear credible.

Email scams in general

In conclusion, this email is a phishing scam disguised as a SumUp transaction alert. It aims to direct recipients to a fake website and steal their login credentials or account information. The email should be ignored and deleted without clicking any links.

More examples of similar scam emails are Shared Document Available For Your Review, AI Detected That Your Email Account Requires, and Email Address Re-verification.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Spam emails are a common vehicle for malware distribution. Cybercriminals attach malicious files to messages or embed links leading to harmful websites. These files can range from executable programs to compressed archives, PDF documents, Microsoft Office files, and script files.

In cases involving malicious links, visiting the page may trigger an automatic file download, or the site may convince the visitor to run a program manually. Most infections require the user to take some action - opening a file, running an installer, or enabling malicious macro commands - before the malware can activate.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Exercise caution with any unsolicited email, especially one that urges you to click a link or open an attachment. If the message appears to be from a service you use, navigate to that service's official website directly rather than following any links in the email.

Only obtain software from official websites or trusted sources, and avoid pirated programs, key generators, and cracks - these are frequently used as vectors for malware. Keeping your operating system and all installed applications up to date is equally important, as updates routinely patch known security vulnerabilities.

A reputable antivirus program provides an additional safeguard. If you suspect you have already interacted with malicious content, running a full system scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows can help detect and remove any threats.

Text presented in the "SumUp Transaction Problem" email letter:

Subject: Action required: Transaction with a problem.

SumUр

Dear Customer,

We are contacting you regarding a transaction that is currently experiencing a problem.

To complete the process correctly, please view the details of the problem via the following button.
[View problem]

Thank you for your cooperation.

Best regards,
SumUр Team.

SumUр Support · Please use the button to view the problem

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Quick menu:

• What is SumUp Transaction Problem 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 send these messages to large numbers of people simultaneously. Email addresses are typically gathered through data breaches, fake sign-up pages, and similar sources. These campaigns are not personally targeted.

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

Change any passwords that may have been compromised without delay. If you entered payment or banking information, contact your bank or card issuer as soon as possible. For other personal data, reach out to the relevant authorities or institutions.

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

It depends on the file type. Executable files can initiate an infection immediately when opened. Documents such as PDFs or Office files typically require additional interaction, like enabling macros, before malware can run. The actual risk depends on the file format and how you interacted with it.

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

No. Simply reading an email does not compromise your computer. An infection only occurs when you open an attachment, click a malicious link, or otherwise interact with harmful content.

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

Combo Cleaner can detect and remove a broad range of malware infections. That said, a full system scan is essential, as more sophisticated threats may be hidden deeper within the system and require a comprehensive check to be identified and eliminated.