What kind of email scam is "Security Review Requested"

What kind of email is "Security Review Requested"?

We have examined this email and concluded that it is a phishing scam. The message is disguised as a security notification urging recipients to review their account activity, but the link leads to a fake login page designed to steal email credentials. This email should be ignored.

More about the "Security Review Requested" scam email

The "Security Review Requested" email claims that account settings associated with the recipient's profile were recently updated. Framed as a standard security measure, it urges the recipient to click a "Review Account Activity" button. The wording is deliberately vague - no company name appears anywhere - allowing the same email to target users of virtually any email platform.

Clicking the button opens a fake Roundcube Webmail login page hosted on Firebase Storage, a legitimate Google cloud service. Scammers abuse platforms like this to make the link appear trustworthy and slip past email security filters. The page displays standard Roundcube branding and prompts visitors to enter a username and password.

Any credentials typed into the fake page are captured by the scammers. With access to someone's email account, they can read private messages, reset passwords on connected services, impersonate the victim, and break into any other account that shares the same password.

Roundcube Webmail is legitimate open-source software and has no association with this scam. Its developers are not responsible for phishing pages that copy its interface. Scammers simply replicate familiar login screens to make their fake sites look credible.

Similar scam emails in general

In conclusion, the "Security Review Requested" email is a phishing scam that impersonates a security notification. It lures victims to a fake Roundcube Webmail login page to steal their email credentials. Recipients should ignore this message and avoid interacting with any links.

Sometimes, campaigns like this also distribute malware instead of linking to phishing pages. More examples of similar scam emails are Your Accountant Left You A Voicemail, Messages Delayed Due To A Server Error, and Microsoft Office 365 Email Account Will Expire.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Cybercriminals often deliver malware through email by attaching malicious files or including links to harmful websites. These files can take many forms - executables, PDF documents, Microsoft Office files, archive files, or scripts. Opening them, or enabling features such as malicious macro commands, can trigger malware installation on the device.

Email links can also redirect victims to pages that download malware automatically, or prompt them to run a file manually. In most cases, some form of interaction is still required - opening an attachment, clicking a link, or running a downloaded program - before the device is compromised.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Be cautious with emails from unknown senders, particularly those containing attachments or links. Avoid downloading software from unofficial sources, and stay away from pirated programs, cracks, and key generators, which are common vehicles for malware distribution.

Keep your operating system and all installed programs up to date. Security patches frequently close vulnerabilities that attackers exploit. Also, use a reputable antivirus application and do not grant notification permissions to unfamiliar websites.

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

Text presented in the "Security Review Requested" email letter:

Subject: Security Review for Your Account

Security Review Requested
Review your account activity to keep your email secure and up to date.

Account Status Review
Profile Email: ********

Hello ********,

We recently detected updates associated with your ******** profile settings. As part of our standard security practices, we recommend reviewing your account details.

Reviewing your information helps ensure uninterrupted access to your account features and connected services.
[Review Account Activity]

If you did not make these changes, please contact our support team immediately.

Best regards,
********.com Security Team
© 2026 ********. All rights reserved.

A fake Roundcube Webmail login page used in this scam:

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Quick menu:

• What is Security Review Requested 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 are not personally targeted. Cybercriminals distribute identical messages to large numbers of recipients at once, using addresses gathered through data breaches, fake websites, or purchased lists. Receiving one does not mean the sender has any specific information about you.

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

Change the passwords for any accounts whose credentials you may have entered, starting with your email account. If the same password was used elsewhere, update those accounts as well. For other sensitive data such as banking details, contact the relevant institution directly.

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

It depends on the file type. Executable files (.exe and similar formats) can compromise a device the moment they are run. Document formats such as PDFs or Office files typically require further interaction, like enabling macros, before any malicious process is triggered.

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

No. Simply reading or viewing an email does not lead to infection. Malware requires some form of user action - opening an attachment, clicking a link, or enabling a feature like macros. Your computer is safe as long as you did not interact with any content in the message.

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

Combo Cleaner is capable of detecting and removing most known malware. Running a full system scan is important, as sophisticated threats may attempt to conceal themselves deep within the system. A complete scan gives the best chance of identifying and eliminating everything present.