What sort of email scam is "Slack Annual Subscription Renewal"

What kind of email is "Slack Annual Subscription Renewal"?

We have inspected this email and determined it is a phishing scam. The message is disguised as an official billing notice from Slack, falsely claiming that a $375.00 annual subscription renewal has been charged to the recipient's corporate card. The email is designed to trick recipients into clicking a fraudulent link and surrendering their email account login credentials. It should be ignored and deleted.

"Slack Annual Subscription Renewal" email scam overview

The email presents itself as a message from the Slack Billing Center, stating that a Business+ Plan renewal covering 25 user licenses has been automatically charged to the recipient's primary corporate card. It lists a fabricated Invoice ID, a billing date, and a charge of $375.00.

Recipients are urged to click "Manage Workspace Subscription" if the renewal was unauthorized. This framing is deliberate - it pressures the reader into acting fast without pausing to verify whether the email is legitimate.

Clicking that button leads to a phishing page hosted on the IPFS network. IPFS is a decentralized file-sharing protocol that cybercriminals use to host fraudulent sites, because content stored across the network is difficult to take down quickly.

The fraudulent page imitates an email service provider login. In the observed case, it mirrors a Gmail-branded interface and prompts visitors to enter their email address and password. Such pages often adapt based on the victim's email domain, presenting a login form that matches their specific provider.

Any credentials submitted on that page go directly to the scammers. A compromised email account can be used to reset passwords on linked services, intercept private messages, and carry out identity theft.

Slack is a legitimate business communication platform and has no connection to this scam. The email was not sent from any Slack-owned domain or server.

Email scams in general

In summary, the "Slack Annual Subscription Renewal" email is a phishing scam that uses a fake billing alert to push recipients toward a credential-harvesting page. The actual target is the victim's email account credentials, not anything Slack-related. Recipients should delete this message immediately without clicking any links or buttons.

It is also worth noting that campaigns structured like this are sometimes repurposed to distribute malware. More examples of similar scam emails are Roundcube Account Errors, Request To Permanently Delete Your Account, and Cleanup Of Pre-2021 Report Files.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Spam emails are a common vehicle for malware distribution. Threat actors attach malicious files directly to messages or include links leading to harmful downloads. These files take many forms - executable programs, compressed archives, PDF documents, Office files, and scripts. Opening one of these files, or taking an action the attacker expects such as enabling malicious macro commands, triggers the infection process.

Links inside spam emails may also point to websites that attempt to install malware automatically, or that prompt visitors to download a harmful file manually. In most cases, infection requires the user to take some action - clicking a link, opening a file, or enabling a feature inside a document.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Treat unexpected emails with caution, particularly those that create urgency around money or account access. If an email claims to be from a known company but something seems off, go directly to that company's official website to verify - do not click any link in the message.

Download software only from official developer websites or verified app stores. Avoid pirated programs, cracks, and key generators, which are frequently used to bundle hidden malware. Keeping the operating system and all installed software up to date reduces risk, since attackers commonly exploit unpatched vulnerabilities.

Enable two-factor authentication on important accounts, especially email. Use a reputable security tool and keep it current. If you believe you have already opened a malicious file, run a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate any infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the "Slack Annual Subscription Renewal" email letter:

Subject: Billing Confirmation: $375.00 USD Charged Successfully

slack | Billing Center

Thank you for choosing Slack! Your annual subscription renewal for the Slack Business+ Plan has been successfully processed automatically.

Invoice ID: #SLK-948201-2026
Billing Date: 25/08/2026
Plan Type: Business+ (25 User Licenses)
$375.00 USD

This charge has been automatically applied to the primary corporate card associated with your workspace profile. A downloadable PDF statement is available in your admin console.

Did you want to modify this seat allocation? If this renewal was unauthorized or your organization needs to dispute the active user tier, please access the subscription resolution form immediately:

[Manage Workspace Subscription]

A fake email service login page used in this scam:

Instant automatic malware removal:

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Quick menu:

• What is Slack Annual Subscription Renewal phishing page?
• 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 distributed in bulk. Cybercriminals gather addresses from data breaches, scraped websites, and similar sources, then send the same message to large numbers of recipients at once. These messages are not personally targeted.

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

If you entered your email login credentials, change that password immediately and update it for any other accounts using the same or similar credentials. If you also provided banking details or identification documents, contact the relevant institutions or authorities without delay.

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

It depends on the file type. Executable files typically launch malware as soon as they are opened. Document formats such as PDFs or Office files generally require additional interaction - like enabling macros - before any harm occurs. The risk depends on the format and how you responded to any prompts the file displayed.

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

No. Reading or previewing an email in your inbox is harmless. Your computer is only at risk if you clicked a link, opened an attachment, or took another action that allowed malicious content to run.

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

Yes. Combo Cleaner can detect and remove most known malware threats. That said, sophisticated malicious programs can sometimes evade detection. Running a full system scan gives the best chance of finding and eliminating any threats present on your device.