MailGuard Blog

As we enter a new year, it should come as no surprise that Netflix remains a favourite with cybercriminals. This simple email phishing scam is once more hitting inboxes in the first days of 2020. The email tells recipients ‘Your Netflix Membership is on hold’ with a sender display name of NETFLIX, although the emails are actually coming from a compromised email account.

In the closing days of 2019, while many of us are winding down, cybercriminals continue to probe inboxes with a myriad of email stings designed to catch us unaware.

On the eve of Christmas and the holiday festive period, a new email phishing scam is arriving in inboxes masquerading as PayPal. The HTML email which claims to come from ‘PayPal Support’ has the subject ‘[Urgent] Account Verification Required’ and it alerts recipients that ‘We noticed some unusual activity’ on your account.

Subscribers to Netflix are once again the target of an email scam landing in inboxes on the eve of the holidays. An email with the simple subject line ‘Update your payment details’ from 'Netflix Team' tells recipients that Netflix is ‘having some trouble with your billing information. We’ll try again, but in the meantime, you may want to update your payment details.’

Telstra impersonated as the subject of a simple email scam, this time aiming to deliver a malicious Jar file download. Masquerading as an invoice in a ZIP attachment, the email simply reads ‘Your new Telstra bill for account is attached.’  

ANZ Banking Group customers are the target of the most recent email phishing scam being blocked by the MailGuard team. The email, which features the New Zealand Black Caps, tells recipients that ‘Online Banking is Now Blocked.’ Advising customers that they have been locked out of Internet Banking for security purposes because suspicious activity was detected on the account. Customers are asked to verify their identity in order to unlock their account.

MailGuard began intercepting a large volume of scam emails earlier today (AEST) masquerading as Amazon. The fraudulent emails carry legitimate-looking Amazon store branding, with varying messages, although they all ultimately require users to update their account details via a link provided.

BankWest is the latest bank to be brandjacked in another online banking scam this week. Customers are informed in an email that their “online access will be discontinued and deleted ... due to a failure to comply with our online update regulations.”

Box, a popular cloud-based file sharing and collaboration platform for business, is the subject of the latest brandjacking email that started landing in inboxes Tuesday (AEST).

Be on the lookout for USD Wire Transfer hoax emails that began appearing in inboxes Tuesday (AEST). The simple emails claim to contain a payment confirmation, however the attachment is in fact a payload designed to execute malicious material when opened. 

A fake DHL email is putting Australian inboxes at risk. 

In the biggest week of football finals, and coinciding with a surge in upcoming seasonal events, comes the latest email scam that invites recipients to ‘Download and Print Your eTickets.’

Early Tuesday (AEST), MailGuard commenced blocking a new scam email disguised as a fake Office 365 notification, that links to a phishing site. 

A batch of malicious emails is arriving in inboxes today. They are fraudulent invoices sent from a brandjacked UK based business, and are impersonating the software of MYOB. 

This morning MailGuard is blocking a large run of emails purporting to come from a company named ‘PP Sign Management.'