Cybercriminals have now brandjacked Mancer Corp Pty Ltd. and are sending malicious links via multiple compromised MailChimp accounts.
The emails appeared in inboxes this morning, a day after MailGuard detected a similar email scam impersonating the Criniti’s Restaurant Chain and QBCC Insurance.
The first type of email scam circulating today consists of a "Suspension Notice" from Mancer Corp Pty Ltd, advising recipients that the company has not received payment for services provided.
It tricks victims into thinking their accounts will be suspended unless payment is made, and includes a link titled ‘View Invoice’. Once clicked, the link leads to a malicious .doc file download, hosted on a compromised TPG users account.
A second variant of scam involves a shorter message and is titled ‘Tax Invoice October 04’.
It also appears as if sent by Mancer Corp Pty Ltd and informs the recipient that they have a new tax invoice. Unsuspecting victims who click on the link to view the tax invoice are led to a malicious .doc file hosted on a compromised website.
Both types of email scams were detected and blocked by MailGuard.
How can you protect yourself from these types of email scams?
- Check who it was sent by. Examine the sender or reply-to address and check that it hasn’t been sent from a similar, but recently-registered domain.
- Be alert for strange sentence structure, or phrasing uncommon to the apparent sender.
- Never sidestep formal processes for payments. If in doubt, ring the apparent sender. If they’re not available, wait until they are. A funds transfer is better to arrive later than to be lost without a trace to an overseas cybercriminal.
- Implement scam-proof approvals processes for financial transfers such as two-factor authentication, which requires two employees to sign off on wire transfers
- Education is imperative. Teach staff and employees what fraudulent emails look like.
- Ensure your email security is up to scratch. A cloud-based, threat detection service such as MailGuard will protect your staff in real-time from targeted attacks, without the dangerous time-lag common with signature-based antivirus vendors.
For a few dollars per staff member per month, add MailGuard's cloud-based email filtering protection to your business security. You’ll significantly reduce the risk of new variants of malicious email from entering your network. Talk to an expert at MailGuard today about your company's cybersecurity needs: expert@mailguard.com.au
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