A phishing email, purporting to be from a medical imaging business, uses Microsoft branding to try and trick users into providing cybercriminals with their Outlook Web App email and password details. It appears both the email address and server, from two different businesses, have been compromised in this phishing attempt. Users are urged to remain cautious and check any unfamiliar emails twice before clicking on any links.
The email, with the subject heading ‘New Encrypted Fax for [enter recipients email address]’ advises the victim that they have a ‘New Fax!’ waiting for them, providing details of the document in bullet form. A lack of professional polish, inconsistent sender name, and email address, grammatical errors, as well as the odd messaging, all allude to this being a scam, however, the inclusion of details such as the Microsoft logo and ‘Fax information’ could easily trick the time-poor, unsuspecting victim into clicking on the ‘Open Fax’ link.
Here’s what the email looks like:
After the ‘Open Fax’ button is clicked, the user is taken to an Outlook Web App phishing page, an accurate recreation of the Exchange Outlook Web Access Portal. However, this is actually a page that has been hosted on a Malaysian-based small business website, indicating a compromised domain.
Once the credentials are entered and submitted, the attacker harvests them for later use and the user is met with an error message saying “The username and password you entered isn’t correct. Try entering it again”.
Providing your Microsoft account details to cybercriminals means that they have unauthorised access to your sensitive data, such as contact information, calendars, email communications, and more, which could lead to criminal activity such as BEC, identity theft, and other fraudulent activity.
Customers of trusted brand names such as Microsoft are targeted by cybercriminals due to the company’s expansive user base, so customers must remain vigilant and check twice before clicking on any potentially harmful links.
MailGuard urges users not to click links or open attachments within emails that:
- Are not addressed to you by name.
- Appear to be from a legitimate company but use poor English or omits personal details that a legitimate sender would include.
- Are from businesses that you were not expecting to hear from, and/or
- Take you to a landing page or website that is not the legitimate URL of the company the email is purporting to be sent from.
One email is all that it takes
All that it takes to devastate your business is a cleverly worded email message that can steal sensitive user credentials or disrupt your business operations. If scammers can trick one person in your company into clicking on a malicious link or attachment, they can gain access to your data or inflict damage on your business.
For a few dollars per staff member per month, you can protect your business with MailGuard's predictive and advanced email security. Talk to a solution consultant at MailGuard today about securing your company's inboxes.
Stay up-to-date with MailGuard's latest blog posts by subscribing to free updates. Subscribe to weekly updates by clicking on the button below.
