MailGuard has intercepted a sophisticated phishing campaign impersonating Origin Energy, targeting Australian consumers with a fake refund offer designed to harvest sensitive personal and financial information.
Here's How It Works
The scam begins with a professionally branded email purporting to be from Origin Energy, sent from Electricity-Bill-Origin(at)ecdesk(dot)org, a domain with no legitimate association with Origin Energy. The email informs recipients of an apparent overpayment on their recent electricity bill and claims a $150 refund is being processed. To receive the refund, recipients are asked to verify their account details by clicking a link provided.
Here's an example of what the emails look like 👇
Multi-Steps in Action
Once clicked, the link takes users through a multi-step phishing website carefully crafted to imitate Origin’s legitimate online presence. The process includes:
- A landing page prompting users to verify their refund request.
- A personal information page requesting names, addresses, date of birth, email, and phone numbers.
- A credit card details page capturing credit card information including number, expiry date, and CVV.
- A phone verification page requesting an SMS code, likely in an attempt to bypass multi-factor authentication or authorise fraudulent transactions.
- A confirmation page that redirects to the legitimate Origin Energy website — a common tactic to reduce suspicion after the scammer collects the victim's data.
This phishing scam exhibits a high level of sophistication by employing a staged data capture process, leveraging brand impersonation, and exploiting the trust customers place in Origin Energy. The inclusion of an SMS verification step points to a possible attempt at completing unauthorised transactions or account takeovers.
Why It Matters
Phishing campaigns like this one are dangerous because they exploit trust in known and trusted brands and formats (like utility bills and refunds) and common business workflows (like bill payments). All it takes is one unsuspecting staff member clicking the link for an attacker to gain access to sensitive information, potentially leading to financial or identity fraud, data theft, or business disruption.
Stay Safe - Know the Signs
MailGuard advises all recipients of these emails to delete them immediately without clicking on any links. Responding or providing personal details can lead to identity theft, data breaches, and financial losses.
Avoid emails that:
- Aren’t addressed to you personally.
- Are unexpected and urge immediate action.
- Contain poor grammar or miss crucial identifying details.
- Direct you to a suspicious URL that isn’t associated with the genuine company.
Many businesses turn to MailGuard after a near miss or incident. Don't wait until it's too late. Reach out to our team for a confidential discussion by emailing expert@mailguard.com.au or calling 1300 30 44 30.
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 specialist, 'zero zero-day' email security. Special Ops for when speed matters! Our real-time 'zero zero-day', email threat detection amplifies our client’s intelligence, knowledge, security and defence. Talk to a solution consultant at MailGuard today about securing your company's inboxes.
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