In an attempt to steal sensitive Microsoft login credentials, scammers are distributing a simple email to user inboxes with a prominent blue button requesting that they ‘Re-authenticate Now’, to ‘avoid potential disruption to your account.’
The email mimics Microsoft branding, to boost familiarity and legitimacy, with a subject line that simply reads ‘Request’, followed by a time and date stamp and user ID.
See an example of one of the emails below.
After clicking through on the ‘Re-authenticate Now’ call-to-action, victims are directed to a sign-in page that is a replica of an authentic Microsoft page.
In fact, the scam appears to alternate the look and feel of the phishing pages, with different versions of the Microsoft sign-in page presented to different users, as demonstrated below.
In a familiar tactic for scams of this nature, when the user attempts to enter their credentials they are presented with an ‘incorrect password’, fail message, and prompted to retry.
While no money is stolen, Microsoft credentials are like gold to cybercriminals, providing authorised access to the individuals account and the Microsoft tenancy of their employer.
MailGuard advises all recipients of this email to delete it immediately without clicking on any links. Providing your personal details can result in your sensitive information being used for criminal activity and may have a severe negative impact on your business and its financial well-being.
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.
Many businesses turn to MailGuard after an incident or a near miss, often as a result of an email similar to the one shown above. If unwanted emails are a problem for your business, 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 predictive and advanced email security. Talk to a solution consultant at MailGuard today about securing your company's inboxes.
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