Scammers Targeting Microsoft Office Users with Quarantined Email Scam

Over the past few months, the MailGuard team has noticed an abundance of phishing emails which are looking to harvest Microsoft Office 365 credentials. These scams are often simple yet effective, and if successful, provide the attacker with access to a business’s sensitive information and systems.    

In one of the most recent attempts to steal passwords, scammers are using emails which appears as a “System generated message” from Outlook Web App, which warns that the recipient has 23 messages in their email quarantine. The recipient is then directed to click a button to view their quarantined messages.   

Here’s what the email looks like:  

While the email itself isn’t anything out of the ordinary, what’s particularly interesting is that the scammers have discovered a security flaw with the legitimate Wall Street Journal website, which allows it to serve unauthorised redirects to malicious websites. Basically, clicking on the link in the email briefly takes the user to the Wall Street Journal site, before redirecting to a phishing page. 

The phishing page has been designed to look like the Outlook login portal and even uses the recipient’s company logo to help feign authenticity. The user is asked to enter their email credentials which will then be harvested by the scammer for later use.   

After submitting their details, the victim is redirected to the legitimate Outlook 365 login page.  

Scammers use many different tactics to try and convince recipients to open a phishing email. Recently, MailGuard has also intercepted and begun blocking emails that appear like password expiry notifications, Microsoft Teams invites, and DocuSign alerts, all with the intention of stealing business email credentials. Make sure to check our blog regularly so you know what to look out for and can avoid falling victim to these vicious scams.  

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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