Beware of a scam email going around imitating a Quickbooks Invoice.
In fact, the cybercriminals are distributing a fake email which looks like an unpaid invoice reminder urging the recipient to immediately take action otherwise “the debt collection” department will be notified.
Natural human reaction is to click on the [VIEW INVOICE] button for further information. Clicking the button takes the user to a blank page and this is the end of it or actually the beginning.
The “blank” website is actually a malicious website which downloads a javascript file. There are different outcomes, but most likely the user will be hit with the Ransomware Virus or have a dormant Trojan collecting information such as passwords, secret keywords, bank details, etc.
Spot the scam
The best way to spot the scam is not to fall for the intended urgency of the email and take a couple of minutes to investigate if it’s genuine or not.
- Think! Do you recognize the “company or the transaction”?
- Hover with the mouse over the sender’s email! In most cases it will be a very close match to the real thing. In our case instead of mail@intuit.com it is quickbooks@mail-intuit.cf. They are very close but not the same.
- Hover over the invoice button and you’ll get a preview of the link where the button will take you. If it looks suspicious – DO NOT CLICK IT!
- In our case there was a London telephone number. We rang and as expected there was no such company – it was a domestic number.
If you’ve received an email which you’re not sure about please do not hesitate to contact us and we can confirm if it’s safe or not. Call us on 01622 677677 or email: support@computermanuk.com
