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Watch For Scams Newsletter. Order Notification Emails
March 07, 2015
Hello

Order Notification Emails

Watch For Scams is dedicated to helping you avoid becoming a victim of fraud.

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Order Notification Emails

A series of 'order notification' emails are currently hitting inboxes. The emails thank you for purchasing and claim that your order is being processed. The emails do not name the company that supposedly sent the notifications. Nor do they say what product or service was supposedly purchased.

However, they do include an order total amounting to several thousand dollars along with an order number, order date and customer email address. They suggest that people check the attached file to find out more information about the purchase. The emails are formatted fairly professionally and may appear to be genuine at first glance.

Details such as subject lines, order totals, and attachment names may vary in different versions of the emails. Some have the subject line 'Urgent Notice'. Others may have the subject line 'Important Notification'.

However, the emails are not genuine order notifications and the order details included are not valid. The criminals responsible for the emails hope that at least a few recipients - panicked into believing that a large purchase has been made in their names - and will open the attachment without due caution.

However, the attached .zip file contains malware. If you unzip the attachment and then click the file inside, the malware may be installed on your computer.

The behaviour of the malware may vary based on the specific goals of the criminals who send it. The malware may collect sensitive information from the infected computer and relay it to scammers. It may also download further malware, and join the computer to a botnet.

Fake order receipt emails are a very common means of distributing malware. Be wary of any unsolicited email that claims to contain information regarding a purchase you know nothing about. If you receive such an email do not click any links or open any attachments that it contains.

If you believe you have been a victim of this type of scam you should promptly report it to the IC3's website at www.IC3.gov. The IC3's complaint database links complaints together to refer them to the appropriate law enforcement agency for case consideration.

Remember - always watch for scams!

Steve

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