Remove “Action Required: Renew Your Webmail Access” email

The “Action Required: Renew Your Webmail Access” email is part of a phishing campaign that tries to trick users into revealing their email account login credentials. The email is disguised as a notification from Webmail and falsely informs users that they need to renew their Webmail access to continue using the services. Supposedly, Webmail intends to improve its services. If users do not renew their accounts, their email accounts may be restricted. However, if users click on the provided link, they will be led to a phishing site that asks them to log in to their accounts. If users do that, their login credentials will be stolen by the malicious actors behind this phishing campaign.

 

 

The “Action Required: Renew Your Webmail Access” email is a rather generic phishing attempt. It’s not sophisticated in any way and should be relatively easy for users to identify as malicious. The email claims that users need to renew access to their Webmail accounts by clicking on the included “Renew my account now” button. Clicking the link in the email redirects users to a phishing website that imitates the official Webmail login page. This phishing page requests that users log in to their accounts. If users do so, the login credentials are sent to the cybercriminals operating the phishing campaign. These criminals may either use the stolen data themselves or sell it to others for malicious purposes.

Email login credentials are particularly valuable to malicious actors because email accounts often contain sensitive information and are connected to numerous other accounts. Unauthorized access to an email account enables cybercriminals to potentially hijack connected accounts. If the email account contains sensitive emails, the information may be used to blackmail the account holder.

The full text from the “Action Required: Renew Your Webmail Access” phishing email is below:

Subject: Action Required: Renew Your – Webmail Access !

Action Required: Renew Your Webmail Access

Dear -,

Your current – Webmail version will expire soon.

As part of our ongoing improvements to service quality and security, all customers are required to renew their Webmail access to continue using Skyline/Skybest services without interruption.

Failure to complete the renewal may result in email disruptions or restricted access to your mailbox.

This process takes less than a minute and ensures your mailbox stays secure and fully supported.

RENEW MY ACCOUNT NOW

We strongly urge you to complete this step as soon as possible to avoid service delays.

Thank you for choosing -.

How to recognize phishing emails

Certain phishing campaigns are often easy to identify due to their generic nature, as is the case with this “Action Required: Renew Your Webmail Access” email. Generic phishing campaigns typically target many users using the same email, making them less personalized and easily recognizable. However, phishing attempts directed at high-profile people or organizations are generally more sophisticated and harder to detect. Fortunately, most people primarily encounter the more common, generic phishing emails.

From how the “Action Required: Renew Your Webmail Access” email addresses the recipient, it’s immediately clear that this is a phishing attempt. The email uses the recipient’s email username instead of their name. All emails from the email service provider will address users by the names used when creating an account. Malicious emails, on the other hand, will address users using generic words like User, Member, Customer, etc., their usernames, or not address them at all.

When dealing with unsolicited emails, the first step is to verify the sender’s email address. Sometimes it is immediately clear that the address is malicious, as is the case with the “Action Required: Renew Your Webmail Access” email. In other instances, malicious actors may disguise their email addresses to appear professional and legitimate. It is highly recommended to research these addresses before interacting with the emails in any way. A quick Google search can often provide enough information.

Additionally, users need to be on the lookout for grammar and spelling mistakes, as legitimate emails are typically well-written, whereas low-effort phishing attempts often contain numerous mistakes. Even when an email appears more polished, users should look for awkward sentences.

Finally, users should not click on links included in unsolicited emails. If an email claims there is an issue with an account, it is better to log in directly through the web browser to verify the problem rather than using the links provided in the email. Furthermore, all attachments should be scanned with an anti-malware program or a tool like VirusTotal to ensure they are malware-free.

Remove “Action Required: Renew Your Webmail Access” phishing email

The “Action Required: Renew Your Webmail Access” email can be safely deleted, and its contents can be ignored. If users have already clicked on links or entered their login details, they need to change their password right away if they still have access to their account. To prevent other accounts from being compromised, users have to disconnect any linked accounts if they can no longer access their email.