Remove “Email Quota Notification” email

The “Email Quota Notification” email is a generic phishing campaign that intends to steal users’ email login credentials. The email is disguised as a notification from the email service provider and informs the recipient that their email storage capacity is at 99% and the quota needs to be increased. The email asks that users click on the displayed button to increase their email quota. However, if users were to click on the button, they would be taken to a phishing site that asks for users’ email account passwords. If users type in their passwords, they would be sent to the malicious actors operating this phishing campaign. This could lead to accounts being hijacked.

 

 

Phishing emails claiming that users have reached their accounts’ email quota are pretty common. This particular phishing email claims that you can instantly increase your email quota if you click on the provided button. However, if you click on it, you will be taken to a phishing website. The site is made to resemble a legitimate email login page, and asks for your email password. If you type this password in the field, it will be stolen. If your email account is not protected with multi-factor authentication, malicious actors having your password may be enough to gain access to your account.

Email credentials are highly valuable to cybercriminals for several reasons. First of all, users rarely change their email addresses, so they may use the same ones for many years. This means those accounts will have a lot of personal and sensitive information if users do not delete old emails. This information could be exploited for purposes such as blackmail or extortion. Furthermore, email accounts are typically linked to various other services. Thus, gaining access to an email account could allow malicious actors access to all connected accounts as well.

If you have interacted with such an email and entered your login credentials on a phishing site, it is crucial to change your password immediately. In the event that your account has been compromised and you are unable to access it, try all available account recovery options. If recovery proves unsuccessful, the email address must be removed from all connected accounts to prevent further unauthorized access.

The full “Email Quota Notification” email phishing email is below:

Subject: IMPORANT!! Email Quota

Email Quota Notification

You have reached 99% of your email storage capacity.

Click below to instantly increase your email quota.

Increase email quota

This is an automated message. Please do not reply.

Signs of a phishing email

All unsolicited emails should be approached with caution, whether they ask you to click on a link or open an attachment. Always consider their contents to determine if they make sense. For example, while having a full inbox is possible, it’s very hard to actually reach such a large number of emails. What’s more, you can easily check your inbox’s storage in your account.

If you receive an unsolicited email prompting you to open an attachment or click a link, start by checking the sender’s email address. If the sender claims to represent a known company but the address appears random or unprofessional, it is a malicious email. Even if the address seems legitimate, verify that it truly belongs to the person or company the sender claims to represent. This can often be done by conducting a quick online search. In some cases, malicious actors use certain methods to make their email addresses appear credible, such as substituting similar-looking characters (e.g., using “rn” instead of “m”) or adding extra characters to mimic trusted senders. In this case, the “Email Quota Notification” email is clearly a phishing attempt, as the sender’s address does not match that of your email service provider, which is evident from the domain name.

Additionally, watch out for grammar and spelling mistakes in emails supposedly from reputable companies. For whatever reason, a lot of the time, phishing emails contain numerous mistakes and are poorly written, which immediately exposes their malicious nature. While the “Email Quota Notification” email may not have blatant spelling errors, its awkward phrasing indicates it is not a legitimate email from your service provider.

Take your time when reviewing emails and avoid hastily clicking on links or opening attachments. Hover over buttons to preview where they will direct you before clicking on them. Always scan unsolicited attachments with anti-virus software or verify them on VirusTotal to ensure they are free of malware before opening.