Latest Phishing News 21/02/2024

[Int-Sec]

Latest Phishing News 21/02/2024

We have been informed about phishing emails that contains the content copied below. They were NOT sent by Virgin Media and should not be responded to. Do NOT visit the link included in the mails or response

Email 1

Dear Valued Customer,

We are closing all old versions of our email accounts as of today 20th, February 2024.

You will be blocked from sending and receiving emails if not confirmed within 1-2 days of receiving this automated mail.

[LINK REMOVED]

Thank you.
Sincerely,
Virgin Member Services

Email 2

Virgin Media

Dear User,

The safety of your Email is paramount to us. Due to Mailbox Quota and update, Your Email account is outdated as of today, and some of your important email has bounced back.

To Re-Update follow the upgrade link below.

[LINK REMOVED]

To have your messages delivered. If this continues, your email will be marked as Invalid and will lead to the account deleted.

NOTE: Failure to comply, might lead to Permanent Deactivation of your Virgin Media.

Sincerely,
Customer Service.

Email 3

Virgin media
Your Virgin Media Bill

Hello ,

We hope this message finds you well. Please note that your mailbox account eBill payment deadline is approaching. To review your bill and complete the payment, please click on the "View Bill" button enclosed below.

[LINK REMOVED]

£104.05
19th February 2024.

If you have any questions or need assistance, feel free to reach out to our support team.

We appreciate your timely attention to this matter.

Best regards,
The Virgin Media team

Email 4

Virginmedia™

Urgent:Your Avast_Protection Expired TODAY... Your Computer is at Risk_Now ?

Ref ID: [INFORMATION REMOVED]
User: [INFORMATION REMOVED]
Today's discount: 90%
Limited time: 20-02-2023

[LINK REMOVED]

Renew your subscription as you are now unprotected against cyber attacks and hackers. For your security, we strongly recommend renewing your subscription.

If you have not renewed your membership, your account will be closed within 48 hours.

[LINK REMOVED]

Email 5

We noticed that your email address has not been upgraded to
the new security upgrade which ends on 28th February, 2024.

Kindly upgrade your account and check your status to avoid account shutdown.

[LINK REMOVED]

Thank you for being a VirginMedia member.

The VirginMedia Team
©2024
All Rights Reserved.

Email 6

ov.png

YOUR ACCOUNT WILL BE DELETED IN 10 DAYS

Hello [INFORMATION REMOVED}

It's been a while since you've been active on your account. If you continue to be inactive, your account will be deleted in 10 days.

If you'd like to keep your account and data, sign in to your account and we won't delete it.

[LINK REMOVED]

WHAT WILL BE DELETED?

If your account is deleted, You'll lose data from all account system and severs.

Email 7

Virgin Media
Beware of getting hacked !!!
Hello ,

To maintain the security of your virgin media account, we request you to update it in order to keep your account Protect from getting hacked . Please click on the "Update Account" button below to proceed with the necessary security measures for free.

[LINK REMOVED]

Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Kind regards,

The Virgin Media team

We don't pick up emails from this mailbox, so please don't reply to this email address.

Email 8

Direct Debit Failed

Dear customer,

We were unable to process your latest Virgin Media Broadband or Mobile bill at this time. The billing information associated with your account may have recently expired, your service is scheduled for disconnection.

To ensure that your service has not been interrupted, we require you to confirm your account billing information with us immediately, in order to avoid any suspension on your service.

[LINK REMOVED]

Kind regards,
The Virgin Media Team

Email 9

Dear customer:

We're validating all Mailbox accounts from now until February 25th. Please note If you do not re-validate your email address your account will be automatically closed.

[LINK REMOVED]

Monthly prices shown will Increase each year from April 2024 by the Retail price index rates of inflation announced in february plus 3.9% Does Not apply to netflix add to bill add-on,Disney+add-on,Lionsgate+add-on,Stream Entertainment Subscriptions or admin charges,See
[LINK REMOVED] and

[LINK REMOVED] for details.

[LINK REMOVED]

Email 10

Your Virgin Media account number: {INFORMATION REMOVED]

Our reference: [INFORMATION REMOVED]

A device using your internet connection may be infected with malware

Dear [ INFORMATION REMOVED],

We've been alerted that one or more of the devices you use to go on the internet is infected with malicious software (malware).We don't know which device, but it does mean your personal data and online financial transactions, including any credit card purchases, could be at risk.

This probably isn't your fault, but we do need you to make some changes now to ensure your data remains safe and secure.We'll help you do that.

How we found the problem

To protect our customers, we work with a number of not-for-profit organisations that gather information about internet connections that appear to be at risk of things like malware infections. On 19 February 2024, one detected that tinba , a piece of malware, was present on a device using your internet connection.

What to do next

We recommend using anti-virus software to scan and clean up your devices. There are a number of trusted anti-virus software options available if you don't have one already.

For help with this, please visit [LINK REMOVED]

As well as using anti-virus software, Web Safe is available for free to Virgin Fibre customers to help protect you against malware and viruses. Full details can be found by signing in to Your Account at [LINK REMOVED] and going to My Apps.

More help and support

For extra advice, or to double-check that this is a genuine Virgin Media communication, head to our community at [LINK REMOVED], click 'Help forum' and join the conversation on the Security Matters board.

Kind regards,
The Virgin Media team

[my_phone]

Unfortunately I panicked and clicked on the link! I had an email like number 3. I went to 'view' my bill. my phone then said the page it directed me to was suspicious. I left the page, Unfortunately, I have now been hacked and spam emails sent to my contacts. I lost access to my account for over 48 hours. I still can't log on without going through a 3rd party and changing passwords each time. 

What other scams/ data breaches/ fraud have I opened myself up to? 

I have since looked at the address from the scammers and it was false but in a panic to see why my bill was almost double I didn't look for any obvious signs that it could have been phishing. 

My mailbox stopped receiving emails at around the time the scam. Will the scammers just have been bots or have they managed to find more information from the data possibly stored in the emails?

I have been busy changing lots of passwords and trying to make sure that 2 step verification has been set up where possible,  

I have phoned virgin media (twice) but they couldn't really answer the question as to why I couldn't get back online. the first call said I had lost access and to use my primary account email. I spent two days trying to recover my account. The second customer service advisor, two days later, was much more helpful and told me how to recover my account. They still didn't really seem too concerned that I had been hacked. 

 

[Lee_R]

Hi Int-Sec thanks for posting and welcome back to our community.

Sorry to hear of the scam emails you've received. And sorry for any inconvenience these may be causing. All of our steps regarding fraud protection and what to do next, can be found here.  Do you have any updates on how this is impacting you personally?

Regards

Lee_R

[my_phone]

I can't get access to my virgin media emails without having to try to log in again, change my passwords and generally faff about. I have managed to have my emails forwarded to my blueyonder email address, I feel that I can't trust the virgin media email address now and feel I need to delete the account. I have no idea what the hackers have found or how much damage they have done, I feel like I have opened my door to fraud and things will become clearer in the near future. I hope they didn't find too much or 

[elfin101]

Ok I've just been forwarded an email that was sent, with text as per email 10 above. Are you saying it is fake? I would like to know how they got hold of our account number and email address. The email was sent on the 18th. Additionally all links appear to be legit.

Have you had a data breach?

[Gareth_L]

Hello elfin101.

Thanks for your post.

We can assure you there has been no data breach. Hackers can get details though websites, Especially more so by a virus that is on one of the devices connected your home network.

Our Internet security team will send out the above email to any customer that are affected.

What I can do is send you a private message to confirm this is a genuine email from us.

If you can check the logo top right of your screen that would be great.

It's also wise to have a look here at some help in removing the virus or spyware.

Also the information here will help if you have any other phishing emails.

Gareth_L

[elfin101]

The first post of this thread says:

We have been informed about phishing emails that contains the content copied below.

But you now say that is from VM, erm what? What use are these posts if they are alerting us about scam emails that you turn around and say they are actually legit!

Now this email says a device is infected, but you don't give any clues as to which device is infected. How on earth am I supposed to be able tell which one it is, that alert is pretty useless without more detail to enable us to identify said device. These days with so many different devices that have connection to the internet we need to know which one!

I currently have about 30 devices connected, and and probably 20 others not connected atm. Plus guests that have been round, so can I please be sent something that would help me identify which device it was. Without that this alert is nothing more than scaremongering. 

[Gareth_L]

Hello elfin101

Thanks for those details over a private message.

After checking a few things from here.

I can confirm the email you received is genuine and has been sent from our Internet Security Team.

It would be wise to follow the information given and run a virus scan on all devices that are connected to your home network.

I wanted to update you over the public post so other customers know it's not a phishing mail.

Hope that puts your mind at ease.

If there is anything else I can help you with please let us know.

Gareth_L

[elfin101]

No it absolutely does not put my mind at ease.

I still do not have any information to help me identify which device has this virus. Telling me to just virus scan all my devices is, especially these days, impossible. Please give me enough information to identify the actual device that triggered your alert to send out that email. Without that knowledge this alert is absolutely useless. 

How do I even know if the device is mine and not a guests!

[Gareth_L]

Hello elfin10.

Thanks for your reply.

Sorry the information in your email does not advise which devices need to be scanned.

We are only able to detect a virus on the actual network and not check individual devices.

I know it is a general email that has been sent, however we do require any devices that are connected to your home network to be scanned.

Gareth_L