To summarize, by trusting the "Adobe Reader File email scam" - victims can experience severe privacy issues, financial losses, and even identity theft. It is worth mentioning that PDF attachments in spam emails are not used exclusively for phishing, this document format can also be utilized to spread malware.
To elaborate on how this can be abused - finance-related accounts (e.g., online banking, e-commerce, digital wallets, etc.) can be used to make unauthorized transactions and online purchases.Ĭommunication platforms (e.g., emails, social networking/media, messengers, etc.) can be used to ask the contacts for loans or proliferate malware - under the guise of the account's genuine owner. However, by attempting to sign in through such websites, users will not access any private documents and instead - disclose their email credentials to scammers.Įmails are of particular interest to cyber criminals since through them - access might be gained to associated content (e.g., accounts registered with the email).
Once a link presented in this PDF document is clicked, it redirects to a phishing site requesting the aforementioned information. The text states that to view the file, users will need to provide their email and password on the opened website. Supposedly, it is a security measure, and users will be able to access the document by clicking one of the links below. Hence, it is being sent again - using a " secured Adobe Reader file".Īfter this attachment (titled " Adobe.pdf") is downloaded and opened, the text therein states that the actual PDF is stored on a secure server.
This letter claims that the recipient has been sent a bill multiple times, but there has been no response. The text contents can differ drastically, ranging from purchase/payment-related messages to lottery prize themed notifications.įor example, the fake "Focke & Co" email with the subject " Bill of landing" (image above) contains such a PDF file. They can be disguised as messages from legitimate companies, organizations, institutions, authorities, and other entities. This letter had a PDF attachment that redirected to a phishing site targeting email account log-in credentials.Įmails with Adobe Reader file attachments, which are designed for phishing, can contain a wide variety of deceptive information. "Adobe Reader File email scam" refers to spam campaigns that proliferate PDF documents containing links to phishing websites.Īfter inspecting a fake "Focke & Co" letter with the subject "Bill of landing", we determined that it is an instance of the "Adobe Reader File email scam".
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