Following similar patterns to previous phishing scams, the emails are designed to trick the recipient into downloading malware.

(Credit to MailGuard for the above image)

The email looks realistic and to the untrained eye mimics an original email until you look closely at its content. In the fake email, the recipient email address is:

noreply@syrenergy.com

But real invoices originate from the email address:

noreply@billing.energyaustraliaonline.com.au

There are also tell-tale signs that the hoax email was designed and produced at an amateur level with there being some spelling errors in the content. The word July is spelt incorrectly – instead it is spelt “Jule”. There are occasions where the grammar doesn’t make sense or doesn’t sound professional – but this has proven to be advantageous on the attackers part.

The reason why scam emails with incorrect spelling and grammar makes its way past the defence filters is because traditional anti-spam detection uses signature-based technology where they match key paragraphs of blocks of text which are known to originate from hoax phishing emails. One letter could be the difference that allows an email to pass by the filters and go undetected because it isn’t a complete match with the red flagged signature-based content.

The email will, invevitably, contain a call-to-action button – in this case it’s ‘View Bill’, which when clicked will automatically download malware onto your system.

Here at IntelliTeK our relationships with industry-leading vendors means the technology used to filter out these types of phishing emails are more advanced than the usual offerings. To discuss your email security options and other managed IT services needs, please give us a call or send us an email.

About IntelliTeK Pty Ltd

IntelliTeK is a managed IT services company in Sydney, Australia. With major vendor relationships and accreditation’s from the worlds leading IT companies including WatchGuard, Microsoft, Trend Micro and Amazon Web Services, IntelliTeK have kept clients happy since 2007. 

IntelliTeK are always up to date with the latest cloud backup solutions which is why we only partner with the best in the industry. If your company isn’t fully equipped to fend off cyber criminals, then get in touch with us so we can discuss your options. Call us on 1300 768 779, email us at info@intellitek.com.au, fill out the web form, or have a Live Chat with us below.