Beware of unexpected “Scanned Documents” arriving in your Inbox .. they’re laden with viruses

It seems the scammers are getting craftier by the minute, now sending you fake emails with attachments, using your own domain name, and purporting to be from your own scanner or photocopier!

In the example below, it looks like a legitimate scan-to-email you’d expect from a multifunction centre or photocopier, however there are a few giveaways that indicate that the message is suspicious:

1. Unexpected file format: The scanned document is not a PDF or a JPG file, but rather a Microsoft Word .DOC file. The vast majority of scanners – and typically those that are only high end, configured for Optical Character Recognition – can send you a .DOC file directly from the scanner itself
2. Unexpected scanner model: The scanner model, in this case a Fuji Xerox DocuCentre, doesn’t actually exist in our company!
3. Unexpected sender email address: All of the scan-to-emails that our photocopier sends, don’t come from reception@activitsystems.com.au ..
4. Unexpected email! In this case, I wasn’t expecting any scan-to-email messages. Alarm bells are ringing!!

Importantly, it seems that the virus-laden email is evading detection by many spam filters and antivirus applications. Talk amongst our industry peers is rife with reports of the email successfully bypassing many different spam filters and antivirus applications.

If you spot an unusual and unexpected email like the above, DO NOT OPEN THE ATTACHMENT! If in doubt, please check with us – contact us on 1300 228 480, or forward the suspect email to support@aitsys.com.au

Thanks, and keep your Inbox safe!