Outline:
Email purporting to be from Yahoo claims that you recently initiated an action to shut down your Yahoo account and you should click a ‘Cancel Request’ link if you do not want the account closed.
Brief Analysis:
The email is not from Yahoo. It is a phishing scam designed to steal your Yahoo login details so that your account can be hijacked and used to launch spam and scam campaigns in your name.
Subject: Yahoo Mail
Yahoo Secure Mail.
Dear [email address removed],You Recently Initiated an Action on your Yahoo account to Shut down your Yahoo , Did you initiate this Action? If No, Kindly Cancel Request below by clicking the Cancel Request icon below log on to your account and your account will be automatically restored to it’s normal Yahoo! settings. This will enable you enjoy better Yahoo Mail Service.
Cancel Request
Thanks for choosing Yahoo.
Regards,
Detailed Analysis:
According to this email, which claims to be from Yahoo Secure Mail, you recently initiated an action to shut down your Yahoo account. The email advises that, if you did not initiate the supposed shut down action, you should click a ‘Cancel Request’ link to restore your account to its normal Yahoo settings.
However, the email is not from Yahoo and no account shut down action has been initiated. The email is just a crude phishing scam designed to steal your Yahoo account login details. The scammers hope that at least a few recipients will click the cancel link in the mistaken belief that they must do so to save their account.
If you do click the link, you will be taken to a fraudulent webpage that has been built to emulate a genuine Yahoo login. A form on the page asks you to enter your email address and account password and click a button labelled ‘Sign in to Cancel Request”. After signing in on the fake page, you will be automatically redirected to the genuine Yahoo France website.
Meanwhile, the scammers can collect the login details you entered and use them to hijack your Yahoo account. Once they have gained access to your account, they can use it to send out spam and scam emails in your name.
Email phishing scams like this one are very common. Be very wary of any email that claims that you must click a link or open an attached file to rectify a supposed account problem. It is always safer to login to all of your online accounts by entering the address into your browser’s address bar or via an official app.
Yahoo provides information about reporting such scams on its help website.
Last updated: June 8, 2016
First published: June 8, 2016
By Brett M. Christensen
About Hoax-Slayer
References
Report spam, hacked accounts, and phishing scams to Yahoo
Yahoo Account Confirmation Phishing Scam
Phishing Scams – Anti-Phishing Information
Original Source : https://www.hoax-slayer.net/shut-down-your-yahoo-phishing-scam-email/