"Cloud Storage Full" Scam Emails
Fake emails urge you to secure your cloud files.
tl;dr
Fraudulent affiliate marketing emails falsely claim that your cloud storage is full and that your files may be at risk if you don’t click a link to upgrade. The emails are designed to trick you into buying digital products or services.
My spam inboxes are currently being inundated by bogus marketing emails claiming that my cloud storage is full. Supposedly, if I don’t click a button to upgrade my storage capacity, my stored files will be at risk.
There are several variations of the emails:
If you click the “Upgrade” button, a website with the following warning pop-up will load in your browser:
If you click “Continue” on the pop-up, the bogus site will pretend to scan your cloud storage and show you results indicating that all of your storage has been used. In reality, nothing is being scanned. The supposed file scan is just an animation that runs in your browser.
If you click “Continue” again, you will be taken to a third-party website that urges you to buy antivirus software packages, online backup services, or a variety of other digital products. These products vary depending on when you click and where you are clicking from.
Dodgy Affiliate Marketing Tactics
The products themselves are legitimate. It appears that unscrupulous online marketers are using the deceptive “storage full” tactics to increase affiliate1 sales.
Don’t Click - Don’t Buy
Cloud storage services may send you legitimate notifications to alert you that you are nearing your storage limit. Scammers exploit this by creating fake storage limit notifications in the hope that people will click and buy.
Don’t click any links or buttons in such emails. Instead, log in to your cloud storage in the way that you usually do. Once logged in, you will be able to check your storage limits and, if necessary, either upgrade to more storage or delete unneeded files to make more room.
And, don’t reward spammers and unethical marketers by buying their products
Note that affiliate marketing is a legitimate online marketing strategy where individuals or businesses (affiliates) earn a commission by promoting products or services offered by another company. When someone clicks on the affiliate's unique tracking link and makes a purchase, the affiliate receives a percentage of the sale. It's a popular way to generate income online, as affiliates can promote products through websites, blogs, social media, or email, without needing to create or manage the product themselves.
Unfortunately, instead of promoting products via genuine methods, some affiliate marketers use deceptive tactics and spam campaigns to generate affiliate sales.