How to spot fake letters like "Anti-Fraud International Monitoring Group Compensation"

What kind of email is "Anti-Fraud International Monitoring Group Compensation"?

We have examined this email and determined that it is a scam. The scammers behind this letter pretend to be Mrs. Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations. Their goal is to trick recipients into believing they are eligible for significant monetary compensation.

More about the "Anti-Fraud International Monitoring Group Compensation" scam email

This scam email informs the recipient that meetings have been held with the World Bank president, Mr. David Malpass, and presidents of seven continents to address the issue of scam victims. According to the reports received from the Anti-Fraud International Monitoring Group, the recipient's name, and email have been submitted for compensation.

It claims that the United Nations have agreed to compensate the recipient with $1,500,000.00, including compensation for failed international businesses due to government problems.

The payment has supposedly been arranged through an ATM MasterCard, as instructed by Mr. David Malpass. The recipient is advised to contact the Representative Agent, Rev. Pastor Richard Hilson, using the provided email and phone number, and to forward their full details to him for the release of the ATM MasterCard.

This letter asks the recipient to send full name, country and city, delivery address, occupation, telephone numbers, and ID card or passport details to revpastorerichardhilson90@gmail.com (or call the provided number).

This email should be ignored as the information provided in it is false. The individuals (scammers) who created this email have malicious intent, such as trying to obtain personal information and (or) money.

Threat Summary:

Name	Anti-Fraud International Monitoring Group Compensation Email Scam
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	The recipient is eligible for compensation totalling $1.500,000.00
Scammer Phone Number	+22678638815
Disguise	Letter from Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations
Symptoms	Unauthorized online purchases, changed online account passwords, identity theft, illegal access of the computer.
Distribution methods	Deceptive emails, rogue online pop-up ads, search engine poisoning techniques, misspelled domains.
Damage	Loss of sensitive private information, monetary loss, identity theft.
Malware Removal (Windows)	To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. ▼ Download Combo Cleaner To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. 7 days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

Similar scam emails in general

Scammers who send scam emails often impersonate legitimate companies, organizations, or individuals to trick recipients into giving away sensitive information or money. They aim to steal credit card information, login credentials, social security numbers, ID card details, and other personal information or money (including cryptocurrency).

It is common for scam emails to be disguised as important/official/urgent letters. Examples of similar emails are "Mail Server Upgrade", "UPS Custom Permit Email Scam", and "Foundation For Humanitarian Work". It is important to know that email can be used to trick recipients into infecting their computers.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Emails delivering malware contain harmful links or attachments. The recipient's computer becomes infected after downloading and running the malware (malicious files). Threat actors often use various types of files such as MS Office documents, PDFs, JavaScript files, executables, ISO files, archives with malicious files, and others to spread malware.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Thoroughly inspect all emails before clicking any links or attachments, especially if they are presented in unexpected, irrelevant emails from unknown or suspicious senders. Download software and files only from trustworthy sources such as official websites and app stores. Avoid downloads from Peer-to-Peer networks, free file hosting sites, and unreliable other sources.

Exercise caution when encountering ads or links on suspicious web pages. Keep your operating system and installed programs up to date, and use well-known antivirus software for protection. If you've already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the "Anti-Fraud International Monitoring Group Compensation" email letter:
 

Subject: Dearest

 

This is to official inform you that we have been having meetings for
the past months now which ended three weeks ago with Mr. David Malpass
the World Bank president and other seven continent presidents on the
Congress we treated on solution to Scam victim problems.

Note: we have decided to contact you following the reports we received
from Anti-Fraud International Monitoring Group your name/email has
been submitted to us therefore the United Nations have agreed to
compensate you with the sum of (USD$1.500,000.00) this compensation is
also including international business that failed due to Government
problems etc.

We have arranged your payment through ATM MasterCard which is the
latest instruction from the World Bank president Mr. David Malpass,
therefore be advice to contact our Representative Agent, Rev. Pastor
Richard Hilson who is in position to release your ATM MasterCard
contact him with the below email & phone number and make sure you
forwards your full details to him.

full name......
Your  country/city........
Your  delivery address......
Your  Occupation.......
Your  telephone number.........
Your identity card or passport.........

Contact him through E-mail:
CONTACT NAME: Rev. Pastor Richard Hilson
E-MAIL: revpastorerichardhilson90@gmail.com
TEL/NUM: +22678638815

Once again for the collection of your MasterCard contact our
representative Rev. Pastor Richard Hilson to enable you confirm your
ATM MasterCard without further delay and note that any other contact
you made outside his office is at your own risk.

Thanks,
Best Regards,
MRS. AMINA MOHAMMED,
Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations

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Quick menu:

• What is Anti-Fraud International Monitoring Group Compensation scam letter?
• Types of malicious emails.
• How to spot a malicious email?
• What to do if you fell for an email scam?

Types of malicious emails:

Phishing Emails

Most commonly, cybercriminals use deceptive emails to trick Internet users into giving away their sensitive private information, for example, login information for various online services, email accounts, or online banking information.

Such attacks are called phishing. In a phishing attack, cybercriminals usually send an email message with some popular service logo (for example, Microsoft, DHL, Amazon, Netflix), create urgency (wrong shipping address, expired password, etc.), and place a link which they hope their potential victims will click on.

After clicking the link presented in such email message, victims are redirected to a fake website that looks identical or extremely similar to the original one. Victims are then asked to enter their password, credit card details, or some other information that gets stolen by cybercriminals.

Emails with Malicious Attachments

Another popular attack vector is email spam with malicious attachments that infect users' computers with malware. Malicious attachments usually carry trojans that are capable of stealing passwords, banking information, and other sensitive information.

In such attacks, cybercriminals' main goal is to trick their potential victims into opening an infected email attachment. To achieve this goal, email messages usually talk about recently received invoices, faxes, or voice messages.

If a potential victim falls for the lure and opens the attachment, their computers get infected, and cybercriminals can collect a lot of sensitive information.

While it's a more complicated method to steal personal information (spam filters and antivirus programs usually detect such attempts), if successful, cybercriminals can get a much wider array of data and can collect information for a long period of time.

Sextortion Emails

This is a type of phishing. In this case, users receive an email claiming that a cybercriminal could access the webcam of the potential victim and has a video recording of one's masturbation.

To get rid of the video, victims are asked to pay a ransom (usually using Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency). Nevertheless, all of these claims are false - users who receive such emails should ignore and delete them.

How to spot a malicious email?

While cyber criminals try to make their lure emails look trustworthy, here are some things that you should look for when trying to spot a phishing email:

• Check the sender's ("from") email address: Hover your mouse over the "from" address and check if it's legitimate. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft, be sure to check if the email address is @microsoft.com and not something suspicious like @m1crosoft.com, @microsfot.com, @account-security-noreply.com, etc.
• Check for generic greetings: If the greeting in the email is "Dear user", "Dear @youremail.com", "Dear valued customer", this should raise suspiciousness. Most commonly, companies call you by your name. Lack of this information could signal a phishing attempt.
• Check the links in the email: Hover your mouse over the link presented in the email, if the link that appears seems suspicious, don't click it. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft and the link in the email shows that it will go to firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0... you shouldn't trust it. It's best not to click any links in the emails but to visit the company website that sent you the email in the first place.
• Don't blindly trust email attachments: Most commonly, legitimate companies will ask you to log in to their website and to view any documents there; if you received an email with an attachment, it's a good idea to scan it with an antivirus application. Infected email attachments are a common attack vector used by cybercriminals.

To minimise the risk of opening phishing and malicious emails we recommend using Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows. 

Example of a spam email:

What to do if you fell for an email scam?

• If you clicked on a link in a phishing email and entered your password - be sure to change your password as soon as possible. Usually, cybercriminals collect stolen credentials and then sell them to other groups that use them for malicious purposes. If you change your password in a timely manner, there's a chance that criminals won't have enough time to do any damage.
• If you entered your credit card information - contact your bank as soon as possible and explain the situation. There's a good chance that you will need to cancel your compromised credit card and get a new one.
• If you see any signs of identity theft - you should immediately contact the Federal Trade Commission. This institution will collect information about your situation and create a personal recovery plan.
• If you opened a malicious attachment - your computer is probably infected, you should scan it with a reputable antivirus application. For this purpose, we recommend using Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows.
• Help other Internet users - report phishing emails to Anti-Phishing Working Group, FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, National Fraud Information Center and U.S. Department of Justice.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Why did I receive this email?

Your email address may have been obtained via a data breach, or you may have fallen for a previous phishing attempt and are a list of potential targets. Either way, scam emails are not personal - all recipients receive the same letter.

I have provided my personal information when tricked by this email, what should I do?

Urgently change all passwords if you have shared any account information. If you have given out other sensitive information, such as credit card numbers, ID details, etc., quickly notify the relevant authorities.

I have downloaded and opened a malicious file attached to an email, is my computer infected?

It is possible that your computer is infected if you have downloaded and opened a malicious file attached to an email. It depends on the type of malicious file. For instance, malicious MS Office documents infect computers after enabling macros commands, while malicious executables infect computers immediately after opening them.

I have sent cryptocurrency to the address presented in such email, can I get my money back?

Cryptocurrency transactions are irreversible, meaning they cannot be undone once they are completed.

I have read the email but did not open the attachment, is my computer infected?

Reading an email with a malicious attachment or link does not infect a computer.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections that were present in email attachment?

Combo Cleaner can detect and remove a wide range of malware infections. However, advanced malware can be hidden deep within a system, so it is recommended to perform a full system scan for thorough results.

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