Avoid getting scammed by fake "Irrevocable Payment Order" emails
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on (updated)
What kind of email is "Irrevocable Payment Order"?
After reading the "Irrevocable Payment Order" email, we determined that it is spam. This fake letter claims that funds were withheld from the recipient due to banker corruption. Following an investigation, it was decided to immediately release the exorbitant amount of money to the recipient once they verified their identity.
This phishing mail targets personally identifiable information and may also seek to trick victims into sending funds to scammers.
"Irrevocable Payment Order" email scam overview
The scam email with the subject "Compensation" (may vary) is presented as a missive from the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) – one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN).
The letter states that an investigation has been undertaken to learn why the recipient had not yet received their funds. It was uncovered that the recipient and another 367 victims had their funds withheld by corrupt banking officials who had been trying to divert the money into their private accounts.
The World Bank Group (WBG) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have issued a guarantee for the fund release. The recipient will be sent an "ATM MASTER GOLD CARD" with 1.5 million USD on it. Personally identifiable information must be verified, and the claims agent has to be contacted to ensure the successful delivery of the card.
It must be emphasized that all the information provided by this email is false, and this mail is not associated with any real public figures, ECOSOC, UN, WBG, IMF, or any other legitimate entities.
This spam email targets recipients' names, addresses, and telephone numbers. This information alone can be used for a variety of nefarious activities, but the "Irrevocable Payment Order" letter also entreats recipients to contact the scammers.
What the cyber criminals will ask of victims can vary – however, the scam will carry significant risks regardless of its modus operandi. Scammers often request payment for bogus reasons, such as settling taxes or paying for shipping, processing, documentation, etc.
Typically, difficult-to-trace methods are used to acquire funds (e.g., cryptocurrencies, gift cards, pre-paid vouchers, cash hidden in packages and shipped, etc.). By relying on these methods, criminals lower the chances of successful prosecution and of victims getting their money back.
To summarize, by trusting an email like "Irrevocable Payment Order" – users can experience severe privacy issues, financial losses, and even identity theft.
| Name | "Irrevocable Payment Order" phishing email |
| Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud |
| Fake Claim | Undelivered 1.5 million USD belonging to the recipient will be sent to them in an ATM card. |
| Disguise | United Nations, UN Economic and Social Council, World Bank Group, and International Monetary Fund. |
| 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. |
Phishing spam campaign examples
"Phone Number Was Added To Your Account", "Wells Fargo - Unusual Account Activity", "Organizing A Foundation", "Password Nearing Expiration", and "Donation Of Crypto Funds" are merely some of our articles on phishing emails. This mail primarily seeks personally identifiable data, account log-in credentials, and finance-related information.
Various scams are promoted via spam, and it is used to proliferate malware. While the commonly held belief that these emails are full of errors is not untrue, it is not always the case. This mail can appear incredibly legitimate and even believably mimic messages from genuine organizations, companies, service providers, institutions, authorities, and other entities.
How do spam campaigns infect computers?
Spam campaigns are prevalent in malware distribution. Deceptive emails/messages can include infectious files as attachments or download links. These files can be documents (PDF, Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, etc.), archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), JavaScript, and so forth.
Once a malicious file is opened – the malware download/installation chain is triggered. Some formats need additional interaction to initiate infection processes. For example, Microsoft Office files require users to enable macro commands (i.e., editing/content, while OneNote documents need them to click embedded links/files.
How to avoid installation of malware?
We recommend caution with incoming emails, DMs/PMs, SMSes, and other messages. Attachments or links in suspect/irrelevant mail must not be opened, as they can be virulent.
However, malware is proliferated using various techniques. Therefore, we advise vigilance when browsing, as the Internet is full of well-disguised fraudulent and malicious content.
Another recommendation is to download only from official and verified channels. Additionally, all programs must be activated and updated using legitimate functions/tools, as illegal activation ("cracking") tools and third-party updates can contain malware.
We must stress the importance of having a dependable anti-virus installed and kept updated. Security software must be used to perform regular system scans and to remove threats/issues. 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 "Irrevocable Payment Order" spam email letter:
Subject: Compensation
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
OHCHR ADDRESS:
OFFICE OF THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR HUMAN RIGHTS (OHCHR)
PALAIS WILSON 52 RUE DES PÂQUIS CH-1201 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND.
IRREVOCABLE PAYMENT ORDER
Greetings***** ,
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner For Human Rights (Ohchr) has investigated why you have not yet received your funds.
The World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have issued an irrevocable payment guarantee in your favor today.
In which United Nations for Human rights and International Monetary Fund (IMF) European Cooperate Office have received all the overdue outstanding payment owed to the following firms, Contract, Inheritance Next of Kin and Lottery Beneficiaries that was originated from Europe, Americans, African, Asian Including Middle East. And to reconcile all debts on foreign Contractor who was swindled by Fraudster/Scammers.
We are about to release your compensation payment via ATM MASTER GOLD CARD which is functional in any ATM Machine in the world with the use of your pin code. This compensation is for those who are selected from scam victim list on our database. Your name is among of 367 Victims listed to be compensated by World Bank/IMF via ATM CARD each valued payment of US$1,500,000.00 (ONE Million ,Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars Only) has been unnecessarily Delayed by corrupt officials of the Bank who are Trying to divert your funds into their private accounts.
To forestall this, security for your funds was organized in the form of your personal Identification and this will enable only you to have direct Control over your funds in your bank account. We will monitor this payment ourselves via SECURITY FINANCE CORPORATION to avoid the hopeless situation created by officials of the bank.
You are therefore advice to contact your claim agent below;
Contact Person: Mr.Michael Malakasa
PHONE: +27605970830
E-mail: malakasa.mic@yandex.com, jfdesignerevent@gmail.com
AMOUNT in ATM CARD: US$1,500,000.00
But daily Withdraw Limit would be US$25,000.00 (Twenty Five Thousand Dollars) or its equivalent to any currency depend which nation you are residing at the moment If you like to receive your fund this way please let us know by contacting the card payment centre and also send the following information:
1. Your Full Name:
2. Address
3. Telephone Numbers:
DR. Phil Petek
UNITED NATIONS OFFICE
1 Data are provided by international agencies of the United Nations system and other international organizations. The full list of contributing organizations will be made available at: hxxp://unstats.un.org/sdgs/.
2 A supplementary document (in English only) containing the statistical annex of global and regional data for the Sustainable Development Goal indicators, based on the latest available data, is available from: ttp://unstats.un.org/sdgs/.
Appearance of the "Irrevocable Payment Order" spam email (GIF):
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Quick menu:
- What is "Irrevocable Payment Order" phishing email?
- 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?
Spam campaigns are not personal, even if they include information relevant to the recipients. Cyber criminals send out this mail in massive operations – hence, thousands of users receive identical (or incredibly similar) emails.
I have provided my personal information when tricked by this spam email, what should I do?
If you have provided your log-in credentials – change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and inform their official support without delay. However, if the disclosed information was of a different personal nature (e.g., ID card details, passport scans/photos, credit/debit card numbers, etc.) – immediately contact the appropriate authorities.
I have read a spam email but didn't open the attachment, is my computer infected?
No, reading an email will not trigger any system infection processes. Devices are compromised when malicious attachments or links are opened/clicked.
I have downloaded and opened a file attached to a spam email, is my computer infected?
The format of the opened file might influence whether an infection occurred. Executables cause infections almost without fail once opened. While some other formats – like documents – may need extra interaction to begin downloading/installing malware (e.g., enabling macros, clicking embedded content, etc.).
Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?
Yes, Combo Cleaner is designed to scan systems and eliminate all manner of threats. It can detect and remove most of the known malware infections. Remember that sophisticated malicious programs typically hide deep within systems – therefore, performing a complete system scan is crucial for detection.
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