Do not trust fake "Donation For Education And Less Privileged" emails

What kind of email is "Donation For Education And Less Privileged"?

After reading the "Donation For Education And Less Privileged" email, we determined that it is spam. The letter seeks the recipient's aid in distributing a massive amount of money towards the education of the underprivileged. This type of scam mail usually targets private information and/or recipients' funds.

"Donation For Education And Less Privileged" email scam overview

The spam with the subject "How are you my dear" (may vary) is presented as a missive from a terminally ill widow of a clergyman. The supposed sender asks the recipient to aid them in distributing 4.5 million USD towards education of the less privileged in memory of her late husband.

It must be emphasized that all of the information provided in this email is false, and it is not associated with any real individuals.

The scammers behind such campaigns can target personally identifiable and/or finance-related information (e.g., ID card details, passport photos/scans, credit/debit card numbers, etc.). This kind of lure is rarely used for acquiring account log-in credentials (e.g., emails, social networking, e-commerce, online banking, etc.), but it is not impossible.

Alternatively, cyber criminals can ask recipients to send them money. Victims are given reasonable-sounding purposes, such as paying taxes or transaction fees. Difficult-to-trace methods are used to acquire the funds (e.g., cryptocurrencies, cash hidden in innocuous-looking packages and shipped, gift cards, pre-paid vouchers, etc.); relying on them decreases the chances of successful prosecution and victims recovering their funds.

In summary, by trusting an email like "Donation For Education And Less Privileged" – users can experience severe privacy issues, financial losses, and identity theft.

If you have disclosed personally identifiable or finance-related data – contact the appropriate authorities without delay. And if you've provided your log-in credentials – change the passwords of all possibly compromised accounts and inform their official support.

Threat Summary:

Name	"Donation For Education And Less Privileged" spam email
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Terminally ill widow seeks aid with distributing $4.5 million to charity.
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.

Spam campaigns in general

We have examined countless spam emails; "HP Scanner email scam", "Lee Shau-Kee Charitable Foundation", "Saudi Aramco email scam", "Mitsubishi Corp. email scam", and "Email Password Must Renew Soon" are merely some of our latest articles.

Various scams are endorsed through spam mail, and it is used to distribute malware. While these emails are often full of errors, they can be competently disguised as messages from genuine entities (e.g., companies, organizations, institutions, authorities, etc.).

Due to how prevalent this mail is and how well-made it can be – we highly recommend treating incoming emails, PMs/DMs, SMSes, and other messages with caution.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Spam campaigns spread malware by distributing malicious files. They can be attached to or linked inside spam emails/messages. Infectious files can be in various formats, e.g., executables (.exe, .run, etc.), archives (RAR, ZIP, etc.), documents (Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, PDF, etc.), JavaScript, and so on.

Merely opening a virulent file can be enough to initiate the system infection process. However, other formats may need additional interaction. For example, Microsoft Office documents require users to enable macro commands (i.e., editing/content), while OneNote files need them to click embedded links or files.

How to avoid installation of malware?

We advise exercising caution with incoming emails and other messages. Attachments or links present in suspect/irrelevant mail must not be opened, as they can be infectious.

However, malware is not proliferated exclusively via spam mail. Therefore, we recommend being vigilant when browsing since fraudulent and malicious online content typically appears genuine and harmless.

Furthermore, all downloads must be made from official and verified sources. Another recommendation is to activate and update programs using legitimate functions/tools, as illegal activation tools ("cracks") and third-party updates can contain malware.

It is essential to have a dependable anti-virus installed and kept up-to-date. Security software must be used to run regular system scans and to remove detected threats and 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 "Donation For Education And Less Privileged" spam email letter:

Subject: How are you my dear

How are you my dear,

My name is Mrs Maropene Patel,I wish to donate towards education and the less privileged through your help.I am writing concerning my plans to donate in memory of my deceased husband, Rt. Rev Mathew Patel, I wish to donate $4.5Million toward education and the less privileged and to ask for your assistance. As you may know, I am suffering from colon cancer,according to my doctor, I have few weeks to live please i need prayer's.

Throughout his years; my husband stressed the importance of education and the less privileged I feel that this is what he would have wanted me to do with the money that he left for charity.

These services bring so much joy to the kids. Together we are transforming lives and building brighter futures-but without you, it just wouldn't be possible. Thank you so much for your support.

Sincerely Mrs Maropene Patel

Instant automatic malware removal: Manual threat removal might be a lengthy and complicated process that requires advanced IT skills. Combo Cleaner is a professional automatic malware removal tool that is recommended to get rid of malware. Download it by clicking the button below:
▼ DOWNLOAD Combo Cleaner By downloading any software listed on this website you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. 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.

Quick menu:

• What is "Donation For Education And Less Privileged" spam 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 emails are not personal, even if they include relevant details. Recipient-related information is typically obtained from publicly available sources or via phishing scams. Cyber criminals distribute this mail in large-scale campaigns – 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 disclosed your log-in credentials – immediately change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and inform their official support. And if you have provided other private data (e.g., passport photos/scans, ID card details, credit/debit card numbers, etc.) – contact the corresponding authorities without delay.

I have read a spam email but didn't open the attachment, is my computer infected?

No, reading an email will not trigger any malware download/installation processes. Systems are infected when malicious attachments or links are opened.

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

If the opened file was an executable (.exe, .run, etc.) – most likely, yes – your device was compromised. However, you might have avoided the infection if it was a document (.doc, .xls, .pdf, .one, etc.). These formats may need extra actions to jumpstart system infection processes (e.g., enabling macro commands, clicking embedded files/links, etc.).

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Yes, Combo Cleaner can detect and remove practically all known malware infections. Note that running a complete system scan is crucial since sophisticated malicious software typically hides deep within systems.

▼ Show Discussion