Avoid getting scammed by fake "Fraud Victim" emails
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on
What kind of email is "Fraud Victim"?
After reading the "Fraud Victim" email, we determined that it is spam. The letter claims that the recipient is entitled to receive an exorbitant sum from a fund created to compensate fraud victims and spread awareness about financial fraud.
This phishing message is not associated with any legitimate entities. Its purpose is to collect personally identifiable information and possibly deceive recipients into sending money to scammers.
"Fraud Victim" email scam overview
The spam email with the subject "YOUR FUND AND BENEFITS FROM BHC COMMISSION." (may vary) addresses the recipient as a "beneficiary". The senders identify themselves as "Apex Financial Auditors", who have been assigned by the British High Commission – housed in countries of the Commonwealth of Nations, it is a British diplomatic mission providing embassy-equivalent services.
The scam letter states that the recipient is eligible to receive 633,000.00 GBP (Great British Pound). The money comes from a supposed fund established to provide relief to fraud victims, as well as spread fraud awareness and education.
It must be emphasized that the information in the email is fake, and this mail is not associated with the British High Commission or any other real entities.
The letter asks the recipient to "reconfirm" their phone numbers and contact address. It is likely that during the communication with victims, scammers will make other requests.
Additional data may be targeted, such as other personally identifiable details (e.g., name, sex, occupation, company, marital status, ID card or passport photos/scans, etc.), various log-in credentials (e.g., emails, social networking, e-commerce, digital wallets, online banking, etc.), and finance-related information (e.g., bank account details, credit/debit card numbers, etc.).
Furthermore, scammers can seek money directly; legitimate-sounding reasons may be given, such as paying taxes or delivery fees.
In summary, victims of scam mail like "Fraud Victim" can experience system infections, severe privacy issues, financial losses, and even identity theft.
If you have disclosed sensitive private information to scammers – contact the appropriate authorities without delay.
| Name | "Fraud Victim" phishing email |
| Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud |
| Fake Claim | Recipient can receive £633,000 from a fund for fraud victims. |
| Disguise | British High Commission |
| 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
We have analyzed countless spam emails; "Hilton Group Quotation Request", "Outlook Password Has Expired", "Department Of Employment & Labour", and "We Cannot Process Payment" are merely a few of our latest articles on phishing letters.
However, other scams are facilitated through this mail, including advance fee, refund, tech support, sextortion, lottery, etc. Additionally, spam is used in malware distribution.
Due to how widespread this mail is and how well-made it can be – we highly recommend approaching incoming emails, PMs/DMs, SMSes, and other messages with caution.
How do spam campaigns infect computers?
Spam campaigns are commonly used to proliferate malware. These emails include infectious files as attachments or download links. Virulent files can be archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), documents (PDF, Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, etc.), JavaScript, and so on.
Merely opening such a file can be enough to trigger the malware download/installation. Some formats need additional actions to initiate system infection processes. For example, Microsoft Office files require users to enable macro commands (i.e., editing/content), while OneNote documents need them to click on embedded links or files.
How to avoid installation of malware?
We highly recommend caution with incoming mail. Attachments or links present in dubious/irrelevant emails or messages must not be opened, as they can be malicious.
However, malware is not spread only via spam mail. Therefore, we advise being careful while browsing since the Internet is rife with deceptive and malicious content.
Furthermore, all downloads must be made from official and verified channels. Another recommendation is to activate and update software using legitimate functions/tools, as illegal activation tools ("cracks") and third-party updates can contain malware.
We must emphasize the importance of having a dependable anti-virus installed and kept up-to-date. Security programs 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 "Fraud Victim" spam email letter:
Subject: YOUR FUND AND BENEFITS FROM BHC COMMISSION.
Dear Beneficiary,
You are informed by us,Apex Financial Auditors assigned by the British High Commission United Kingdom (B.H.C) in respect of your benefits worth Six Hundred and Thirty-Three Thousand Pounds (£633,000.00 GBP) only as you are mandated to WRITE us now for the payment of your Fund through a Bank Certified Cheque/ATM CARD approved for all Recorded Online/Internet Scammed Victims as Your Internet Contact was among the Region Representatives Data Selected that will benefit from this scheme as one of the Fraud Victim by the Commission as we create fraud Awareness and also to educate and support your Profession to promote economic stability and social development worldwide.
NB : Re-Confirm Your PHONE NUMBERS and CONTACT ADDRESS including the Compulsory PAYMENT FILE Number : (BHC/ABJ/UK-CAC 0181-30-633/PMT) to our assigned Apex Manager for immediate payment using the below information.
Contact Person: Patrick Wood
E-mail : wood_p@uk2.net
Contact the above Finacial Manager immediately for your benefits with your payment File Number for verification and we hope you have been vaccinated and free from CORONA VIRUS (Covid-19).
Thank you.
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Quick menu:
- What is "Fraud Victim" 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 emails are not personal, even if they include relevant details. Cyber criminals send these messages by the thousand with the hopes that at least some recipients will fall for their scams.
I have provided my personal information when tricked by this spam email, what should I do?
If you have provided your log-in credentials – immediately change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and inform their official support. And if you've disclosed other private information (e.g., ID card details, credit 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?
Reading an email is harmless; systems are infected when malicious attachments or links are opened/clicked.
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 infected. However, you might have avoided this if it was a document (.doc, .xls, .pdf, .one, etc.). These formats may need additional actions to initiate malware download/installation, such as enabling macros, clicking embedded content, etc.
Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?
Yes, Combo Cleaner is capable of detecting and removing almost all known malware infections. It must be mentioned that performing a full system scan is essential since sophisticated malicious programs usually hide deep within systems.
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