How to recognize scams like "IRREVOCABLE PAYMENT ORDER"

What is "IRREVOCABLE PAYMENT ORDER"?

Our examination of this email has shown that it is a scam. Emails like this one are known as phishing emails. Scammers behind the scam overview in our article below aim to trick recipients into sending them money or disclosing personal information. Recipients should ignore such emails to avoid potential consequences.

More about the "IRREVOCABLE PAYMENT ORDER" scam email

The email is disguised as an official letter from the "Economic and Social Council" and the "International Environmental Protection Movement", supposedly linked to the United Nations. It claims to inform the recipient that their payment of $1,500,000 has been delayed due to their involvement with corrupt officials.

The email urges that these dealings must stop for the recipient to receive their funds, offering a solution by directing them to contact a supposed agent named "Mr. Michael Malakasa". The email requests personal information, including a full name, address, and a copy of identification.

It includes a fake reference code that must be provided when contacting the agent. Other details included in this email are malakasa.mic@yandex.com and jfdesignerevent@gmail.com email addresses and a phone number (+443300010099).

In reality, this email is a scam designed to deceive recipients into providing personal information. Also, when contacted, scammers behind this email likely would try to trick individuals into paying some "administration" or other fees to extract money from them. Either way, none of the claims in this email are true. Whoever receives such an email should ignore it.

Threat Summary:

Name	IRREVOCABLE PAYMENT ORDER Email Scam
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	The recipient has not received $1,500,000 due to communication with corrupt officials
Disguise	Letter from Economic and Social Council, International Environmental Protection Movement
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

The email described above is an example of a scam that uses fake names, contact details, and other elements to trick recipients into disclosing personal information and (or) transferring money to scammers. Recipients should always be cautious of unsolicited messages promising large sums of money and should verify the legitimacy of such communications before responding.

It is important to note that fraudulent emails can be utilized to deploy malware. Some examples of scam emails are "Luciano Pavarotti Testament", "Review This File Below", and "You Have A New Document".

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

When cybercriminals employ email to distribute malware, they send malicious files or links. The files attached to such emails usually include MS Office documents, PDFs, executables, ISO files, archives, and others. Users infect computers by enabling macros in malicious MS Office documents, opening malicious executables, or taking other actions.

Links in fraudulent emails can take users to web pages designed to trick them into downloading malicious files or programs. They can also lead users to sites that automatically download malware on devices.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Always download software from official websites or app stores. Using other sources and installing pirated software, key generators, or cracking tools can lead to malware infiltration. Do not click on links or open attachments in unexpected or irrelevant emails, especially if they are from unfamiliar senders.

Avoid interacting with pop-ups, advertisements, links, buttons, etc., on dubious websites. Make sure your operating system and applications are consistently updated. Perform regular scans with a trusted security tool to keep your computer secure.

If you have already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

The appearance of IRREVOCABLE PAYMENT ORDER" scam email (GIF):

Text presented in the "IRREVOCABLE PAYMENT ORDER" email letter:

Subject: RE Compensation
From:
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL

INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION MOVEMENT

1775 K ST NW # 400, NEW YORK 20006-1500,

UNITED STATES

IRREVOCABLE PAYMENT ORDER

Dear -.

This is to officially inform you that we have verified your contract /inheritance/Winning file and found out why you have not received your payment ,reason because you are still dealing with some None Officials/Ex-staff of the bank, which made your entire attempt to secure the release of your fund abortive.

We wish to advise that such illegal act have to be stopped by you, if you wish to receive your payment since we have decided to bring a solution to your problem.

During the course of our investigation, we discovered with dismay that payment of US$1,500,000.00 (ONE Million Five Hundred United States Dollars only) part payment has been unnecessarily delayed by corrupt officials of the Bank who are Trying to divert your funds into their private accounts.

We will monitor this payment ourselves to avoid the hopeless situation created by officials of the bank.

You are therefore advice to contact your claim agent for your MASTER ATM GOLD CARD below;

CONTACT PERSON: MR .MICHAEL MALAKASA

DIRECT PHONE: +443300010099

E-MAIL: malakasa.mic@yandex.com, jfdesignerevent@gmail.com

PAYOUT AMOUNT: US$1,500,000.00- (One Million, Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars Only)

1. Your Full Names:

2. Address:

3. Telephone/ Fax Numbers:

4. Copy of Identification for payment:

5. Country of Origin:

Note: Due to imposters, we request you present this reference code to the ATM Card officer ATM/UNSCXX0X5X9X3X24 when contacting him

Please make sure that your reply goes through any of the ATM Director email as stated above. We are sorry for PAIN you must have gone through.

On behalf of UNITED NATIONS

Yours Sincerely

DR. RHAI SAI

UNITED NATIONS OFFICE

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Quick menu:

• What is IRREVOCABLE PAYMENT ORDER phishing scam?
• 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?

In most cases, receiving a scam email is random. Scammers send their emails to all addresses they have. Simply put, these emails are not targeted (personalized).

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

If you have shared account credentials, promptly update your passwords. For any personal information disclosed, like credit card or ID details, reach out to the relevant authorities.

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

If it was an executable file, your system is likely compromised. On the other hand, if the file was a document such as a .pdf or .doc, you might have avoided malware infiltration infection, as these types of files do not always activate malware just by being opened.

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

Simply opening an email is safe and does not pose any risk. The danger comes from clicking on links or opening attachments within fraudulent emails.

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

Yes, Combo Cleaner effectively finds and removes almost all known malware. Since sophisticated malware can hide deeply within your system, it is important to run a complete system scan.

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