Avoid getting scammed by fake "Rothschild Foundation" emails

What kind of email is "Rothschild Foundation"?

After inspecting the "Rothschild Foundation" email, we determined that it is spam. The phishing letter states that the recipient among four others has been awarded nearly 15 million USD from a famous philanthropic organization.

It must be emphasized that the claims made by this email are false, and this mail is not associated with the Edmond de Rothschild Foundations. Its purpose is to deceive recipients into disclosing their private information. It is noteworthy that spam of this kind often seeks to trick victims into sending scammers money as well.

"Rothschild Foundation" email scam overview

This spam mail claims that five recipients of the email have been awarded $14,970,000.00 each by the "Rothschild Foundation". The letter instructs to contact the payment officer and provide them with the following information: full name, address (country, city/state, ZIP code, etc.), phone and fax numbers, and email address.

It must be reiterated that the information in this email is false, and this mail is not associated with the actual Edmond de Rothschild Foundations.

Scammers can use personally identifiable information for a variety of nefarious purposes, including identity theft. What is more, cyber criminals may seek funds directly. Victims can be provided with legitimate-sounding reasons, such as paying taxes or transaction fees.

Difficult-to-trace methods are used for fund acquisition (e.g., cryptocurrencies, pre-paid vouchers, cash hidden in packages and shipped, gift cards, etc.) to lower the possibility of successful prosecution and fund retrieval.

To summarize, victims of scam mail like "Rothschild Foundation" can experience severe privacy issues, financial losses, and identity theft.

If you have provided personally identifiable or finance-related data (e.g., ID card details, passport photos/scans, credit/debit card numbers. etc.) – immediately contact the appropriate authorities.

Threat Summary:

Name	"Rothschild Foundation" phishing email
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Recipient has been awarded $14,970,000 by a philanthropic organization.
Disguise	Edmond de Rothschild Foundations
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.

Phishing spam campaign examples

We have written about thousands of spam campaigns; "VOIP Call Messaging Service", "Your Caller Left A Audio Message", "Maintenance Protection", "Luciano Pavarotti Testament", "Mailbox Has Been Successfully Upgraded", and "Security Turned Off" are just some of our latest articles on phishing emails.

This mail primarily targets personally identifiable information, log-in credentials (usernames/passwords), and finance-related data. However, various scams are promoted through spam, and it is used to proliferate malware.

Spam emails are often poorly put together and full of spelling/grammatical errors, but they can be competently made and even believably disguised as messages from legitimate entities (e.g., organizations, institutions, companies, service providers, authorities, etc.).

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

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Cyber criminals commonly use spam campaigns to distribute malware. Deceptive emails/messages can include malicious files as attachments or download links. These files come in various formats, e.g., documents (Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, PDF, etc.), archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), JavaScript, and so forth.

When an infectious file is opened – the malware download/installation chain is triggered. Some formats need extra user 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 on embedded links or files.

How to avoid installation of malware?

It is important to always approach incoming emails and other messages with caution. We advise against opening attachments or links found in dubious/irrelevant mail, as they can be virulent.

However, malware is not spread exclusively through spam mail. Therefore, we recommend being careful while browsing since the Internet is full of deceptive and malicious material.

Additionally, all downloads must be performed from official and verified sources. Another recommendation is to activate and update programs using legitimate functions/tools, as illegal product activation tools ("cracks") and third-party updaters may contain malware.

We must stress the importance of having a reputable anti-virus installed and kept updated. Security software must be used to run regular system scans and to remove detected threats. 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 "Rothschild Foundation" spam email letter:

Subject: Rothschild foundation

Congratulations $14,970,000.00 has been awarded to each of the Five (5) recipients as a charitable donation from the Rothschild Foundation.
Payment Officer Contact: Mr Richard Jeffery.

Contact Information: Enter Personal Information:
First Name:
Last Name:
Address Line 1:
Address Line 2 (optional):
City: State:
Zip Code:
Country:
Valid Phone Number:
Fax (optional):
Email:

We are waiting for your response.

Reply: richardjeffery010@gmail.com

Regards,

Mr Richard Jeffery

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Quick menu:

• What is "Rothschild Foundation" 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 details relevant to the recipients. Cyber criminals distribute this mail 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 disclosed personally identifiable or finance-related information (e.g., ID card details, passport scans, credit card numbers, etc.) – contact relevant authorities without delay. And if you've provided your log-in credentials – change the passwords of all potentially exposed accounts and inform their official support.

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

Merely 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?

In the opened file was an executable (.exe, .run, etc.) – most likely, yes – the device was compromised. However, you might have avoided this if it was a document (.doc, .xls, .one, .pdf, etc.). These formats may require additional actions to initiate system infection processes (e.g., enabling macro commands, clicking embedded content, etc.).

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Yes, Combo Cleaner can detect and remove practically all known malware infections. Remember that high-end malicious programs usually hide deep within systems – therefore, performing a full system scan is essential.

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