How to identify scams like "Assistance Lifting The Cargo"

What is "Assistance Lifting The Cargo"?

Our inspection of the email has shown that it is fraudulent. Scammers created it to trick recipients into sending them money and (or) personal information. It is disguised as a letter regarding a cargo and includes a financial offer. Whoever receives this email should ignore it to avoid financial loss and (or) other issues.

More about the "Assistance Lifting The Cargo" scam email

This deceptive claims that a cargo containing one billion US dollars officially declared as African handcrafted goods, is in transit at a warehouse in Entebbe. The email states that the cargo is confidential, and the owner of the goods is looking for a partner to assist in transporting the cargo and injecting the funds into the banking system, offering a 30% commission for their help.

The email requests a quick response and includes a contact email (ocenernest@gmail.com). Overall, this is a scam that involves a fake proposal that promises a large sum of money in exchange for assistance. Scams of this type are called advance-fee scams.

The scammers seek to obtain personal information (e.g., credit card details, ID card information) or advance payments from the victim by pretending to involve them in a profitable financial deal. In reality, the promised money does not exist, and their goal is to exploit the victim.

It is important to be careful with such emails and be skeptical of unsolicited offers that seem too good to be true.

Threat Summary:

Name	Assistance Lifting The Cargo Email Scam
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	The recipient can receive a large sum of money for cooperation
Disguise	Letter Dr. Ocen Ernest.
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

Emails of this type lure recipients with promises of large sums of money. Usually, their purpose is to extract money or information from victims. It is important to recognize such emails to avoid monetary loss, identity theft, or other issues. Computer infections are also possible since fraudsters can use email to deliver malware to users.

Some examples of scam emails similar to the one we reviewed in our article are "Donation To Charity Through You", "Beneficiary Of Will", and "Moving Funds To Your Account".

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Users can inadvertently infect their computers through misleading emails by opening harmful attachments. These attachments can be infected MS Office files, PDFs, executables, script files, archives containing malicious files, ISO files, etc. Not every file leads to an infection simply by being opened.

For example, infected MS Office documents may only pose a risk if macros are enabled, and archive files must be extracted and their contents executed to cause harm. Emails used to deliver malware can also contain malicious links. These links might direct users to websites designed to trick them into downloading malware pages capable of initiating automatic malware downloads.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Scrutinize emails before opening attachments or clicking on links from unknown senders and (or) in irrelevant, unexpected emails. Only download software and files from trustworthy sources, such as official websites and app stores. Never download pirated software, cracking tools, or key generators.

Refrain from clicking on ads, pop-ups, buttons, or links on dubious websites. Regularly update your operating system and applications to keep your system secure and ensure you have a reliable security tool (or tools). If you have already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the "Assistance Lifting The Cargo" email letter:

Subject: CONFIRM RECEIPT

ATTENTION
 
The cargo description:
One Billion US dollars , officially declared as African handcraft at theon transit .
10 Pallets, each pallet has 4 metal boxes , each box containing 25 millions and a net weight of 250 kgs .
 
The content of the cargo is confidential and not  disclosed to anyone apart from the agent handling the shipping process.
 
The goods are currently in Entebbe transit warehouse/ cargo village .
The owner of the goods willing to partner with whoever can assist to lift the cargo , deliver safely at his destination and be able to inject the funds in the banking system at the destination.
 
The owner offers 30% to the partner ready to engage on this business transaction. The 70% remaining will be invested in sectors advised by the partner on behalf of the Owner .
 
Shipment process : the partner or his representative shall travel to Uganda meet the Owners representative and the shipping agent , go through inspection to confirm the goods , after satisfied inspection the Partner will have an agreement with Owners signed and share the responsibilities.
The agent will give the storage costs  and freight costs and prepare the departure of the cargo to the partner's destination.
Your prompt response would be appreciated.

EMAIL;  ocenernest@gmail.com

Best Regards,
Dr. Ocen Ernest.

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Quick menu:

• What is Assistance Lifting The Cargo advance-fee 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?

This email was sent to you as part of a scam, with the intent of tricking you into providing your personal information or extracting money from you. Keep in mind that it is not tailored specifically to you; scammers often distribute identical emails to a large number of people.

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

Depending on the disclosed information, promptly change your passwords for the affected accounts and monitor your accounts for any unusual activity. Report the incident to relevant authorities, such as your bank or police.

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

Executable files carry a high risk of infecting your system. In contrast, document files like .pdf or .doc may not pose an immediate threat, as opening them does not always trigger a malware infection. Thus, whether your computer is infected depends on the actions you taken.

I have sent cryptocurrency to the address presented in such email, can I get my money back?

Such transactions are nearly impossible to trace, which means recovering them is highly unlikely.

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

No, simply opening an email is safe. However, clicking on links within the email or opening attached files can result in system infections.

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

Yes, Combo Cleaner is effective at detecting and removing most known malware infections. However, because sophisticated malware tends to hide deeply within the system, a full system scan could be required to eradicate it.

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