How to avoid falling for scams like "Disposal Of Gold Bars, Nuggets And Diamonds"
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on
What is "Disposal Of Gold Bars, Nuggets And Diamonds"?
Our inspection of the email has shown that this is a scam known as an advance fee scam. Scammers behind such emails usually offer the victim a large sum of money in exchange for a small upfront payment. It is also common for such emails to request personal information. Thus, whoever receives such an email should ignore it.
More about the "Disposal Of Gold Bars, Nuggets And Diamonds" scam email
This scam email claims to offer a deal involving gold bars, nuggets, and diamonds at a low price, allegedly from a rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The sender, posing as Mbala Chistophe, claims they need a trustworthy contact to facilitate the sale, and the goods are supposedly stored in Kampala, Uganda, for safekeeping.
The email appears urgent and offers payment only after the buyer receives the goods. It asks the recipient to either participate in the deal or provide a capable contact and requests a quick response. However, the purpose of this email is to extract money and (or) personal details like credit card details or ID card information from unsuspecting recipients.
Overall, the ultimate goal is to deceive the victim and gain financial benefit without delivering any goods. Users should be careful when encountering enticing offers and recognize too-good-too-be-true offers to avoid monetary loss, identity theft, or other issues.
| Name | Disposal Of Gold Bars, Nuggets And Diamonds Email Scam |
| Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud |
| Fake Claim | The recipient can get gold and other goods for a low price. |
| Disguise | Letter regarding a business offer |
| Symptoms | Generic greeting, urgent language, suspicious links, grammatical errors. |
| 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. |
Similar scam emails in general
Scam emails like these are designed to manipulate and defraud recipients. They often use fake offers and urgent language to pressure individuals to act without thinking. Staying cautious and verifying any unexpected opportunities can help protect against such scams.
Examples of similar scams are "Elon Musk - Donation From Change Email Scam", "World Bank Group - Overdue Payment Email Scam", and "Unclaimed Insurance Email Scam". It is important to know that cybercriminals can use fraudulent emails to trick recipients into infecting computers.
How do spam campaigns infect computers?
Emails sent to deliver malware contain malicious attachments or links. These attachments can infect a system once opened or after performing specific actions. For example, malicious executables can immediately infect a device when launched, while infected MS Office files might require the user to enable macros (editing/content) first.
When the email includes harmful links, threat actors aim to trick the recipient into downloading malicious files or visiting compromised websites that automatically download malware. Typically, user action is needed for the malware to be triggered.
How to avoid installation of malware?
Always review emails before taking further action. Do not open attachments or click on links in unexpected emails from unknown senders. Only download software from trusted sources, such as official websites or app stores. Avoid shady pages, peer-to-peer networks, third-party downloaders, etc., when willing to download apps or files.
Ensure your security software, applications, and operating systems are up to date. Use a trusted security tool to protect your device. Refrain from clicking on pop-ups, links, or ads from suspicious sites. Never accept notifications from questionable websites.
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 "Disposal Of Gold Bars, Nuggets And Diamonds" email letter:
Subject: URGENT OFFER FOR GOLD BUYERS
URGENTLY.
Attn. Please,
My associate in contact with one of the (M23) rebel group in DRC And he briefed me on the urgent needs, request
that the Gen Soulutani Makenga who is the military chief of [M23] lebel group Democratic Republic of Congo want to DISPOSE some huge kilograms of Gold bars / Nuggets and Diamonds for a cheap and affordable price.
They need a very capable contact with high pedigree and wealth of experience that can handle this business deal .
The Golds / Diamonds klgs are currently in Kampala Uganda the neighboring country for safe keeping.
Payment mode after the buyer has received the said goods at his destination.
Please, can you be of help or to provide a capable personality with influence from your country as it is a matter of urgent importance?
Kindly let me know if you can or have someone of that status for the above purpose so that they will contact him immediately for details
and a meeting in this regard.
I wait for your prompt response.
Thank you.
Email chistophembala4@gmail.com
Sincerely,
Mbala Chistophe.
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Quick menu:
- What is Disposal Of Gold Bars, Nuggets And Diamonds 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?
Scam emails are usually sent at random, hoping to trick some recipients. In other words, scammers send the same email to all addresses they have, their attacks are not targeted.
I have provided my personal information when tricked by this email, what should I do?
If you have shared account credentials, update your passwords immediately. For any other personal information, such as credit card or ID details, reach out to the appropriate authorities.
I have downloaded and opened a file attached to an email, is my computer infected?
The probability of an infection depends on the type of file. If the file was an executable, there is a high chance your system has been infected. On the other hand, if it was a document like a .pdf or .doc, you might have avoided infection, as opening a document is not always enough for malware to infiltrate.
I have sent cryptocurrency to the address presented in such email, can I get my money back?
Such transactions are nearly impossible to trace, making it highly unlikely that you will be able to recover the funds.
I have read the email but did not open the attachment, is my computer infected?
It is safe to open emails without opening files or links, even if they are intended to distribute malware.
Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections that were present in email attachment?
Combo Cleaner can detect and remove nearly all known malware infections. However, advanced malware tends to hide deep within the system, so performing a full system scan is advisable to ensure the malware fully removed.
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