Avoid getting scammed by fake "Global Recovery Effort" emails
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on
What kind of email is "Global Recovery Effort"?
After reading this "Global Recovery Effort" email, we determined that it is spam. This message claims that the recipient might be eligible to receive compensation, as they may have been victimized by scammers. The purpose of this spam mail is to trick victims into disclosing sensitive information or sending money to cyber criminals.
"Global Recovery Effort" email scam overview
The spam email with the subject "[EXTERNAL]Important." (may vary) proclaims that during an ongoing investigation into fraudulent activities, the recipient's email address was discovered in the files of known cyber criminals. Due to this discovery, it is possible that the recipient may be eligible to receive compensation from the "global recovery effort" fund.
The letter advises the recipient to keep its existence a secret for security reasons. The email instructs to contact the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of American Express for more information on receiving the compensation.
It must be emphasized that the claims made by this letter are false, and this mail is not associated with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) or the American Express Company (Amex).
After being contacted by victims, scammers may request them to disclose vulnerable information, such as ID card details, passport photos/scans, credit/debit card numbers, and so on.
Users may also be asked to log into their accounts (e.g., online banking, digital wallets, emails, social networking, social media, etc.) via provided links, which lead to phishing sites that imitate the sign-in pages of official websites.
Alternatively, victims can be requested to send funds to scammers for legitimate-sounding reasons, such as settling taxes, paying transaction fees, etc. Difficult-to-trace methods are used to obtain the money (e.g., cash hidden in packages and shipped, cryptocurrencies, gift cards, pre-paid vouchers, etc.); thus, scammers diminish the chances of successful prosecution and fund retrieval by victims.
To summarize, by trusting an email like "Global Recovery Effort" – users may experience severe privacy issues, financial losses, and identity theft.
If you have provided your personally identifiable or finance-related information to scammers – immediately contact the corresponding authorities. And if you have disclosed your log-in credentials (e.g., by entering them into a phishing website/file) – change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and inform their official support without delay.
| Name | "Global Recovery Effort" spam email |
| Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud |
| Fake Claim | Recipient may be eligible to receive compensation due to falling victim to a scam in the past. |
| Disguise | International Monetary Fund (IMF), American Express Company (Amex) |
| 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. |
Spam campaigns in general
"World Covid-19 Support Program (W.C.S.P)", "Disposal Of Gold Bars, Nuggets And Diamonds", and "Employee Benefit/Payroll Update" are merely a couple of our latest articles on spam campaigns.
These emails are used to promote various scams, including phishing, sextortion, tech support, advance fee, refund, inheritance, lottery, etc.
This mail is also utilized in malware proliferation. While such letters are often poorly written and riddled with mistakes, they can be competently put together and even believably disguised as messages from genuine entities (e.g., companies, institutions, organizations, authorities, etc.).
How do spam campaigns infect computers?
Malware is commonly distributed via spam campaigns. These emails/messages have infectious files attached to or linked inside them. Malicious files come in various formats, e.g., archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), documents (Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, PDF, etc.), JavaScript, and so on.
The infection chain is triggered once such a file is opened. However, some formats require additional user interaction to initiate malware download/installation. For example, Microsoft Office files need users to enable macro commands (i.e., editing/content), while OneNote documents require them to click embedded links or files.
How to avoid installation of malware?
It is important to treat incoming emails, DMs/PMs, SMSes, and other messages with caution. We advise against opening attachments or links present in suspicious/irrelevant mail, as they can be harmful or virulent.
However, malware is not proliferated exclusively through spam mail. Therefore, we recommend being careful while browsing since the Internet is full of deceptive and malicious content.
Additionally, all downloads must be performed from official and verified sources. Another recommendation is to activate and update programs using functions/tools provided by legitimate developers, as illegal product activation ("cracking") tools and third-party updaters can contain malware.
It is paramount for device and user safety to have a dependable anti-virus installed and kept updated. This software 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 "Global Recovery Effort" spam email letter:
Subject: [EXTERNAL]Important.
Dear,
We are writing to inform you that during an ongoing investigation into fraudulent activities, your email address was identified in the files of known scammers. As a result, you may be eligible for compensation as part of a global recovery effort.
Please contact Mr. Jeffrey C. Campbell, Chief Financial Officer of American Express Company Plc, at w5488967@gmail.com for further instructions on how to proceed with your compensation.
We appreciate your prompt attention to this matter. For security reasons, please refrain from communicating with any other parties regarding this payment.
Best regards,
Arturo Wilansky.
Director of the Treasury Department.
International Monetary Fund.
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Quick menu:
- What is "Global Recovery Effort" spam 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, regardless of any relevant details that they may include. Cyber criminals distribute these messages in massive operations with the hopes that at least some of the 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 – change the passwords of all possibly compromised accounts and inform their official support without delay. However, if you've disclosed other private data (e.g., passport photos/scans, ID card details, credit/debit card numbers, etc.) – immediately contact the appropriate authorities.
I have read a spam email but didn't open the attachment, is my computer infected?
No, reading an email will not trigger any malware download/installation processes. Devices 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?
Whether the system was infected might depend on the format of the opened file. If it was an executable (.exe, .run, etc.) – most likely, yes. However, you might have avoided the infection if it was a document (.doc, .pdf, .xls, etc.). These formats may need extra actions (e.g., enabling macros, clicking embedded files/links, etc.) to jumpstart malware download/installation processes.
Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?
Yes, Combo Cleaner can detect and remove most of the known malware infections. It must be stressed that running a complete system scan is essential since sophisticated malicious software usually hides deep within systems.
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