How to avoid falling for scams like "Donation From St Antonio's Cathedral"

What is "Donation From St Antonio's Cathedral"?

We have reviewed the email and determined that it is a fraudulent message from scammers posing as a communication about a donation from St. Antonio's Cathedral. Usually, scammers behind such emails aim to extract personal information and (or) money from unsuspecting individuals. Such emails should be ignored to avoid the potential risks.

More about the "Donation From St Antonio's Cathedral" scam email

This scam email claims that the recipient's email address has been randomly selected to receive a donation from St. Antonio's Cathedral, an international aid organization focused on eradicating injustice and poverty. The email instructs the recipient to contact the administration via info@anthonycharities.org for more information on receiving the donation.

It underlines that replies must be sent to info@anthonycharities.org to process the necessary documents. The message claims to be from Donald William from St. Anthony Cathedral Charities. Upon receiving a response, the scammers may ask for personal information, such as credit card details or ID card information, or request a payment for processing fees, pretending it is necessary to facilitate the donation.

This is a classic example of a scam aiming to exploit the recipient's trust, ultimately leading to identity theft or financial loss (or other issues). Victims who fall for such emails never receive any money. Thus, it is important to recognize such emails and never respond to them (or take other actions requested by scammers).

Threat Summary:

Name	Donation From St Antonio's Cathedral Email Scam
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	The recipient has been selected to receive a donation
Disguise	Letter from St. Anthony Cathedral Charities
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.
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Conclusion

In conclusion, users should be cautious of emails or other messages offering unexpected prizes or donations. Scammers use these to steal money or personal information. It is advisable to always check if the offer is real and avoid sharing details or making payments if there is any suspicion. Staying skeptical can help keep users safe from these scams.

Examples of similar scams are "eBucks Rewards Email Scam", "John Travolta Foundation Email Scam", and "Qatar Foundation Email Scam". Sometimes, fraudsters can use deceptive emails to trick users into infecting computers.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Users infect computers through emails by clicking on harmful links or opening malicious attachments. Malware is triggered when users interact with these files or enable features like macros in compromised documents. These malicious attachments can be MS Office files, PDFs, scripts, archives, ISO files, executables, etc.

The links in these emails can lead to malicious websites, where malware may be downloaded automatically or require the user to manually run infected files or install harmful software.

How to avoid installation of malware?

When you receive emails from unknown senders that seem irrelevant or unexpected, do not click on any links or open attachments. Always download software and files from trusted sources like official websites or app stores. Keep your system and software up to date. Use reputable antivirus or anti-malware programs for protection.

Be cautious about accepting notifications from dubious websites and avoid engaging with pop-ups, ads, or any content on untrustworthy pages. 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 "Donation From St Antonio's Cathedral" email letter:

Subject: Donation/Christmas Gift

Your email address has been randomly selected to receive a donation from St Antonio's Cathedral, an international aid organization working to eradicate injustice and poverty around the world. Please contact the administration for more information on receiving this donation via email: info@anthonycharities.org
 
NOTE: Please make sure your reply goes to: info@anthonycharities.org otherwise we will not be able to send you the necessary documents for this donation.
 
Best regards,
Donald William
St. Anthony Cathedral Charities
Email: info@anthonycharities.org

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Quick menu:

• What is Donation From St Antonio's Cathedral fake 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?

Scammers commonly send the same email to many people, hoping that a few will fall for their scam. These emails are usually generic and impersonal, aimed at deceiving as many recipients as possible.

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

If you have disclosed credit card or ID card information or other details, contact your bank or the relevant authorities. If scammers have gained access to your login credentials, change your (compromised) passwords.

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

The risk of malware infection from an email attachment varies based on the file type and the user's actions. For instance, opening a malicious .exe file can quickly lead to an infection, while MS Office documents are harmful only when the user activates macros.

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

Such transactions are almost 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?

Opening an email itself is safe; however, infections can occur if you click on harmful links or open malicious attachments within the email.

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

Combo Cleaner can remove most known malware. However, to fully eradicate advanced threats that may be concealed deep within the system, running a complete system scan is necessary.

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