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How to recognize scams like "Parcels Containing ATM Cards"

Also Known As: Parcels Containing ATM Cards advance-fee scam
Damage level: Medium

What is "Parcels Containing ATM Cards"?

Our analysis of the email has revealed that it is a fraudulent email used to deceive recipients into believing they can receive a large sum of money. Scammers commonly use such emails to steal money and (or) personal information. This particular email exhibits traits of an advance-fee scam. Recipients should ignore it.

Parcels Containing ATM Cards email spam campaign

More about the "Parcels Containing ATM Cards" scam email

The scam email claims to be from Thomas Woods, a general manager at Pegasus Delivery Service. It alleges that six ATM cards, each containing $5.7 million, were left undelivered by the previous appointee, Richard Moore Jr., due to incomplete recipient information. The email states that the funds were supposedly deposited as charitable donations by a deceased evangelist.

Recipients are urged to contact a delivery agent and provide personal details (including their name, home address, phone number, and country) to complete the shipment. They may also be asked to pay fees for "processing", "delivery", or other purposes. Overall, the purpose of this scam is to steal the victim's money and (or) exploit their personal details for fraud.

It is important to recognize such emails and not respond to them (or open the provided links) to avoid monetary loss, identity theft, or other issues.

Threat Summary:
Name Parcels Containing ATM Cards Email Scam
Threat Type Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim Recipient can receive a large sum of money ($5,700,000.00)
Disguise Letter from general manager at Pegasus Delivery Service
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)

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Conclusion

Scam emails like this are designed to deceive recipients by promising large sums of money in exchange for personal details or fees. These messages often appear urgent and pressure victims into responding or taking other action. The best course of action is to ignore, delete, and report such emails to avoid potential financial and other risks.

Examples of similar emails are "Overdue Contract Funds Email Scam", "Loan Investment Opportunities For Your Business Email Scam", and "Binance Charity - California Wildfires Fundraiser Email Scam". Sometimes, emails of this kind can be used to distribute malware.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

When threat actors use emails to distribute malware, they attach infected files, such as PDFs, script files, archives, Word documents, or executables. Opening these attachments can trigger a malware infection, though some file types may require additional actions, such as enabling macros in infected MS Office documents.

Additionally, deceptive emails can contain links to compromised or fraudulent websites that automatically download malware. Alternatively, the included links may take users to web pages designed to trick them into downloading malware manually.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Avoid using P2P networks, unofficial pages (or app stores), third-party downloaders, and similar sources to download software and files. Always download software from official web pages or app stores. Avoid interacting with pop-ups, ads, or links on questionable websites, and never grant notification permissions to untrusted sites.

Be cautious of unsolicited (or irrelevant) emails containing links or attachments, especially from unknown senders/addresses. Keep your operating system and applications up to date, and regularly scan your computer using a trusted security solution. 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 "Parcels Containing ATM Cards" email letter:

Subject: Your Abandoned Package.

Greetings!!

My name is Thomas Woods new appointed Pegasus Delivery Service regular delivery General Manager, i assumed this office on the 10th, February 2025 after going through the files of the previous records i discovered that there are six parcels containing ATM cards each one attached with an email address of the owner on it but the former appointee of this office (Richard Moore Jr.) failed to carry out the delivery as it was instructed and programmed probably one of his reasons for not carrying out the delivery was that you could not provide the required information to him or to meet up delivery requirement for the completion of the shipment as he remarked.

According to the content recorded in each file, the ATM card was deposited by one Senior Evangelist Mathew Peterson who died last year as a charitable fund to each of the six of you. On the statement he wrote on the list, he stated that each of the aforementioned ATM cards contains the sum of US$5,700,000.00 (Five Million,Seven Hundred Thousand United State Dollars and he found your email address as reputable and capable persons that can use the charitable fund awarded ATM Cards fund to change the lives of people.

Meanwhile, i have instructed the delivery agent to commence delivery arrangement to deliver the awarded six parcels ATM Card to each and everyone of you to your respective home addresses, am also sending the same message of the same content to other five abandoned ATM Cards each at the same time and please if you found this message in your spam folder it could be due to your Internet Service Provider (ISP) so move the message to your inbox before you reply.

Kindly contact delivery agent Mr.Chris Washington via his email address (chriswashington@aliyun.com) and provide the below information to him for record purposes to enable him finalize delivery process of your parcel ATM Card.

Your names:
Home address:
Phone number:
Country:

He will commence delivery process of your parcel ATM Card once you provide him with the above information and you shall be given a tracking number to enable you track your parcel ATM Card online to know the exact time it will arrive at your destination address.

Regards,
Mr.Thomas Woods

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Quick menu:

Types of malicious emails:

Phishing email icon 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.

Email-virus icon 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 email icon 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:

Example of an email spam

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 send identical messages to numerous email addresses, relying on the chance that they will lure someone. These emails are usually generic and lack personalization.

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

If you have disclosed any account login details, update your passwords as soon as possible. For other personal information, such as credit card numbers or ID details, reach out to the relevant authorities.

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

Opening a malicious file may put your computer at risk of infection. Executables can cause damage right after opening them, but other files, like documents, usually require additional actions, such as enabling macros, to activate the malware.

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

These transactions are difficult to trace, making it unlikely that you will be able to recover the lost funds.

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

Opening an email is generally safe, but clicking links or opening attachments in fraudulent emails can lead to system infections.

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

Yes, Combo Cleaner can detect and eliminate most known malware infections. Advanced malware often hides deep within the system. Therefore, a full system scan may be required for detection and removal.

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About the author:

Tomas Meskauskas

Tomas Meskauskas - expert security researcher, professional malware analyst.

I am passionate about computer security and technology. I have an experience of over 10 years working in various companies related to computer technical issue solving and Internet security. I have been working as an author and editor for pcrisk.com since 2010. Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn to stay informed about the latest online security threats. Contact Tomas Meskauskas.

PCrisk security portal is brought by a company RCS LT. Joined forces of security researchers help educate computer users about the latest online security threats. More information about the company RCS LT.

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Malware activity

Global malware activity level today:

Medium threat activity

Increased attack rate of infections detected within the last 24 hours.

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