How to spot fake emails like "Covid-19 Response Fund"

What kind of scam is "Covid-19 Response Fund"?

We have inspected the email and concluded that it is an advance-fee scam mixed with elements of an inheritance scam. Usually, scammers use these deceptive messages to trick recipients into transferring money to them and (or) disclosing personal information. Emails of this type should be ignored and never replied to.

More about the "Covid-19 Response Fund" scam email

This scam email claims to be from Ms. Annabel Munah, a Permanent Secretary of the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF). It informs the recipient that they are eligible for a $10 million COVID-19 response fund for medium and large-scale business owners.

The email states that the UNCDF, in collaboration with the IMF and the World Bank, has approved these funds to support entrepreneurs affected by the pandemic. In order to apply, recipients are instructed to pay a $500 registration fee and submit personal identification.

Additionally, the email claims that another applicant with the same surname as the recipient has died without completing the registration process and offers the recipient an opportunity to "replace" the deceased applicant and claim part of the funds.

The goal of this scam is to trick recipients into sending payments for fake fees and providing personal information, which scammers may misuse for fraud or identity theft. Victims of such scams never receive any money. Such emails should be ignored to avoid the potential risks.

Threat Summary:

Name	Covid-19 Response Fund Email Scam
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud
Fake Claim	Recipient is eligible for a $10 million COVID-19 response fund
Disguise	Letter from Ms. Annabel Munah, a Permanent Secretary of the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF)
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

Scams like these often include promises of large sums of money and appear urgent to steal money and (or) personal information. Recipients should always verify the legitimacy of such emails and never pay upfront fees for promised funds. It is important to note that scammers sometimes can try to trick recipients into infecting their computers.

Examples of similar scams are "Reliable Trustee Email Scam", "Transfer On Death Email Scam", and "Transfer Money Abroad Email Scam".

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Cybercriminals distribute malware through email by embedding harmful files or links within deceptive messages. Some attachments can immediately trigger an infection upon opening, while others require user interaction—such as enabling macros in a compromised Office document—to activate the malicious payload.

Common file types used in malware distribution include PDFs, MS Office documents, script files, archives, and executables. When emails contain malicious links, clicking them can initiate an automatic malware download or direct users to fraudulent sites that trick them into manually installing harmful software.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Exercise caution with unexpected or irrelevant emails from unknown senders, especially those containing links or attachments. Only download software and files from trusted sources, such as official websites or reputable app stores. Do not trust advertisements, links, pop-ups, buttons, etc., on dubious sites.

Never agree to receive notifications from suspicious websites. Keep your operating system and applications up to date, and regularly scan your device with a reliable security tool. If you have already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

The appearance of the scam email (GIF):

Text presented in the "Covid-19 Response Fund" email letter:

Subject: $10 million UNCDF Palliative

From the desk of Ms Annabel Munah,
Permanent Secretary,
United Nations Capital Development Fund
10 Furnival St, Holborn,
London EC4A 1AB, United Kingdom.

Subject: Last phase UNCDF Covid-19 Response Fund for medium & large scale business owners

Dear proposed UNCDF beneficiary,

SUBJECT: RE: 3rd Phase of UNCDF COVID-19 Response Fund 2023 for
medium & large scale Business owners(up to ($1 million)
capital/investment base and above).

The 3rd wave of corona-virus impacted negatively. To help address
challenges facing the business community, the UNCDF launched a special
3rd phase of covid-19 Response Fund of $10 million each, for medium & large scale business owners.

The UNCDF Executive Director of United Nations in this region, in conjunction with IMF
and World bank, collectively Approved and signed the Release and
Transfer of $10 million UNCDF benefits to individuals/entrepreneurs, being the certified and authorized
capital investment palliative/Stimulus for medium & large scale entrepreneurs.

Eligibility:

(1). Participation is open to entrepreneurs with up to
$1 million capital/investment base and above in any UN country.
(2). Priority is given to early applicants with innovative
products/services and business ideas.

Application Process:

(a). Elligible applicants must register with $500(registration fee) and a valid Identification means(cards)
(b). Application forms are given to entrepreneurs to fill and return.
(c). All submissions are done in English.
(d). All Submissions are through online.
(e). Applications must be submitted before deadline.
(7). Applicants should state their occupations and business names.

Rules and Guidelines:

(i). Payment of $10 million to successful Applicants/entrepreneurs are
made by UNCDF accredited banks.
(ii). The procedures are confidential and only for the applicant/beneficiary.
(iii). Applications are not transferable.

However one of the applicants who bear the same surname with you died without registration.

As the Permanent Secretary, I am the only one who knew about the death and the file.
So I am contacting you to come forward with your particulars so that you will replace the deceased UNCDF applicant and
receive the UNCDF $10 million UNCDF benefits for our personal benefits.  As the originator, I shall be entitled to 45% of the Benefits, As an investor (entrepreneur/beneficiary), you have will 45% of the benefits. 10% is earmarked to settle expenses.

I await your positive and prompt compliance.
Reply to: annabelmunahgmail.com

yours sincerely,

Ms. Amal Pepple
Permanent Secretary
The United Nations Capital Development Fund
10 Furnival St, Holborn,
London EC4A 1AB, UK.

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Quick menu:

• What is Covid-19 Response Fund 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?

Scammers send identical emails to thousands of recipients, hoping to deceive someone. These messages are always (or at least, in most cases) generic and impersonal.

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

Contact the relevant authorities to report the scam. Contact your bank if you have disclosed your credit card details or similar information.

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

The risk of a system being compromised depends on the type of file. Executable files can trigger infections instantly when opened, whereas documents may require additional actions—such as enabling macros—before the malware can take effect.

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

Unfortunately, cryptocurrency transactions are irreversible, meaning once the funds are sent, they cannot be recovered.

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

Simply opening an email is harmless, but clicking links or opening attachments in suspicious emails can expose your system to malware.

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

Combo Cleaner can detect and remove most known malware, but advanced threats may be deeply embedded. A full system scan is essential to find and eliminate hidden infections.

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