How to identify scams like "Criminals Attempted To Redirect Your Funds"

What is "Criminals Attempted To Redirect Your Funds"?

We have examined this email and found that it is a scam designed to trick recipients into providing their banking details and other personal information. None of the claims within this email are true. Whoever receives this email should ignore it to avoid monetary loss, identity theft, or other potential issues.

More about the "Criminals Attempted To Redirect Your Funds" scam email

In this scam, fraudsters impersonate INTERPOL and claim that criminals, in collaboration with corrupt bankers, attempted to divert the recipient’s funds but were unsuccessful. They state that the money is now securely held at Deutsche Bank Philippines and urge the recipient to contact a supposed bank officer to finalize the transfer.

Scammers request banking details, a phone number, and ID card details, claiming these are necessary for fund release. If stolen, these details may be used to steal identities and (or) money, commit further fraud, or for other malicious purposes. Also, scammers may demand fake fees/payments under the guise of processing the supposed funds.

Either way, it is important to recognize such emails and not respond to them (or contact the provided email addresses or numbers). These are scam emails usually intended to steal money and (or) personal information from unsuspecting recipients.

Similar scam emails in general

Emails like these are common scams designed to trick recipients into providing personal or financial information. The claims made in such emails are typically fabricated, aiming to create a sense of urgency and pressure the victim into acting. It is essential to always verify the legitimacy of suspicious emails.

Here are examples of similar scams: "Internet Fraudsters Arrested", "Overdue Payment", and "Non-payment Of Fund". Sometimes, fraudsters can use email to trick recipients into infecting their computers.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Cybercriminals often use email as a tool to distribute malware by embedding harmful attachments or links. These attachments can include executable files, Office documents with macros, PDFs, archives, and other file types that can deploy malware when opened (or after additional steps are taken by users).

Malicious links can direct users to websites that trigger malware downloads or trick them into manually executing malicious files. In both cases, users must interact with the files or links for the infection to occur, as malware cannot be transmitted through email alone.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Ensure you download software only from trusted sources, such as official websites and app stores. Keep your operating system and applications up to date with the latest security patches. Be cautious when receiving unexpected, irrelevant emails with links or attachments—do not interact with their contents without examining them.

Regularly scan your system with reputable antivirus software. Do not click pop-ups, ads, buttons, and links on shady pages, and always deny notification requests from untrusted websites. If you have already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Appearance of the scam email (GIF):

Text presented in the email letter:

Subject: INTERCEPTION OF FUNDS

Hello dear beneficiary,

The INTERPOL plays a central role in preventing the WORLD from serving international organized crime. By providing globally sourced intelligence about regional crime, the NCB helps police officers across the world to detect and investigate the flow of illicit funds along trafficking routes in and around the globe.

Several Countries's national police forces use the NCB to work with the global police community in investigating crime and bringing criminals to justice. It works in tight collaboration with International's other leading agencies including the International Drug Law Enforcement Agency,International Finance Unit, Immigration Services, Customs, International Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons etc.

We want to inform you that some criminals, in collaboration with corrupt investment bankers, attempted to redirect your funds to the following account:

Bank Name: Chase Bank N.A.
Bank Address: Greenwich, Connecticut 06830
Routing Number: 021100361
Account Number: 805364999

However, we are pleased to report that the diversion was thwarted, and your funds are now securely held at Deutsche Bank Philippines. We are currently tracking the perpetrators.

To proceed, please reach out to Mr. Siason, the Chief Country Officer of Deutsche Bank Philippines, via email or through WhatsApp.

To facilitate the final payment transfer to your designated account, kindly provide the following details:

Your current receiving bank account information
Your phone number and your ID card
The amount and any other relevant details to expedite the transfer

Once we receive your response, we will send you the Payment Release Form and the Forex Exit Form for you to complete and forward to Mr. Siason for immediate disbursement of your funds.

We apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced due to previous actions of our dishonest investment officials.

Best regards,

MONITORING TEAM
INTERPOL ORGANIZATION

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Quick menu:

• What is Criminals Attempted To Redirect Your Funds 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?

This scam email was likely sent to multiple recipients, meaning it is not personalized. The scammers probably obtained your email address through a compromised website, a data breach, or other sources.

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

If scammers have stolen personal information, (such as credit card details or ID card information), contact the corresponding authorities as soon as possible.

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

If the file is an executable, the system is at high risk of being compromised. However, if the file is a malicious document like a PDF or Word file, the risk of infection is lower, as these files usually require additional interaction to deploy malware.

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

Unfortunately, once cryptocurrency is sent, it is typically irreversible.

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

No, simply opening an email is not harmful. Malware cannot infiltrate unless users open malicious files or links.

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

Yes, Combo Cleaner can detect and remove most malware infections. However, advanced malware often hides deep in the system, so performing a full system scan is essential for complete removal.