Avoid getting scammed by fake "Carlos Slim Helu Charitable Foundation" emails
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on
What kind of email is "Carlos Slim Helu Charitable Foundation"?
After inspecting the "Carlos Slim Helu Charitable Foundation" email, we determined that it is spam. Presented as a missive from the billionaire business magnate Carlos Slim Helú, this fake letter states that the recipient was randomly selected to receive over four million US dollars.
Spam mail that promises large or exorbitant sums of money typically aims to trick recipients into disclosing their personally identifiable details, financial information, or transferring funds to the scammers.
"Carlos Slim Helu Charitable Foundation" email scam overview
The spam email with the subject "Your earliest response would be highly appreciated." (may vary) immediately attempts to lure the recipient in by addressing them as a beneficiary of $4,450,000.00 USD.
The sender claims to be Carlos Slim Helú – the billionaire philanthropist. The letter states that the alleged sender has devised to give close to 4.5 million USD to randomly selected individuals worldwide. The recipient has been chosen and is requested to contact the sender as soon as possible.
It must be emphasized that all the claims made by this email are false, and this mail is in no way associated with any real individuals or foundations.
Scam emails of this kind usually operate in one of two ways. They either aim to deceive recipients into disclosing highly sensitive information, such as personally identifiable details that could then be used to steal victims' identities or finance-related data (e.g., online bank log-in credentials, banking account details, credit card numbers, etc.) that could be utilized to make fraudulent transactions and/or online purchases. Alternatively, victims can be tricked into making monetary transactions to facilitate the fake transfer of funds.
In summary, by trusting an email like "Carlos Slim Helu Charitable Foundation" – users can experience severe privacy issues, financial losses, and identity theft.
If you have already provided your private data to scammers (e.g., ID card details, credit card numbers, etc.) – immediately contact the appropriate authorities.
| Name | "Carlos Slim Helu Charitable Foundation" spam email |
| Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud |
| Fake Claim | Recipient has been randomly selected to be a beneficiary of close to 4.5 million USD. |
| Disguise | Carlos Slim foundation |
| 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
We have examined thousands of spam emails; "Deletion Of Your Account", "We Hacked & Extracted Information From Your Device", "Authentication Failure", "Stalled Funds - United Bank Of Africa", and "Funds Has Been Credited To Your Account" are just some examples of our latest finds.
These letters are used to promote a wide variety of scams, e.g., phishing, philanthropy, inheritance, lottery, tech support, sextortion, callback, and so forth. Deceptive emails are also utilized in malware distribution. This mail can be plain or elaborately disguised as messages from real individuals, organizations, institutions, service providers, authorities, and other entities.
Due to how widespread spam mail is and how well-crafted it can be – we strongly recommend exercising caution with incoming emails, PMs/DMs, SMSes, and other messages.
How do spam campaigns infect computers?
Spam emails/messages can include malicious files in the form of attachments or download links (leading to malignant sites capable of tricking visitors into downloading/installing malware or doing so stealthily). Infectious files come in various formats, e.g., documents (PDF, Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, etc.), archives (RAR, ZIP, etc.), executables (.exe, .run, etc.), JavaScript, and so on.
When such a file is executed, run, or otherwise opened – the infection chain is initiated. For example, Microsoft Office files infect devices by executing malicious macro commands, while virulent OneNote documents require users to click on embedded files/links.
How to avoid installation of malware?
We advise being vigilant with incoming emails and other messages. Attachments or links present in suspicious/irrelevant mail must not be opened, as they can be malicious. We recommend using Microsoft Office versions released after 2010 since they have the "Protected View" mode that prevents automatic macro execution.
Since malware is not proliferated exclusively via spam mail, we also advise downloading only from official/verified channels.
Furthermore, all programs must be activated and updated by using legitimate functions/tools, as illegal activation ("cracking") tools and third-party updates may contain malware.
Another recommendation is to be careful while browsing since fraudulent and dangerous online content typically appears genuine and harmless.
We must stress the importance of having a dependable anti-virus installed and kept up-to-date. Security software must be used to perform 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 "Carlos Slim Helu Charitable Foundation" spam email letter:
Subject: Your earliest response would be highly appreciated.
Attention Beneficiary $4,450,000.00 USD
My name is Carlos Slim Helu, A philanthropist, the CEO and Chairman of the Carlos Slim Helu Charitable Foundation, one of the largest private foundations in the world. I believe strongly in giving while living? I had one idea that never changed in my mind that you should use your wealth to help people and I have decided to secretly give{$4,450,000.00 USD } to randomly selected individuals worldwide. On receipt of this email, you should count yourself as one of the lucky Your email address was chosen online while searching at random. Kindly get back to me at your earliest convenience, so I know your email address is valid. ( mrcarlosslimhelu98@gmail.com )
In case you receive this message in your spam folder it could be due to your internet service provider (ISP) so kindly move to your inbox before replying.also reply to my private email address at ( mrcarlosslimhelu98@gmail.com) for urgent response.
Regards,
Mr. Carlos Slim Helu.
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Quick menu:
- What is "Carlos Slim Helu Charitable Foundation" 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 mail is not personal. These messages are distributed in mass-scale campaigns – hence, thousands of users receive identical emails.
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 exposed accounts and inform their official support without delay. And if the disclosed information was of a different personal nature (e.g., ID card details, passport scans/photos, credit card numbers, etc.) – immediately contact relevant authorities.
I have read a spam email but didn't open the attachment, is my computer infected?
Devices are infected when malicious files or links are opened/clicked; merely reading an email is not enough to trigger these processes.
I have downloaded and opened a file attached to a spam email, is my computer infected?
If the opened file was an executable (.exe, .run, etc.) – most likely, yes – your device was infected. However, you might have avoided this if it was a document (.doc, .xls, .pdf, .one, etc.). These formats may require additional actions to start downloading/installing malware (e.g., enabling macro commands, clicking embedded files/links, etc.).
Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?
Yes, Combo Cleaner is designed to detect and eliminate all manner of threats. It is capable of removing practically all known malware infections. Note that running a complete system scan is paramount since high-end malicious programs usually hide deep within systems.
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