How to identify scam emails like "Elon Musk Foundation's Compensation Program"

What kind of scam is "Elon Musk Foundation's Compensation Program"?

We inspected the email and concluded that it is designed to trick recipients into believing they have won a prize (a large sum of money). None of the claims in this email are true, and falling for the scam can lead to monetary loss and identity theft. Recipients should ignore this email to avoid potential risks.

More about the "Elon Musk Foundation's Compensation Program" scam email

This scam email is disguised as a message from the Elon Musk Foundation. It claims that the recipient has won a $920,000 prize through a "Palliative Compensation Program" related to the COVID-19 pandemic. It instructs the recipient to provide personal details (such as their full name, phone number, and country) to claim their winning.

The email promises bank transfer or cash delivery options and urges the recipient to act quickly. Typically, scammers behind such emails aim to lure recipients into making payments (transferring them money), such as fake administration, transaction, or other fees. They also ask for personal details that can be misused to steal identities or for other malicious purposes.

Overall, falling for such scams can lead to various issues, including identity theft and monetary loss. Therefore, it is important to examine suspicious emails before responding to or opening the files (or links) that are included in them.

Similar scam emails in general

Scam emails like this are designed to exploit recipients by promising large sums of money in exchange for personal information and (or) services. They often impersonate well-known individuals or organizations to appear legitimate. Users should never respond to such messages.

Examples of similar scams are "Grant/Compensation Payment Program", "Selling And Lending Cryptocurrencies Email Scam", and "Transaction Intermediary Email Scam". Deceptive emails can also be used to distribute malware.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Threat actors use email as a means to distribute malware by attaching malicious files or embedding malicious links. Common attachment types include executable files, Office documents, PDFs, compressed files like ZIP or RAR, script files, and ISO images. Malware only becomes active if the user opens the file or performs specific actions, such as enabling macros in a malicious document.

In other instances, these emails may contain links that lead to malicious sites, which either begin downloading malware automatically or trick users into doing it themselves.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Be wary of unsolicited or irrelevant emails, particularly those from unknown senders, and avoid opening any attachments or clicking on links they contain. Always download software from trusted sources, such as official websites or app stores. Avoid interacting with ads, pop-ups, and links on questionable websites.

Also, do not agree to receive notifications from shady web pages. Keep your operating system and applications up to date, and protect your device with reputable antivirus software. 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 "Elon Musk Foundation's Compensation Program" email letter:

Subject: Claim Your $920,000 Prize Today!**

Congratulations! Your email has been selected as a winner in the Elon Musk Foundation's Palliative Compensation Program, created to support those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

**Winning Code:** EL-59417M-OK/24
**Prize Amount:** $920,000.00 USD

To claim your prize, simply provide:
- Full Name
- Phone Number
- Country of Origin

You can receive your funds via bank transfer or cash. Act now—payment processing takes 21 days, and after that, your file will be closed.

For any questions, feel free to reach out! ( mscharitynagama74@gmail.com )

Best regards,
Gwynn Shotwell
President & COO
Elon Musk Foundation
mscharitynagama74@gmail.com

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Quick menu:

• What is Elon Musk Foundation's Compensation Program 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?

Scam emails are often sent to many people at once. Your email address was likely obtained through a data leak, a compromised website, or another source, meaning the scam is not directed specifically at you.

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

Report the incident to the relevant authorities and if any of your accounts may have been exposed, change their passwords. If you provided financial information, contact your bank or financial institution as soon as possible.

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

Malicious attachments can infect computers only when a user interacts with them. For example, malware embedded in Microsoft Office files typically requires macros to be enabled to activate, while executable files can deploy threats immediately when launched.

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

Cryptocurrency transactions are decentralized and typically anonymous. Thus, tracing them is extremely difficult, and recovering stolen funds in scam cases is nearly impossible.

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

Simply opening an email is generally safe. However, clicking on dangerous links or opening malicious attachments within the message can lead to computer infections.

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

Combo Cleaner is capable of detecting and removing the majority of known malware threats. However, some advanced infections may conceal themselves deep within the system, making a full system scan required for detection and removal.