How to identify fake email invites to the World Sustainable Development Summit

What kind of email is "2025 World Sustainable Development Summit Invitation"?

Our inspection of the "2025 World Sustainable Development Summit Invitation" email revealed that it is spam. This fake message is presented as an invite to its namesake event.

It must be emphasized that this email is fraudulent and not associated with any legitimate events or entities. The likely goal of this spam mail is to extract incredibly sensitive information from recipients and/or trick them into sending scammers money.

"2025 World Sustainable Development Summit Invitation" email scam overview

This spam email invites the recipient to the 2025 World Sustainable Development Summit (WSDS). The official invite can be found in the attached document ("INVITATION.pdf"; filename may vary).

It must be emphasized that this invitation is fake, and it is not associated with WSDS 2025, the summit's organizer – The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), or any past/current departments of the United Nations (UN).

In most cases, spam campaigns of this type target personally identifiable information or victims' funds directly. The former is incredibly likely, as the email attachment promises to aid with registration, visas, and travel. This document states that sponsorship is available for covering travel expenses and tours of London's historic and cultural landmarks.

Therefore, it is probable that victims will be requested to provide scans/photos of their ID cards and passports – and this kind of information can enable cyber criminals to steal identities and carry out a range of nefarious activities under them.

Additionally, recipients may be asked to send scammers money for legitimate-sounding reasons, which could relate to acquiring a visa, booking accommodations, and similar.

To summarize, victims of scam mail like "2025 World Sustainable Development Summit Invitation" can experience severe privacy issues, financial losses, and identity theft.

If you have disclosed your personally identifiable or finance-related information to cyber criminals – immediately contact the appropriate authorities.

Spam campaigns in general

Spam emails promote various scams, such as phishing, technical support, refund, advance fee, sextortion, etc. These message can proliferate all kinds of malware as well.

While the widely held belief that these emails are poorly put together and full of spelling/grammatical mistakes is not untrue, it is not always the case. This mail can be competently constructed and even believably disguised as messages from genuine organizations, companies, institutions, services providers, and other entities.

"Urgent Investment Arrangement", "Assistance To Invest", "Messages Failed Report", "Receipt Copy", "Capital One Fraud Monitoring Department", "Humanitarian Aid And Compensation", and "Payment Has Been Remitted Into Your Account" are merely some of our newest articles on spam campaigns.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Malware is commonly spread through spam campaigns. These emails/messages contain malicious files in the form or attachments or links. Infectious files come in various formats, e.g., executables (.exe, .run, etc.), archives (ZIP, RAR, etc.), documents (PDF, Microsoft Office, Microsoft OneNote, etc.), JavaScript, and so on.

Merely opening such a file can be enough to jumpstart the infection chain. However, some formats might need additional interaction to initiate malware download/installation. For example, Microsoft Office files require users to enable macro commands (i.e., editing/content), while OneNote documents need them to click on embedded links or files.

How to avoid installation of malware?

We highly recommend vigilance with incoming emails, DMs/PMs, SMSes, and other messages. Attachments or links discovered in suspicious/irrelevant mail must not be opened, as they can be harmful or virulent.

It must be mentioned that malware is not spread only through spam campaigns. Therefore, we advise caution when browsing since fraudulent and malicious online content usually appears legitimate and innocuous.

Additionally, all downloads must be made from official and verified channels. Software must be activated and updated using functions/tools provided by genuine developers, as illegal product activation tools ("cracks") and third-party updates can contain malware.

It is essential to have a reputable antivirus installed and kept up-to-date. Security programs must be used to perform regular system scans and to remove 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 "2025 World Sustainable Development Summit Invitation" spam email letter:

Subject: Invitation to the 2025 United Nations World Sustainable Development Summit (UNWSDS)!!

Dear Invitee,

We are pleased to invite you to the 2025 World Sustainable Development Summit under the auspices of the United Nations Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD).

Please find attached the official invitation with full details, including event agenda, registration, and participation benefits.

Important Note: Due to certain email restrictions, users of Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo and some service providers may experience issues accessing the attached invitation if it is delivered to their spam or junk folders. To ensure you can access the file, please mark this message as important and move it to your inbox. ​

We look forward to your presence at this prestigious gathering!

Best regards,
Maria-Francesca Spatolisano
Assistant Secretary-General for Policy Coordination and Inter-Agency Affairs,
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs - DESA.

Appearance of the file attached to this spam email ("INVITATION.pdf") GIF:

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Quick menu:

• What is "2025 World Sustainable Development Summit Invitation" 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 emails are not personal, even if they include information relevant to the recipients. This mail is sent out in massive campaigns – hence, thousands of users receive identical or incredibly similar emails.

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

If you have disclosed your personally identifiable or finance-related data (e.g., ID card details, passport photos/scans, credit/debit card numbers, etc. – contact the corresponding authorities without delay. Andif you have provided your log-in credentials – change the passwords of all possibly exposed accounts and inform their official support.

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

No, reading an email does not pose an infection threat. Devices are infected when malicious attachments or links are opened/clicked.

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 – the system was infected. However, you might have avoided this if it was a document (.doc, .pdf, .xls, .one, etc.). These formats may require additional user interaction (e.g., enabling macros, clicking embedded content, etc.) to jumpstart malware infiltration processes.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Yes, Combo Cleaner can detect and remove nearly all known malware infections. Note that running a full system scan is crucial since high-end malicious software usually hides deep within systems.