How to identify fake emails like "Cooperation To Receive Estate"

What kind of scam is "Cooperation To Receive Estate"?

We have reviewed the email and determined that it is a scam. The scammers use it to trick recipients into sharing personal information and (or) sending money. Falling for this scam can lead to monetary loss, identity theft, and other issues. Thus, recipients should ignore and delete the message.

More about the "Cooperation To Receive Estate" scam email

The email claims to be from Elizabeth Gross, a senior officer at a European bank, offering a share of an unclaimed inheritance. It states that the money belongs to a deceased person with no next of kin and suggests that the recipient can receive 50% of the estate if they assist with the transaction.

The message presents the offer as risk-free and urges the recipient to respond for further instructions. Usually, scammers behind such emails aim to trick recipients into believing they must pay an "administration", "transaction", or other fee to receive a large sum of money.

However, victims of such scams never receive any money and have their money stolen. Also, scammers often use such emails to extract details such as names and surnames, credit card numbers, login credentials, or other sensitive information that can be misused for malicious purposes (e.g., identity theft or financial fraud).

Thus, this and similar emails should not be trusted and should be deleted if ever received.

Conclusion

This email is a classic inheritance scam designed to trick recipients into paying fees or revealing personal information. Victims never receive any money, and scammers may use the stolen data for identity theft or financial fraud. Such messages should not be trusted and should be deleted immediately.

Sometimes, emails like this one can be used to deliver malware. A couple of examples of similar scams are "Fund Transfer Intercepted", "JP Morgan Chase Fund Release Email Scam", and "Compensation To Cyber Crime Victims Email Scam".

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Cybercriminals often use email to deliver malware by attaching malicious files, such as documents, PDFs, executable files, scripts, or compressed files like RAR and ZIP. If a user opens these attachments or takes additional steps, the malware can be deployed on their device.

These emails may also contain links to unsafe or hacked websites, which can either automatically download malware or convince users to run it themselves. In most cases, a device only becomes infected when the recipient interacts with a malicious file or clicks a harmful link.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Be careful with unexpected messages from unknown senders, and never open attachments or follow links in them. Avoid clicking on pop-ups, ads, buttons, or links on untrustworthy websites. Do not permit suspicious sites to send you notifications. Get programs from official websites or trusted app stores, and steer clear of pirated software, cracks, or keygens.

Also, keep your operating system and applications up to date, and perform regular scans with reliable security software to maintain protection.

Text presented in the "Cooperation To Receive Estate" email letter:

Subject: Hello Dear

12/01/2026

Hello beloved friend,

I am Elizabeth Gross from European Union on Funds recovery department with CaixaBank de España, a senior officer here in Europe! it's my wish to solicit your assistance in a transaction, I have on my desk an abandoned sum that belongs to a deceased who died during COVID-19 PANDEMIC without a next of kin.

This will be of great benefit to both of us and I cannot achieve this without your support. Therefore, I need your cooperation for us to receive this Estate after which you will be eligible for 50% of the total Estate, while 50% will be for me. There is no risk involved because the deceased did not mention any Next of Kin on the estate.

kindly respond for more details information on how we are going to handle this business transaction and please discard this message if you are not interested. One Passionate appeal I will not make it to anyone else, if you have any reason to reject this offer, kindly destroy this message.

Sincerely
Mrs. Elizabeth Gross

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Quick menu:

• What is Cooperation To Receive Estate inheritance 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?

Fraudsters often distribute the same email to many recipients. They do not target anyone in particular. Usually, addresses are collected from data breaches or fake sites.

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

If account credentials are exposed, passwords should be updated. Moreover, if any personal or financial data has been leaked, then this should be reported to the appropriate entities.

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

Executables or scripts pose a higher risk of infection, whereas documents like PDFs or Word files are usually safe unless the user enables macros or performs other steps. Generally, it depends on the type of the malicious file.

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

In general, emails themselves are harmless. The risk occurs only when attachments are opened or links are clicked.

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

Combo Cleaner can detect and eliminate most malware, though advanced threats may hide deep within the system, so running a full scan is recommended.