How to avoid falling for the "Donation By Foundation Email Scam"

What kind of scam is "Donation By Foundation Email Scam"?

We have examined this email and determined it to be a scam. The message falsely claims the recipient has been selected to receive a large charitable donation from a famous person's foundation. It is a classic advance-fee fraud designed to extract money and personal information from unsuspecting recipients over time. This email should be ignored entirely.

More about the "Donation By Foundation Email Scam" email

The email informs the recipient that a sum of $4,750,500.00 USD has been donated to them by a well-known person's charitable foundation. The recipient is asked to reply and confirm their email address is valid, after which they would supposedly receive instructions on how to claim the funds.

This campaign circulates in multiple variants. The body text is nearly identical across all versions - only the name of the supposed donor and foundation changes. Observed variants include a "Warren Buffett Foundation" version and a "William James Foundation" version, and other famous names are likely used in further variants as well.

Once a recipient responds, the scammers typically begin requesting upfront payments. These are framed as processing fees, transfer taxes, legal charges, or administrative costs that must be settled before the money can be released.

There is no donation and no foundation. This is a textbook advance-fee scam - victims are strung along with escalating fee demands while the promised payout never arrives. Warren Buffett, William James, and any other real individuals whose names appear in these emails have no connection to this fraudulent campaign whatsoever.

Similar scam emails in general

In conclusion, this is an advance-fee scam that falsely promises a large charitable donation from a famous person's foundation. The goal is to lure victims into a prolonged exchange that results in financial loss and the disclosure of personal information.

Anyone who engages is met with escalating fee demands - and the promised funds never arrive. These types of emails are also sometimes used to spread malware.

More examples of similar scam emails are Vendor Evaluation, Your Corporate Password Has Expired, and Facebook Casino Online Promotions.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Cybercriminals often deliver malware by attaching harmful files directly to emails. These can be executable programs, Microsoft Office documents, PDF files, archives, scripts, and other file types. Opening such a file - or enabling certain features like macros - can silently trigger malware installation on the device.

Some emails include links to malicious websites instead of attachments. Visiting these pages can either automatically start a download or trick the user into manually running a harmful file. In either case, the infection requires the user to interact with the malicious content - simply receiving the email poses no risk on its own.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Be cautious with unexpected emails, particularly those containing attachments or links from unfamiliar senders. If a message looks suspicious - even if it appears to come from a known source - do not click any links or open attached files. Many infections start with a single misplaced click.

Only download software from official websites and verified app stores. Avoid pirated software, unofficial "cracks," and key generators, as these are frequently bundled with malware alongside the content they promise.

Keep your operating system and all installed applications up to date to close known security gaps. Use a reputable antivirus program and run regular scans. If you suspect you have already opened a malicious attachment, scan your device with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to remove any threats that may have been installed.

Text presented in the "Donation By Foundation Email Scam" email letter:

Subject: Re: Congratulations.

Hello [recipient],

Congratulations, the amount of ($4,750,500.00 USD) was donated to you by WARREN BUFFETT FOUNDATION.

For more information about the foundation and how to claim the money, please reply to me if this your selected ([recipient's email]) is Valid

I am waiting for your email to confirm that this email is valid.

Regards
Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett Foundation

Please Note: if you receive this email in your junk or spam folders, please note it's because of your internet ISP. Please mark it as not spam or move it to your inbox to reply

Another variant of this scam email:

Text presented in this variant:

Subject: Re: Congratulations.

Hello [recipient],

Congratulations, the amount of ($4,750,500.00 USD) was donated to you by William James FOUNDATION.

For more information about the foundation and how to claim the money, please reply to me if this your selected ([recipient's email]) is Valid

I am waiting for your email to confirm that this email is valid.

Regards
William james
William james Foundation

Please Note: if you receive this email in your junk or spam folders, please note it's because of your internet ISP. Please mark it as not spam or move it to your inbox to reply

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Quick menu:

• What is Donation By Foundation phishing 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?

These messages are mass-distributed to large numbers of people at once. Scammers collect email addresses through methods such as data breaches, fake websites, or purchased lists. The email is not targeted at you personally.

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

If you shared sensitive details such as identification documents or banking information, contact the relevant authorities or financial institutions immediately. Also change any passwords for accounts that may have been compromised.

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

Executable files (.exe and similar formats) can compromise a system the moment they are opened. Documents such as PDFs or Office files generally require additional interaction - for example, enabling macros - before any malware activates. The risk depends on the file type and how the user interacted with it.

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

Simply reading or viewing the email is harmless. Infection occurs only when a user clicks a malicious link, opens an attached file, or otherwise executes content designed to run malicious code.

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

Combo Cleaner can detect and remove the vast majority of known malware threats. Running a full system scan is strongly recommended, as some sophisticated threats embed themselves deep within the system and require thorough detection to be fully eliminated.