What sort of email scam is "Assistance In Claiming The Money"

What kind of email is "Assistance In Claiming The Money"?

We have examined this email and concluded it is a scam. The message is crafted to resemble a formal legal communication from a London-based attorney, falsely claiming that a deceased client left behind $21 million USD with no named heirs. It is a classic advance-fee fraud scheme, and recipients should ignore it to avoid monetary loss and potential identity theft.

"Assistance In Claiming The Money" email scam in detail

The email is written as a formal letter from someone calling himself "Barr Cliford Jose," a private attorney allegedly based in London. He claims that his late client - an American named Robert Fitzpatrick - perished in the crash of EgyptAir Flight 990 on October 31st, 1999, leaving behind $21 million USD in a financial account with no named beneficiary.

The scammer states that the finance company holding these funds has issued a notice demanding identification of the next of kin. He proposes that the recipient pose as the rightful heir, with him handling all legal paperwork. In return, the recipient would supposedly receive 40% of the total, with 50% kept by the sender and 10% set aside for transaction costs.

There is no deceased client, no unclaimed account, and no $21 million. Engaging with the scammer leads to a series of escalating fee requests - for taxes, legal charges, or transfer costs - that must supposedly be paid before the funds are released. The money never materializes.

Those who stay in contact may also be asked to supply personal documents such as passport copies or national identification. This information can be exploited for identity theft. The longer someone remains engaged, the greater their financial and personal risk.

Email scams in general

In summary, this email is a classic advance-fee fraud. There is no deceased client, no unclaimed account, and no $21 million.

Engaging with it leads to escalating demands for fees and personal documents, risking both financial loss and identity theft. Such scams are sometimes also used to distribute malware. The email should be deleted without reply.

More examples of similar email campaigns are Business Owner Compensation, All Nippon Airways Raffle Draw, and Trump Gold Card Selection Program Nomination.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Spam campaigns are commonly used to distribute malware by delivering malicious files as email attachments or through download links. These files come in a variety of formats, including executables, compressed archives such as ZIP or RAR files, PDF documents, Microsoft Office files, and JavaScript.

Opening an executable typically triggers the infection immediately. Documents and archives often require some user action first - such as enabling malicious macro commands or running an included installer - before the malware begins to install. Either way, infection depends on the user interacting with the content.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Be cautious with any unexpected email, particularly those containing attachments or links from senders you do not recognize. Even messages that appear to come from trusted sources can be deceptive - treat unusual requests with skepticism regardless of how the email looks.

Download software only from official websites or reputable app stores. Pirated programs, key generators, and unofficial activation tools are frequently bundled with malware. Keeping your operating system and installed applications updated helps close known security vulnerabilities.

Use reputable anti-malware software and keep it active. Do not grant notification permissions to websites you do not trust. If you have already opened a suspicious attachment, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to detect and eliminate any threats.

Text presented in the "Assistance In Claiming The Money" email letter:

Subject: Re: FILE NO/6328/ OFFICIAL

54 Doughty Street
London, WC1N 2LS
DX: 223 Chancery Lane.
Tel: +44-7377423538
Fax: +44-7377423538

Dear Sir/Madam,

I am Cliford Jose the private counselor-at-law to Robert Fitzpatrick, an American who was a consultant with Shell UK LTD here in London, who shall be referred to as my client. Unfortunately, my client lost his life on Boeing Egypt Air Flight 990, which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on October 31st, 1999, and left no clear beneficiary as Next of Kin except for some vital documents related to the deposit still with me.

All efforts by me to trace his Next of Kin was unsuccessful because he did not make any will before his death. Since then I have made several inquiries to locate any of my late clients' extended relatives and this has proven unsuccessful. After my several unsuccessful attempts to locate any member of his family hence I contacted you.

I am contacting you to assist in claiming the money left behind by my client before they get confiscated or declared unclaimed by the security company where this huge sum was deposited. Particularly, the finance company where the deceased had the said fund valued at 21 Million dollars has issued me a notice to provide the next of kin.

Consequent upon this, my idea is that we can have a deal/agreement and I am going to do this legally with your name as the bonafide beneficiary of the amount in question as I have all legal documents to back our claim, I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin to the deceased so that the proceeds of this account valued at $21 Million US dollars can be paid to your account abroad. Note that 40% of this money will be for you, concerning the provision of a foreign account, and 50% for me, 10% will be used for the reimbursement of any expenditure we may incur in the cause of the transaction.

I affirm that this will be done under a legitimate arrangement that will cover you from any breach of the law, all I need from you is your utmost alliance and sincerity for us to flourish in this deal. Please get back to me if you are ready to assist me.

Sincerely,
Barr Cliford Jose.

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Quick menu:

• What is Assistance In Claiming The Money 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?

Cybercriminals distribute these messages in bulk to large numbers of recipients simultaneously. Email addresses are typically collected through data breaches, scraped from public websites, or sold between criminal groups. These emails are not targeted at any specific person.

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

Change any passwords that may have been compromised as quickly as possible. If you provided financial details or identity documents, contact your bank and the relevant authorities right away to report the incident and reduce further exposure.

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

Executable files typically launch an infection as soon as they are opened. Documents and archives - such as Word files, PDFs, or ZIP files - usually require an additional action, such as enabling macros or running an embedded setup file, before malware activates.

The actual risk depends on the file type and how the user interacts with it.

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

No. Reading or viewing an email alone does not put your computer at risk. Infection only occurs when you click a link or open an attached file. If you did not interact with any content in the email, your device is safe.

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

Yes. Combo Cleaner can detect and remove the vast majority of known malware. Running a full system scan is strongly recommended, as some advanced threats attempt to conceal themselves deep within the operating system.