14 DAY TRIAL // Scammers will leverage all sorts of topics to trick unsuspecting people into handing over personal information and maybe even some money. One of these topics is the Illuminati, the controversial groups that allegedly control the world from behind the scenes.
Security researchers from Malwarebytes have come across a spam email which asks recipients to join the Illuminati.
“Your email was selected among the ten lucky people giving the opportunity of becoming rich and popular by joining the great Illuminati network for more details please contact email ([email]@outlook.com ) for more details,” the emails entitled “Invitation to the great Illuminati” read.
According to posts on 419eater, once users respond to the emails, they’re asked to provide a photograph and some personal information. Then, victims are told to contact a second individual to get “initiation items.”
In the next stage, victims get an email that purports to come from the courier that’s about to deliver the items. This “courier” then asks for a payment via Western Union. If the user doesn’t pay, the scammers send another email asking for payment. This time, the email also contains the victim’s “Illuminati National ID Card”
After all, an Illuminati National ID Card should show that everything is legitimate, right?
“This is certainly one of the stranger spam campaigns we've seen, but the subject matter can still ultimately lead web-users into financial peril and they should leave these safely in the trash folder where they belong,” Malwarebytes Malware Intelligence Analyst Chris Boyd noted.
“The nature of the mail may tempt some to reply simply for giggles, but keep in mind hardened criminals can be at the other end of these types of scams (even if they do have an Illuminati National Identity card),” the expert added.
Illuminati-themed scams have been making the rounds for quite some time. We first spotted a scammy invitation back in mid-2013. The scammers invited internauts to the Brotherhood of Illuminati Church and the Illuminati Brotherhood.
They promised fortune and fame to all those who joined.
“This is the opportunity for you to be rich and famous by joining the Illuminate (sic) Brotherhood, majority of the people in the world are members, and they are very rich some are business men, some are politicians and many other businesses in the world,” the scam posts read.
There are probably other variants out there, so be on the lookout for any messages asking you to join the Illuminati.