14 DAY TRIAL // Crime refund scams are highly common these days. Scammers rely on the fact that victims of cybercrime and fraud are anxious to get back the money they’ve lost, so they send out a large number of bogus notifications in hope that someone will take the bait.
Another scam email has been spotted by experts from ThreatTrack Security. The bogus notifications appear to come from “The Great Seal: U S Government – United States of America.”
“Your name and details have been short-listed among the victims of internet fraud/scam whom will be paid by this office. We have officially confirmed it and we are aware that you are a victim of fraud/scam but we are here to relief you of the pains, discomfort and trauma of such experience,” the scammy messages read.
“From the sincere results of our severe investigations we discovered that you paid a lot of money to some criminals but I can assure you today that all the money which you were scammed of will be refunded back to you immediately and this is the reason why you have been contacted by this office.”
Potential victims are instructed to reply to the email and provide their name, address, marital status, next of kin, the amount of money lost to fraudsters, and mobile phone number.
Of course, no one ever receives any money. Instead, once this information is provided, the scammers start asking for more information and even for advance payments that are allegedly needed to complete the transaction.
Users who come across such emails should delete them immediately. If you believe that the email you’ve received might be legitimate and you want to get more information, don’t call the number from the email since it’s likely that the scammers will answer.
Instead, get the phone number and email address of the organizations that supposedly contacted you directly from their official website.