What is “UNITED NATIONS COMPENSATION (COVID19 ASSISTED PROGRAM)” e-mail spam
UNITED NATIONS COMPENSATION (COVID19 ASSISTED PROGRAM) email scam is a fraudulent scheme that preys on individuals by falsely claiming they are eligible for a significant payment from a United Nations COVID-19 relief program. These emails are designed to appear legitimate, often using official logos and names to deceive recipients. The primary goal of these scams is to extract personal information or money from unsuspecting victims.
Spam campaigns, including those like the “UNITED NATIONS COMPENSATION (COVID19 ASSISTED PROGRAM)” scam, can infect computers through various methods. One common method is through phishing links and attachments. Emails may contain links that direct recipients to phishing websites designed to steal personal information or download malware onto their devices. Additionally, attachments such as PDFs, Word documents, or Excel files may contain malicious code. When opened, these files can execute scripts that install malware on the recipient’s computer. Social engineering is another tactic used in these campaigns. Scammers often impersonate trusted entities, such as the United Nations, to gain the recipient’s trust and prompt them to divulge sensitive information. They may also use emotional manipulation, such as the promise of financial relief during a crisis, to manipulate recipients into complying with their requests.
Risks of interacting with “UNITED NATIONS COMPENSATION (COVID19 ASSISTED PROGRAM)” e-mail spam
Interacting with the “UNITED NATIONS COMPENSATION (COVID19 ASSISTED PROGRAM)” email scam can lead to several serious risks. Financial loss is a significant risk, as scammers may request payments for processing fees, taxes, or other fictitious charges, leading to direct financial loss. Additionally, providing personal and financial information can result in unauthorized transactions and financial fraud.
Identity theft is another major risk. The information collected through these scams can be used to steal the recipient’s identity, leading to long-term financial and legal consequences. Personal data may also be sold on the dark web to other cybercriminals, further increasing the risk of identity theft and fraud.
System infections are also a concern. Clicking on malicious links or opening infected attachments can result in the installation of malware, including ransomware, spyware, or trojans, which can compromise the security of the recipient’s computer. Infected computers may become part of a botnet, used to send out more spam emails or conduct other malicious activities without the owner’s knowledge.
- Download Anti-Spam and Anti-Malware Tools
- Mark unwanted e-mail messages as Spam
- Delete Spam letters
- Unsubscribe from e-mail campaigns
- Change your e-mail address and forward it
- Final tips
1. Download Anti-Spam Tool
There are special programs designed to protect yourself against various threats arriving at e-mail. Third-party software providing advanced anti-spam algorithms and filtering tools will be good and more reliable protection in addition to the standard capabilities of many e-mail services. One of the world leaders in anti-spam protection is MailWasher Pro. It works with various desktop applications and provides a very high level of anti-spam protection and can stop “UNITED NATIONS COMPENSATION (COVID19 ASSISTED PROGRAM)” e-mail scam.
2. Download Anti-Malware Tool
To make sure there are no malware already installed on your PC you should check it with advanced antimalware. Even if you have standard anti-virus protection, scan with quality anti-malware can be helpful as it has different database and algorithms designed to find and remove viruses and bloatware wide-spread among regular users. We recommend Malwarebytes Anti-Malware:
1. Mark e-mail as Spam
If an e-mail message has not been put to the “spam” or “junk” folder itself, then users can do it themselves in just a couple of steps. Marking e-mail as spam will let your e-mail service know how to treat the unwanted sender next time. All further messages received from the spam-marked address will be located in the appropriate folder already without your help. Here is how:
Gmail:
- Open your Gmail and find a message you want to classify as “spam”.
- Select this message by clicking on the square box next to it.
- Then, click on the stop sign icon (the one with an exclamation mark) on top.
Yahoo! Mail:
- Open your Yahoo! Mail and find a message you want to classify as “spam”.
- Select this message by clicking on the square box next to it.
- Then, click on the Spam icon on top.
Microsoft Outlook:
- Open your Microsoft Outlook and find a message you want to classify as “spam”.
- Select this message by clicking on the square box next to it.
- Then, click on Junk and Block afterward.
Apple Mail:
- Open your Apple Mail and find a message you want to classify as “spam”.
- Click on it and choose the Junk Mail (trash can with “X”) icon.
2. Delete Spam letters
You can also clear your “spam” or “junk” folder from all the collected such letters. It is always good to maintain your e-mail clean and without trash that clutters even your spam folders. This is how you can wipe it:
Gmail:
- Open your Gmail and go to Spam on sidebar.
- If you want to wipe all the spam letters at once, click Delete All Spam Messages Now.
- If you want to do it selectively, click on the message you need and choose Delete forever.
Yahoo! Mail:
- Open your Yahoo! Mail and navigate to Spam on the sidebar.
- Choose e-mails you want to remove and click Delete on top.
Microsoft Outlook:
- Open your Microsoft Outlook and navigate to Junk Email on the sidebar.
- Then, click on Empty folder to clear all spam messages.
Apple Mail:
- Open your Apple Mail and navigate to Spam on the sidebar.
- Choose e-mails you want to remove and click the Trash can icon on top.
3. Unsubscribe from e-mail campaigns
Many websites offer users to enter their e-mail address in exchange for exclusive content notifications, and tons of other marketing stuff. Over some time, regular users can subscribe to multiple resources that bombard your inbox and spam folder with continuous messages. This can be stopped by unsubscribing to them. Many messages, if opened, have a small gray hyperlink or button “Unsubscribe”. Clicking on it should unsubscribe you from letters you have been receiving for some time. Note that some intentionally malicious letters may use fake “Unsubscribe” buttons to deceive users into downloading malware or visiting suspicious pages. Therefore, remember to always stay on alert!
You can also do the following to unsubscribe to multiple newsletters in Gmail at once:
- Open your Gmail and type Unsubscribe into the search box on top.
- Then, click on the Show search options icon on the right end of the search box.
- Click on Create filter and select checkboxes next to Delete it and Apply filter to matching conversations.
- After selecting, finish by clicking on Create filter.
This will lead to all previously subscribed messages evaporating from your flood list in seconds. No more letters of such will appear in your Inbox or other folders again.
4. Change your e-mail address and forward it
It is sometimes hard to get rid of all spam in case of an e-mail breach. Receiving unreasonably high numbers of spam could mean your e-mail was leaked to large masses of spamming campaigns grateful to use it. Victims of this can quite easily avoid it by creating a new e-mail address and forwarding incoming e-mails from their old address. Don’t worry, this will not redirect abnormal streams of spam to this new address, but only normal messages you received on your behalf. It is also worth notifying people you had close contact with that you changed your e-mail address, so they do not get scared after receiving a message from an unknown address.
- First, you should begin with creating a new account for the e-mail service you use (Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, or Apple Mail).
- Then, log back into your old account, go to Settings and Add a forwarding address. In Gmail, these settings can be found in the Forwarding POP/IMAP tab. Something similar should be in other services as well.
- Enter the newly created e-mail address and click Next > Proceed > OK.
- You will then receive a verification message in that newly created address. Make sure you click on it.
If you also want to forward a copy of already existing e-mails, do the following:
- Go back to the settings page for the Gmail account you want to forward messages from, and refresh your browser.
- Navigate to Forwarding and POP/IMAP and select Forward a copy of incoming mail to.
- Choose what you want to happen with the Gmail copy of your emails. It is recommended to choose Keep Gmail’s copy in the Inbox. Click Save changes at the end.
All done and dusted! Now, all new messages tied to the previous e-mail will be sent to your new address.
Final tips
There is always a good practice to have personal and business e-mail accounts separately. If you are active on forums, Q&A sites, participate in link building you will probably need another account for that. Major e-mail services and applications like Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, Apple Mail and Outlook already have strong built-in anti-spam technologies, however, we recommend special software like MailWasher Pro to fight spam campaigns like “UNITED NATIONS COMPENSATION (COVID19 ASSISTED PROGRAM)”.
