Remove “Federal Reserve Award” spam email

The “Federal Reserve Award” spam email is part of a spam email campaign that tries to steal users’ personal information and money. It’s a pretty classic scam that claims you have been chosen to receive an absurd amount of money, $3 million specifically. Supposedly, you will receive this money as a reward from the Federal Reserve. The email instructs you to contact an official via the provided email address to arrange for you to get the money. If you engage with the email, the sender will try to phish as much personal information as possible and eventually ask for money.

 

 

The sender of this particular “Federal Reserve Award” spam email claims to be Estevan Hernandez, a representative from the Federal Reserve Bank. The sender claims that the recipient has been chosen to receive an award of $3 million. The email provides an email address and a claim ID, which users are supposed to use in order to receive the award money.

The “Federal Reserve Award” spam email is simply a modern version of the old “Spanish Prisoner” scam that was popular in the late 18th century. In those days, con artists would deceive people by offering them a way to get money. They claimed they needed money to free wealthy prisoners from prisons in Spain. Victims were asked to provide funds for bribes to the guards, with promises of substantial rewards that people never received.

Today’s versions of these scams often claim that the recipient has won or inherited a large amount of money. This specific scam alleges that recipients have been chosen to receive an award. Targets will be encouraged to communicate with the sender and share personal information. Scammers aim to develop a relationship with potential victims to improve their chances of success. This is why a scam may take place over a long period of time. Once trust has been established, the scammers typically ask for money, often under the guise of needing to verify a bank account or address unforeseen issues. While these financial requests may seem absurd from an outside viewpoint, victims may not question them if trust has already been built.

The full “Federal Reserve Award” spam email is below:

Subject: Breaking News: Notification as an Official Winner from the Fedrl Reserve $3 Million USD Prize Awarded

Exciting News!!

We are thrilled to inform you that you have been selected to receive an incredible $3,000,000 USD award, chosen through a randomized selection process conducted by the Federal Reserve. This is a significant achievement, and we are excited for you to receive such a generous award!

To proceed with claiming your funds, please contact Cash Grants official email at mywinsofficial@outlook.com. When reaching out, be sure to include your Claim ID: 104211867. This will help the representative locate your winning and assist you with the disbursement process as quickly as possible.

We are genuinely happy for you and can’t wait to see you enjoy the benefits of this opportunity. If you have any questions or need further assistance, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Congratulations once again!

Estevan Hernandez
Federal Reserve Bank Representative
Federal Reserve System

If recipients respond to the email, they will be quickly prompted to provide personal information, specifically their full name, home address, and phone number. Scammers may gradually ask for more and more sensitive information. By cultivating trust over time, they make their targets more susceptible to manipulation, eventually leading to requests for money.

Once scammers obtain personal information, they may misuse it themselves or sell it to other criminals. Sensitive information like names, addresses, and phone numbers is particularly valuable, as it allows malicious actors to conduct more sophisticated scams. Scammers tend to be more convincing when they can use personal details or specific names.

While users are likely aware of this, it’s important to remember that any emails promising unexpected sums of money are always scams with no exceptions.

Why did you receive a scam email?

Many people might be curious about why they receive spam emails, specifically how scammers obtain their email addresses. While some cybercriminals may target users at random, receiving a scam email usually implies that the email address has been leaked and sold in some database. This situation is all too common, as inadequate security measures by various services often lead to data breaches. Users can verify if their email address has been part of a data leak/breach on haveibeenpwned. Unfortunately, it’s not just email addresses that are often exposed; other sensitive information can be compromised as well.