The bogus email then asks recipients for their personal details so that they can receive funds from a so-called recession relief programme fund. Needless to say, the programme fund exists only in the email, but the naïve respondent might soon find out that his account has indeed been accessed.
FCO’s official response on this matter leaves no room for doubt:
“This email is a scam. If you receive this email please report it to your local fraud crime office or visit the Metropolitan Police website for further information. We suggest that you never give out your personal details if you are unsure of the legitimacy of the email.”
As always, there are several rules to be applied: all unsolicited email are suspicious to begin with, all the links in an unsolicited email might take you to a malware infested site (or a bogus site, made for phishing purposes) and always double check the information with official sources.