I’ve got two examples of spammy fun today. The first is a short and sweet attempt to get you to open an infected file.
From: western union <danielnkasiobi4life@gmail.com>
To: undisclosed-recipients
Date: Thursday, March 25, 2010 2:52:05 AM
Subject: Thank you for using Western Union!!! OPEN YOUR ATTACHMENT.Attachment: Thank you for using Western Union!.doc
Thank you for using Western Union!!!
OPEN YOUR ATTACHMENT.
Yeah, you know what? No.
It’s funny how often money wiring services like Western Union seem to come up in scams, even when the setup doesn’t involve the victim wiring money at all. I’m sure the malware in this message would allow an outside party to access and control your computer.
I think you’re supposed to get this message and think, “Whoa, it’s gonna give me an access code to get somebody else’s wire transfer!” and then open the attachment in hopes of committing what amounts to theft. One thing about dishonest people—they always assume everyone else is as dishonest as they are.
This next one is sort of long.
From: Nokia Lottery Promotion <prmmanager@live.com>
To: @
Date: Thursday, March 25, 2010 4:08:09 AM
Subject: Winning Notification.NOKIA COMMUNICATIONS
1O4TH STAMFORD BRIDGE,
LONDON,
SW1V 3DW UNITED KINGDOM.Congratulations!!!
We are pleased to inform you of the result of the first
online promotion conducted by Nokia Communications, your
email address was among the 30 Lucky winners who won
£1,000.000.00 (One Million Great British Pounds) each on
the NOKIA CONNECTING PEOPLE PROMOTION 2010.Your e-mail address emerged as independent candidate with
the following Qualification Information attached:(1) Your Lucky Number:7-17-21-26-37-42
(2) Batch: SL/06- GmbH/3434
(3) Reference Number: SL/06-GmbH/4009.The online draws was conducted by a random selection of
email addresses from an exclusive
list of 250,000,000 E-mail addresses of individuals and
mobile phone users picked by an advanced automated random
computer search from the internet. However, no tickets were
sold but all email addresses were assigned to different
ticket numbers for representation and privacy.The selection process was carried out through random
selection in our computerized email selection machine
(TOPAZ) from a database of over 250,000,000 email addresses
drawn from all the continents of the world.This Lottery is approved by the British Gaming Board and
also Licensed by the The International Association of Gaming
Regulators (IAGR). This lottery is the 1st of its kind and
we intend to sensitize the public.In order to claim your £1,000,000.00 (One Million Great
Britain Pound Sterling) prize winning, which has been
deposited in a designated bank with our offshore payment
center, However, You will have to contact the promotion
manager in charge of claims with your (Lucky Number,Batch
Number,Refference Number) for verification and then you will
be directed on how you can claim your winning funds:Promotion Manager
Gary Morgan
For; Nokia Email Lottery
phone: +44 704 577 7980
Email: prmmanager@live.comYou are to keep all Nokia lottery information away from the
general public especially your Verification Number and Batch
Number. (This is important as a case of double claims will
not be entertained)NOTICE: Verification claims with error or any misinformation
as regards filling for claims payment will be dishonored and
disqualified as abuse to our Policy Terms and Services. This
is in accordance with section 13(1) (n) of the National
Gambling Act as adopted in 1993 and amended on 3rd July 1996
by the constitutional assembly. Be thus informed.*Staff of Nokia Communications Worldwide are not to partake
in this Lottery.Accept my hearty congratulations once again!Yours faithfully,
Mrs. Gracey Anderson.
(Online Coordinator)
For: Nokia Online Lottery Promotion.Copyright 1994-2010 The NOKIA National Lottery Inc.All
rights reserved.Terms of Service – Guideline.Note that you are not to reply to this E-mail, please
contact your promotion manager directly to start the
processing of your claims.Promotion Manager
Gary Morgan
Email: prmmanager@live.comAlain S. BAGRE
Géomètre Expert Foncier
Urbaniste
01 BP 2693 Ouagadougou 01
Burkina Faso
Tél: Bureau 226 50368565
Mobile 226 70200744
Pretty run-of-the mill lottery scam message. Nokia doesn’t hold lotteries, and they certainly don’t just give away large sums of money to random people. Who actually thinks businesses operate in this manner?
There are some pretty entertaining sentences in here, though, such as, “This lottery is the 1st of its kind and we intend to sensitize the public.” Sensitize? You’re going to make the public sensitive to the existence of the Nokia Lottery?
What an odd choice of diction. I thought they spoke English in England.
However, “you are to keep all Nokia lottery information away from the
general public” is a key sentence. In other words, don’t tell anybody about this message, because they might know it’s a lottery scam and keep you from sending us thousands of dollars.
I think part of the reason that lottery scams proliferate is that people just don’t understand how real lotteries function. When you buy a genuine $1 lottery ticket for a chance to win $100 million, your state government is actually making money on that deal. You may have only spent one dollar, but rest assured they sold more than enough tickets to cover the cost of the payout and make a large profit. That’s why states hold lotteries in the first place. They’re not just giving away money out of generosity.
One other point: companies don’t have lotteries. They might have a contest or a sweepstakes, but you never see them use the word “lottery.” Microsoft, Nokia and any other company you’ve seen in these scams are not government entities. They are private companies, and private companies don’t sell lottery tickets.