According to Email of Mercedes-Benz Prize, the lucky recipient has won, not only a brand new Mercedes-Benz motor vehicle but also a large cash prize. What's more, he or she supposedly won without even needing to buy a ticket or enter a draw because the winning email address was randomly selected via a "computerized email selection system".
However, not surprisingly, the claims in the message are entirely bogus. There is no Mercedes-Benz car prize, nor will the "winner" ever receive the promised cash.
Instead, the message is a lure designed to entice the victim into falling for a classic advance-fee scam. Those who fall for the bogus claims in the message will eventually be asked to pay up-front fees, supposedly to facilitate the release and transfer of the "winnings". The scammers will claim that the fees are necessary to cover insurance, tax, government charges or some other fictional requirement. They will insist that these fees have to be payed before the prize is released and cannot be deducted from the amount won.
Hapless victims who comply to these requests for advance fees will discover that the promised prizes are imaginary and that their money has disappeared, probably forever, into the coffers of the criminals running the scam.
Moreover, during subsequent correspondence with their victims, the scammers may request a large amount of sensitive personal information, ostensibly to allow transfer of the prize and to prove identity. If a victim complies with these requests, the scammers may eventually collect enough information to steal his or her identity.
Like many such scam messages, this one uses the name and website of a high-profile company in an attempt to add a veneer of credibility to the supposed lottery promotion. However, in spite of its claims, and the inclusion of a link to the genuine Mercedes-Benz website, this bogus lottery is in no way endorsed or condoned by Mercedes-Benz.
Scam emails can often be quickly identified by poor spelling and grammar as well as other telltale signs. If real, a promotion of this nature would be very unlikely to use a free Yahoo webmail account as a contact email address. Also, in a genuine promotion, messages would likely include direct links to further information about the promotion on the company website as well as legal information and detailed terms and conditions. The London street address used in this scam message has also been used in other scams, including one that falsely claimed to be from BMW.
Lottery scams are very common. A great many different versions of the same basic scam are operating continually and people from all over the world have fallen victim to them. Internet users should be very cautious of any email that claims that they have won money or prizes in a lottery that they have never entered. Similar scam messages are also distributed via fax and surface mail.
However, not surprisingly, the claims in the message are entirely bogus. There is no Mercedes-Benz car prize, nor will the "winner" ever receive the promised cash.
Instead, the message is a lure designed to entice the victim into falling for a classic advance-fee scam. Those who fall for the bogus claims in the message will eventually be asked to pay up-front fees, supposedly to facilitate the release and transfer of the "winnings". The scammers will claim that the fees are necessary to cover insurance, tax, government charges or some other fictional requirement. They will insist that these fees have to be payed before the prize is released and cannot be deducted from the amount won.
Hapless victims who comply to these requests for advance fees will discover that the promised prizes are imaginary and that their money has disappeared, probably forever, into the coffers of the criminals running the scam.
Moreover, during subsequent correspondence with their victims, the scammers may request a large amount of sensitive personal information, ostensibly to allow transfer of the prize and to prove identity. If a victim complies with these requests, the scammers may eventually collect enough information to steal his or her identity.
Like many such scam messages, this one uses the name and website of a high-profile company in an attempt to add a veneer of credibility to the supposed lottery promotion. However, in spite of its claims, and the inclusion of a link to the genuine Mercedes-Benz website, this bogus lottery is in no way endorsed or condoned by Mercedes-Benz.
Scam emails can often be quickly identified by poor spelling and grammar as well as other telltale signs. If real, a promotion of this nature would be very unlikely to use a free Yahoo webmail account as a contact email address. Also, in a genuine promotion, messages would likely include direct links to further information about the promotion on the company website as well as legal information and detailed terms and conditions. The London street address used in this scam message has also been used in other scams, including one that falsely claimed to be from BMW.
Lottery scams are very common. A great many different versions of the same basic scam are operating continually and people from all over the world have fallen victim to them. Internet users should be very cautious of any email that claims that they have won money or prizes in a lottery that they have never entered. Similar scam messages are also distributed via fax and surface mail.
No comments:
Post a Comment