The following email sounds rather enticing -
Subject: Laptops
Date: Sat, 24 May 2008 12:39am
The Ericsson Company is distributing free computer lap-tops in an attempt to match Nokia that has already done so.
Ericsson hopes to increase its popularity this way.
For this reason, they are giving away the new WAP Laptops.
All you need to qualify is to send this mail to 8 people you know.
Within 2 weeks, you will receive Ericsson T18.
But if you can send it to 20 people or more, you will receive Ericsson R320.
There are people within our building who have received their laptops so I thought I would share this info with you in hopes that you get one before they give them all out!
Make sure to send a copy (cc) to: anna.swelung@ericsson.com
- but don’t be fooled – this is a long-running hoax.
Update #1 : There is a new, graphically enhanced, version of the Sony Ericsson laptop hoax now being circulated.
Update #2 : A newer version of this hoax email now claims you can get a free Sony Vaio laptop by forwarding a similar message to 20 people.
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You know what’s funny about it all? I get these emails and because they ARE from friends (plus the little blurb.. checked this out on snopes, it IS legit) posted at the bottom of the email, I dont believe it would ever happen, but because they are friends, you pass it on. I know, it’s not good to be a part of the problem.. but what I dont get is what do these people who come up with this stuff expect to obtain from pulling these stunts? Makes no sense.
No-one knows for sure with this particular hoax but the people behind some of these have different motives, ranging from fun to harvesting email lists.
A naive friend of mine keeps forwarding me these scam emails. I don’t understand why people are dumb enough to believe that a company would GIVE away costly computers to anyone who emails the message to 30 people. WAKE UP, PEOPLE!
If it sounds too good to be true, IT IS!
“If it sounds too good to be true, IT IS!”
Amazing how many people ignore such obvious advice!
This message get to me to. See: http://www.hoax-slayer.com/ericsson-free-lap-top.shtml
Brett’s site sure is a good source for finding out if an email is a hoax or not.
I am also getting these mail many times in a week.
anna.xxxxx may use to sell this mailing list
If I remember rightly I think that the Anna in question is not the name of someone who has ever worked for Ericcson so it’s obviously a made up name.
Not sure any mailing lists are involved here though as it’s just a hoax chain letter that possibly creates no more harm than just adding to the multitude of junk mail that flies around the web.
Me too
Me too.
Did they remember to change the date on it???
I got this very same email today.
These things seem to go in cycles.
well u know what they say – you’ve gotta be in it to win it!
lol
But it isn’t a lottery!?!
oh yes it is!!
Looks more like a chain letter than a lottery as there is no entrance fee but Balls is semi-right I guess.
Yeah that would be my interpretation too Peter.
Define military inteligence. A contradiction in terms proven this morning when I opened an email containing this and found that it had been circulating through about 60 or so people, forwarded 12 times, and several of the senders work in high end areas. So much for user and security training, one of these days there’s going to be a virus encoded in the bloody scam.
EEK! I get your point about military intelliegence. Worrying, isn’t it.
The word “free” is such a a motivator that most of the times it blurs our judgement. I blogged about this way back in 2003 when Nokia was supposedly doing this bit of “marketing”. Surprisingly, the name in the mail at that time was Anna Swelam! It seems the Ericsson hoax mailers did not put much mind to even invent a new name!
It’s very much like all the scam emails I get Calvin – they just keep on recycling the same thing over and over again without any thought.
These hoaxers are obviously just as lazy.
To put it simply and succinctly: NO!
This chain email really disturbs me on a variety of levels. Let me enumerate them for you.
1. It is amazingly easy to go to the Ericsson Company website, and run a simple search for anna swelung (the second thing I thought of to search for) and find that this is a hoax. Why do people forward these things to hundreds of people when it takes 30 seconds to find out the truth of the matter, and not waste everyone’s time?
Here’s what Ericsson Company says (it’s even on their Frequently Asked Questions page, which really says something!)
A chain letter is currently in circulation via e-mail, purporting that
Ericsson is giving away mobile phones. The e-mail is a fraud and
Ericsson is not giving away phones for free. The following is an
extract from the letter:
“If you forward it [the letter] to 20 friends, you will receive a brand
new Ericsson phone.”
The letter is signed off Anna Swelund, Executive Promotion Manager
for Ericsson Marketing. This person does not exist at Ericsson. The
legal and IT departments at Ericsson will trace the person who
initiated the illegal chain letter. Ericsson is sorry for any inconvenience this might have caused and kindly ask people not to forward the chain mail further.]
(notice that in this version it’s cell phones, not laptops, and it’s Anna Swelund, not Anna Swelung. Also notice that Ericsson is peeved enough by this that they are threatening legal action against the perpetrator)
2. Here’s another thing that especially disturbs me. Did it ever occur to anyone that it was possible that Anna Swelung might have been a real person, and if she was, then she’s getting swamped by thousands of these emails every single day, because no one is taking the time to check whether it’s true before they send her an email.
How would you like it if I posted your email address on this page, and told everyone that you were giving away free laptops?
You’d feel like suing me, wouldn’t you? Well, here’s something for you to consider. Since you forwarded this email to a bunch of people, you have become one of the perpetrators of this scam, and you have just forwarded your email address to a company which has just stated they’ll be happy to take legal action.
Let that one sink in for a moment.
3. Every time you forward this email to your friends, your email address and theirs is getting added to the main text of this email. Which means you’re violating my privacy by sending my email address out in a forward that will eventually get in the hands of hundreds of people I don’t even know. How many of those people are spammers who will harvest my email address?
That’s a long, detailed response and you obviously feel quite strongly about this email hoax.
Is there some reason for that? Did you reply to one?
How gullible people are!!! And its normally a friend / acquaintance / client who forward this junk (and you begin to wonder about your circle of friends!)
Just received the laptop one today……so lame!
In this day and age WHO GIVES AWAY ANYTHING????
Well, I would ask who ever really gives anything away ever?
i have two friends who are always sending crap like this to me and everyone they know. when i tell them its ascam, they get mad at me and say how would they know that? i say look on the intenet. they say i dont have time to confirm every email i get, i say so youd rather foward a lie to everyone you know? they get huffy and say i was trying to be nice and helpful. no they are just stupid.
If something seems too good to be true… it usually is!