Lottery scams exploiting the fervour around football’s 2010 World Cup abound and while many are reasonably sophisticated, some are, well, simply absurd.
An example of the former identified by Symantec researchers purports to have been sent by the promotions manager of the “South Africa World Cup Lottery 2010”. Recipients are informed in an attachment that their e-mail addresses have been randomly selected by a “specially” designed computer program and that they have won US$2,5 million.
To add further legitimacy, the scammers claim the lottery is sponsored by the South African Football Association and, like many other scams, urge recipients to keep news of their windfall private for “security reasons”. Naturally that august body has no knowledge of the scheme.
Says Symantec’s Paul Wood: “While at first glance this scam may appear credible, with official-looking logos, reference numbers and the like, a dead giveaway is the poor grammar. (See screen shot below).
“Also, on closer inspection, while this scam claims to be from the South Africa World Cup Lottery, it uses the logo of the United Kingdom National Lottery. Note also the picture of a big pile of cash. Tempting indeed!”
Less convincing is an e-mail with the enticing subject line of “Felicitation” and “fifa” in the sender’s address. The grammar is amusingly infantile with the author assuring recipients comfortingly that “At your disposal I remain”.
The attached pdf is slightly better crafted, boasting the Fifa logo for credibility, but remains unsophisticated. (See screenshot below}.
Says Wood: “It’s hard to believe that anyone would fall for such a transparent scam, but the growing incidence leads one to believe otherwise. It’s a known fact that victims often remain mum out of sheer embarrassment.” Quite!