Scammers have recycled pieces of an email dated back to at least 2012 in their latest quest to steal as much money as possible from potential victims– they also flubbed and called it “Window Live” instead of “Windows”, but you can’t have everything.
When someone opens their inbox, they’ll see the 419 senders have made use of a common marketing trick – titling the email “Re:”, to make it look like it’s a reply to something that’s been bouncing back and forth. Rather naughty, and surprisingly effective if the recipient isn’t paying attention:
In this example, they claim their payout of three million pounds is related to the “Orange CAF 2013 Africa Cup of Nations” event – below, it’s all about the “Windows Live Network Award Program”.
The text reads as follows:
Dear Email user
We wish to notify you that You are among the 10 lucky winners of window Live Network Online Award Program and You have won the sum of {Three Million Pounds £3,000.000.00} Cash from window Live Network Online Award Program and your email address was generated in the recently drawn of Network Online Program for Second Quarter of the Year 2014. Payable through our Paying Agent in South Africa This Unique Program is Organized Every year to create and improve a larger awareness record for all internet usage for worldwide.
This Unique Program is Organized Every year to create and improve a larger awareness record for all internet usage worldwide. All the ten (10) winners were selected automatically World Wide through a computer draw system and emails were generated from over 100, 000.00 internet email service providers. from U.S.A, Europe, Canada, United Arab Emirates,Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South America, Australia and Asia and Africa Continent.
Kindly note that Your Ref: ZA-15-27-39/WAP/2014 falls within our Afro booklet Regional Headquarters representative office in Johannesburg, South Africa as indicated in the play coupon. For security reasons, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential until your claim is processed to avoid double claim.
Your winning details Below Reference Number: ZA-15-27-39/WAP/2014 Amount Won: £3000.000.00 You are hereby advised to Contact our Paying Agent (Payment Processing Center) for Immediate release of your fund.
Contact Persons: Mrs. Amanda Eastwood Direct Line: +[snip] E-mail: processingcenter@[snip]
FOR YOUR CLAIM SEND THE INFO BELOW TO PROCESS YOUR PAYMENT
Full Names: Sex: City: Country: Direct Mobile: Age: Occupation Email: Alternative Email Reference No:
Congratulations once again from all our Staff and thank you for being part of our Promotions Program
Should you happen to see this missive land in your inbox, feel free to delete and ignore – like so many others out there it’s a scam through and through. You can read about more types of 419 mails on Wikipedia.
Stay safe and don’t be tempted by promises of riches – and do your good deed for the day by letting your less tech savvy relatives know about these kinds of potentially life ruining con-jobs.
Christopher Boyd
