Users of Google's email service are the target of a new phishing scam that promises a financial prize of $500. Representatives at SophosLabs, Sophos's global network of virus, spyware and spam analysis centers have issued a public warning detailing the modus operandi. The fraud starts with an e-mail that claims that the recipient has been randomly selected for a $500 cash prize. This is incentive enough to lead the user to follow up the instructions comprised in the e-mail and to click on an embedded link to automatically receive the money.

Once to this stage, the users are informed that there intervened a problem with the transaction and demands the customers to enter their personal data and pay a membership fee of $8,60. The excuse used in this case is that the user does not qualify for the prize as it requires a level of premium membership. The prize doesn't actually exist, and in fact users that have gone through with the instructions of the e-mail have not only lost the membership fee but also have handed their confidential data on a silver platter.

"Of course this email wasn't really sent by the folks at Gmail, and the $500 cash prize doesn't exist. Anyone tempted to try and collect it is in danger of walking straight into a trap set by these fraudsters," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. "People need to learn that there is no such thing as a free lunch, and to be much more wary of unsolicited email communications whoever they may appear to come from."