Spanish ‘El Gordo’ Lottery Scam Targets Irish Users

What is the chance for a Bank of America phishing scam to obtain information from Internet users in France? Many can agree that the chances are slim and this is precisely why cybercriminals have begun using botnets to launch more targeted spam operations that increase their success rates.

ESET researchers from Ireland came across such a scam email that addresses the recipients is Gaeilge (Irish) to make sure as many victims as possible buy the phony notice that claims they won a large amount of money in the “Spanish ‘El Gordo’ International Email” lottery.

The phony email, translated to English, looks something like this:

EL GORDO – FINAL NOTIFICATION
YOUR EMAIL ID HAS WON Four Hundred and Fifty Thousand Euros(€450,000.00) in the Spanish ‘El Gordo’ International Email sweepstakes lottery award with lucky numbers 9/11/13/24/43 and Ref:ES/9420X2/68.

For Clarification and claim procedure Contact:
CAPITAL FINANCIAL SERVICES
Mr. Juan Carlos Jr.
Tel: 34-672-594-567
Email: capitalsinfo@aol.com
With your Full names, Address, Age, Occupation, Phone numbers,
Send your reply to; capitalsinfo@aol.com

Congratulation.

Of course, there is no such thing as the “El Gordo International Email sweepstake lottery” and users who fall for the scam can be required to provide sensitive information, such as bank account data, or even money which allegedly is needed to make the fund transfer.

Since these schemes can be easily translated and redesigned to target others, users are advised to ignore them to make sure they don’t fall victims to a fraudulent operation.

“This and similar spams are not harmful by themselves, if the receiver doesn’t do what he’s told. Mark the message as spam and ignore it,” ESET Ireland’s Urban Shrott writes.

“Don’t even reply to it, or tell the offenders something they’d deserve to hear, as by doing that you have confirmed your email address as valid and they can then use it when preparing the next scam.”