14 DAY TRIAL // Google might have a lot of money, but it’s unlikely that it’ll start handing out large amounts of it to random users just because the company is celebrating an anniversary.
Hoax Slayer has come across bogus emails that purport to come from the “Google 15th Anniversary Awards Center.”
“This is to inform you that you have won yourself an Award of (GBP 800,000,00) Eight Hundred Thousands British Pounds in Google 15 Years Anniversary Awards as organized by the Anniversary Center of Google Inc. held in LONDON UNITED KINGDOM,” the bogus emails read.
“The Anniversary Center of Google Inc selected your email ID as one of its 20 chose fortunate winner to receive this award,” they continue.
“Winners shall be paid in accordance with their Settlement Centers. Google Prize Award must be claimed not less than 4Weeks from the date of Draw Notification. “
In order to claim their prize, potential victims are instructed to reply to the email and provide some personal details. It’s likely that once users respond, the scammers send other messages to convince “winners” to give them some money that’s allegedly needed to complete the transfer of the prize money.
The scam notifications might bear the Google logo, but the fact that they’re poorly written is a clear indicator of a scam. Additionally, email-based sweepstakes, and the fact that users are instructed to send their personal details is a clear sign of a classic 419 scam.
In case you receive such emails, don’t respond. The general rule is that if you haven’t entered a contest or a lottery, no one will contact you to give you a prize.
Scammers leverage the names of several high-profile companies, but most scams follow a pattern. They don’t address recipients by their name, they’re poorly written, and they promise hard-to-refuse prizes.