Free Laptop From Ericsson Email Scam

15 May 2009 6,112 views 7 Comments

Around May of 2009, a co-employee of mine from my previous company sent me an email stating that I would get a free laptop from Ericsson if I forward his email to at least 20 people. That’s great isn’t it?

The email looks like this:

Wow! I was surprised and got excited when I first read it especially that it is my long time dream to have my very own laptop. I told myself this is my chance to get one.

As I was planning to forward the email to all my contacts and friends, I then realized this could be another email hoax. Why would Ericsson giveaway laptops just to promote their new product? This question triggered a buzzer on my mind so I googled the term “free laptop from ericsson” and guess what I got? …Two million search results saying that it is a TOTAL SCAM. It has been circulating since 2007.

Whew! I almost became a victim of this email scam.

Further research and I also found out that T18 is a cellphone and not a laptop computer. Next is that, the Ericsson R320 laptop is a creation of mind. Ericsson never released such product.

People from Ericsson has released an official statement saying:

Released 12 May 2009

Sony Ericsson has been made aware of an online email campaign claiming that Ericsson will give away a free laptop computer to users who forward the promotional information. The same campaign includes a photograph of the Sony Ericsson logo and mentions an Ericsson contact name and email number.

Sony Ericsson confirms that this email campaign is a hoax. In addition, Sony Ericsson confirms that the Ericsson contact name does not exist.

All competitions and promotions involving Sony Ericsson are run through official channels such as Sony Ericsson’s website or Sony Ericsson’s partners’ websites. Please be wary of any competition or promotion that appears to come from outside of Sony Ericsson or Sony Ericsson’s partners official channels. Examples of these include via spam emails or SMS.

Please do not reply to or forward the email if you receive it.

So there you go my friends. It would have been great to receive a free laptop just by forwarding an email but truth is… it’s way out of this world.

I hope I’d warned you soon enough guys. For those who were fooled by this email, just be carefull next time not to fell from it again. Always make a research first before making any move.

(2 votes, average: 4.5 out of 5)

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7 Comments »

Sophia said:

I also received the same kind of email a year ago, my friend told me that its a scam.

# 18 May 2009 at 2:36 am

agentmango said:

I received that too. I figured out that was a scam. I’ve read it on some forums.

# 19 May 2009 at 9:52 am

SHEREEF said:

I WAS SEND OVER 50 EMAIL BUT I DON’T REVISE ANYTHING

# 20 May 2009 at 5:12 am

w@ri said:

I assume thier objective is to get valid email addresses from people. These are spammers. If you see,the message states that you have to send a copy to ana.swelung@ericsson.com.

These valid email address are then sold to some companies who will force thier advertisement on you.
OR
These people will use that email address to do fraud/scam emails to get money from people.

Yeah just ignore them…

# 25 May 2009 at 7:45 pm

Paulo Martirez (author) said:

You’re very much true on that my friend. It’s an effective way to harvest emails.

# 29 May 2009 at 9:47 am

Eric said:

A quick heads up - there is a newer version of this email hoax out so beware of something similar that offers a ‘free Sony Vaio laptop’ as its much the same thing as this one.

# 12 October 2009 at 6:03 am

Paulo Martirez (author) said:

Thanks, Eric for the info.