19 Apr 2007

New Form of Spam: BMW 2007 draws(You Won A Car)

Spam mails are nothing new. And neither are phishing (phishing?) emails. But until today the spam emails have tried to sell me mostly viagara and the phishing emails tried to fool me into revealing private details like my paypal login name, password or other details like my credit card number.

Today I came across the first instance of the BMW spam. The email I received is shown below. Note the elaborate use of pictures from the BMW website. I was curious to see who Holland Burridge was. Here are google results.

So here's what gave this email away:
  1. The email was sent to notic1@ig.com.br. Why would anyone not write to me directly?
  2. The email asks me to contact a "Barr. Chris Wallace". If he is from BMW, why are his email addresses from yahoo and not something like bmw.com?
  3. The email asks me to keep all of this a secret. If I had actually won something, wouldnt BMW get more publicity by making this as public as possible. So what have they got to hide?
  4. The wording of the email was a bit too formal. I mean "We the Board of Directors, members of staff and the International Awareness Promotion Department of the BMW Automobile company, congratulates you ....". We and congratulates?? I mean, come on!
  5. All of these and a few searches on google for the people I am being asked to contact told me the rest. All in a few minutes work.
So next time you car enthusiasts get one of these emails, don't get carried away. Here are a few useful articles:
Be careful!

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From: Bmw Promtion Draws <notic1@ig.com.br>
Date: Apr 19, 2007 2:04 PM
Subject: BMW 2007 draws(You Won A Car)
To: notic1@ig.com.br

THE INTERNATIONAL AWARENESS
PROMOTION DEPARTMENT OF
THE BMW AUTOMOBILE COMPANY.
22 Garden Close, Stamford,
Lincs, PE9 2YP, London
United Kingdom.
Reference Number: BMW:2551256003/23
Dear Winner,
We the Board of Directors, members of staff and the International Awareness Promotion Department of the BMW Automobile company, congratulates you on your success as the STAR PRIZE WINNER of our International Awareness Promotion (IAP) held today, the 19th April 2007, in London, UK. I therefore, want to use this opportunity to inform you that you are the proud owner of a brand new BMW 5 Series, M Sport Saloon car and a cash prize of GBP £100,000 ( One Hundred Thousand Great British Pounds )
Description of prize vehicle;
YEAR: 2007
MODEL: 550i M Sport Saloon
ENGINE SIZE: 4799cc with eight-cylinder V petrol engine and 4-valve technology. TRANSMISSION: automatic 6-speed gearbox and servotronic, power steering. AUDIO AND COMMUNICATION: CD preparation for 6-disc CD changer in glove box and an on-board computer. WHEELS: 18-inch M sports spoke alloy style 135M. INTERIOR: uphostery made of dakota leather and Advanced Automatic Air Conditioning Unit. EXTERIOR: Metallic paintwork and high-gloss shadow line. FUEL: petrol. 0-62mph: 5.5 (5.6) seconds
The selection process was carried out through random selection in our computerized Email Selection System (ESS) from a database of over 1,000,000 email addresses drawn from all the continents of the world.
The BMW International Awareness Promotion is approved by the British Gaming Board (BGB) and Licensed by the International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR). This promotion is an annual event and it is the third in its series. The sole aim of this Promotion is to sensitize the general public and the world at large of our great and unique products.
On the day of your delivery, some BMW Company Executives will accompany your prizes to your residence to formally hand over your prizes to you, under the watchful eyes of a team of international media men who will be there to cover the event and it will be transmitted live on some international channels, including the BBC and CNN.

In order to redeem your prize, you are to contact the BMW International Promotions Fiduaciary Claims Department for more information as regards the redemption of your prizes and to book an appointment date at which your prize will be brought to you live, in the company of media representative to broadcast the event live.
You are to contact:
Barr. CHRIS WALLACE
Fiduciary Claims Department (FCD),
BMW International Promotion, UK.
7 DOCK WAY, SEFTON BUSINESS PARK
LONDON, T40 4RT
United Kingdom.
Direct tell: +44-701-112- 8045
Here is your secret pin code x7pwyz2006 and your Reference Number: BMW:2551256003/23. These numbers are to be kept confidential and are to be filled in the spaces provided for them in your personal data form below and forwarded to Mr.Chris Wallace as soon as possible.

1.FULL NAME:
2.SEX:
3.AGE:
4.NATIONALITY:
5.RESIDENCIAL ADDRESS:
6.CITY:
7.STATE:
8.ZIP CODE:
9.OCCUPATION / POSITION HELD:
10.PHONE NUMBER:
11.FAX:
12.Pin-Code:

I want to again congratulate you for being our star prize winner and to formally inform you that your prize has been approved for claims. Thank you very much and keep trusting BMW for top quality automobile.

Engr. Holland Burridge
DIRECTOR OF PROMOTIONS,
BMW INTERNATIONAL AWARENESS
PROMOTIONS,
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM.
NB:WE ADVISE YOU KEEP ALL PROMOTIONAL INFORMATION CONFIDENCIAL ESPECIALLY YOUR REFERENCE NUMBER AND PIN CODE UNTIL YOUR PRIZES HAVE BEEN REDEEMED BY YOU. THIS IS TO AVOID DOUBLE CLAIMS.
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