"THOUSANDS BITE ON 'FREE PHONE' HOAXES" > Page 1, 2
Evidently on the theory that one good prank deserves another, the following message purporting to originate from Ericsson began circulating approximately two weeks after the Nokia hoax first appeared in April 2000:
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Subject: FW: Nokia or Ericsson
Dear customer Our main competitor, Nokia, is giving free mobile phones away on the Internet. Here at Ericsson we want to counter their offer. So we are giving our newest WAP-phones away as well. They are specially developed for Internet happy customers who value cutting edge technology. By giving free phones away, we get valuable customer feedback and a great Word-of-Mouth effect. All you have to do, is to forward this message to 8 friends. After two weeks delivery time, you will receive a Ericsson T18. If you forward it to 20 friends, you will receive the brand new Ericsson R320 WAP-phone. Just remember to send a copy to Anna.Swelund@ericsson.com ? that is the only way we can see, that you forwarded the message. Best of luck Anna Swelund
Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserved. Reproduction, transfer, distribution or storage of part or all of the contents in any form without the prior written permission of Ericsson is prohibited except in accordance with the following terms. Ericsson consents to you browsing Ericsson World Wide Web pages on you computer or WAP-phone and printing copies of these pages for private use only. |
The author of this copycat message obviously took direct inspiration from the Nokia hoax, even going to the trouble of appending a similar legal notice (pasted from Ericsson's Website).
Ericsson isn't taking it lightly. The company replies to all mail sent to the Anna.Swelund@ericsson.com address with the following note:
X-LOOP-DETECT:
From: spamreply
Subject: anna.swelund@ericsson.com addressYou appear to be responding to anna.swelund@ericsson.com.
This address does not exist (and has never existed in the past) but has been used in a spam message to receive a "Free Wireless phone".
Unfortunately, there is no such offer.
Also, forwarding this offer (or any other such offer) to your friends will not automatically track or find you... that capability does not exist in mail protocols.
Ericsson apologizes for any inconvenience this has caused -- but this spam did not originate from Ericsson. We are currently investigating the originator.
In contrast to Nokia, apparently set on an "ignore it and it'll go away" strategy, Ericsson also posted a notice on its Website which concludes:
"At Ericsson, we are constantly looking at new innovative ways to market ourselves, chain emails are not one of them. We kindly ask you not to forward the chain mail further."
Further reading:
Thousands Fall for Hoaxes for Free Mobile Phones
AAP wire story (Australia)
More phony freebie chain letters:
EMI/Time Warner Giveaway
AOL/Intel Giveaway
Coca-Cola Giveaway
Bath & Body Works and J.Crew Giveaways
Honda Car Giveaway
AOL/Microsoft Giveaway
Old Navy Giveaway
Abercrombie & Fitch Giveaway
The Gap Giveaway
IBM Computer Giveaway
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