Powerball Scam Emails

Tue, 11 Aug 2020 22:18:23 -0400
covid19, notice

DoIT Security has received a new variation of a classic get-rich-quick scam, this time claiming to be from a Powerball winner who wishes to distribute millions of dollars, supposedly to lessen the impact of COVID-19. Over 5000 UMBC addresses received emails from this sender, most likely containing the same message.

From: "Bill and Helene" <kkt-co@beige.plala.or.jp>

Subject: We Have Private For Donation

Date: Tue, 11 Aug 2020 14:26:21 +0900

--

The Corona Virus (COVID-19) Outbreak isn't just a major health

crisis -- It's also a large economic disruption leading to people

Losing their Jobs and making it harder to take care of their

Families.

We know that a little financial support can go a Long Way.

I'm Bill Lawrence from Sacramento California the Winner of 150 million

United State Dollars Jackpot from the Power ball lottery held on

December 16, 2019. My Jackpot was a gift from God to me.

Hence my entire Family has agreed to do this.

We are donating $75 million to Help individuals and Small Scale

Businesses around the world.

I write to inform you that Google in alliance with Microsoft and Yahoo has submitted your

"Email" to my request to receive a donation amount of $5,000,000

Please accept this Token as a Gift From me and My Family.

We await your urgent response Via email heleneandbill97@gmail.com

Bill and Helene Lawrence

https://www.powerball.com/winner-story/150-million-powerball-ticket-claimed

Messages like these, which promise large amounts of money, are most likely advance-fee scams. Also known as Nigerian Prince scams, or 419 scams, advance-fee scams promise a large amount of money that can be claimed after paying a comparatively small fee. After a victim pays the fee, the scammer may claim to need another fee, or may vanish. Either way, victims will never receive any money in return.

In addition to the irregular grammar and capitalization, note the From address with a .jp domain, and the time zone, UTC+0900. Both of these indicate that the message originated in Japan, not California. Although the URL provided appears to be legitimate, it does not indicate that the message is really from the Powerball winner. It is always best not to click links in suspicious emails, as they may contain malware, steal personal information, or, as in this case, simply provide misleading information when used in the context of a scam email.

If you do receive any email that you suspect is a scam, please do not click on any URL or reply. Either of those actions confirms to the sender that your email address is valid. Please forward the message (with the email headers) to security@umbc.edu.

How do I forward full email headers?

https://wiki.umbc.edu/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=1867970

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