How to avoid the TOYOTA LOTTERY ORGANIZATION scam

What kind of email is "TOYOTA LOTTERY ORGANIZATION"?

"TOYOTA LOTTERY ORGANIZATION" is the subject line of an email scam. Scammers send this email to many people to trick them into believing that they have won a cash prize. To claim it, recipients are asked to reply and provide certain details/information.

We strongly advise that you do NOT trust this email, as the scammers behind it will try to extort personal, confidential information and misuse it to generate revenue in various ways.

"TOYOTA LOTTERY ORGANIZATION" email scam overview

According to the message, whoever receives the email has apparently won $800,000,000 and a Toyota Highlander. To claim this prize, recipients are asked to provide details such as full name, contact address, country, age, gender, occupation, and mobile number.

They are also advised not to share information about being selected as a winner with anyone. This latter request helps scammers to avoid being exposed. Do not reply to this email or provide any details. Scammers can misuse them to generate revenue.

They might then try to extort further, sensitive information. Do not trust this or any other similar emails (scams). The best option is to ignore the message and delete the email from the inbox.

Threat Summary:

Name	TOYOTA LOTTERY ORGANIZATION Email Scam.
Threat Type	Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud.
Fake Claim	According to this scam, its recipient has won a Toyota Highlander and $800,000,000.
Disguise	This email is disguised as a message from the Toyota lottery organization.
Symptoms	Unauthorized online purchases, changed online account passwords, identity theft, illegal access of the computer.
Distribution methods	Deceptive emails, rogue online pop-up ads, search engine poisoning techniques, misspelled domains.
Damage	Loss of sensitive private information, monetary loss, identity theft.
Malware Removal (Windows)	To eliminate possible malware infections, scan your computer with legitimate antivirus software. Our security researchers recommend using Combo Cleaner. ▼ Download Combo Cleaner To use full-featured product, you have to purchase a license for Combo Cleaner. 7 days free trial available. Combo Cleaner is owned and operated by Rcs Lt, the parent company of PCRisk.com read more.

Spam campaigns in general

Other examples of similar emails are "Google Winner Email Scam", "Looked At You For Several Months", and "I Am A Spyware Software Developer". Typically, scammers send these to trick people into providing various information or even sending money. In many cases, cyber criminals send emails that contain malicious attachments or web links that download malicious files.

If opened, these files infect computers with high-risk malicious programs. Some examples of malware that can be distributed through emails include TrickBot, Emotet, Leto, and Cobain. Having computers infected with programs of this type could lead to data/financial loss, identity theft, problems with privacy, browsing safety, and so on.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Computers become infected through emails only when recipients open files that are attached to them, or they download files via web links and then open them. Examples of files that cyber criminals usually attach are Microsoft Office documents, JavaScript files, executable files such as .exe, archives such as ZIP, RAR, and so on.

Microsoft Office documents infect systems when recipients open them and give permission to enable editing/macros commands. If allowed, malicious MS Office documents download and install high-risk malware. Remember that, even if downloaded, malicious files cannot do any damage unless they are opened.

How to avoid installation of malware

Do not open files that are attached to irrelevant emails or when the emails are received from unknown, suspicious addresses. Download files and programs from official and trustworthy websites only. Do not use third party downloaders, Peer-to-Peer networks (torrent clients, eMule), unofficial pages, etc.

The same applies to installations through third party installers. Keep the operating system and installed programs up-to-date, however, they should be updated through tools and/or implemented functions designed by official developers.

The same applies to software activation, which should be done properly and not via various 'cracking' tools - it is illegal to bypass software activation using these tools and they can proliferate malware. Finally, scan the operating system with reputable antivirus or anti-spyware software regularly and ensure that it is up-to-date.

If you have already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.

Text presented in the "TOYOTA LOTTERY ORGANIZATION Email Scam" email message:

Subject: GOODNEWS YOU HAVE WON A CAR & CASH PRIZE. CHECK EMAIL

Toyota Lottery Organization.
Email: toyotalotterypro@aol.com

Dear Winner,

EMAIL WINNING NUMBER: TYT-0077-981-19

We are glad to inform you that your E-mail Address has won you
the cash prize of USD$800,000,00 (Eight Hundred Thousand USD)
including a TOYOTA HIGHLANDER. NO TICKETS WERE SOLD.

Email Winning Details: TYT-0077-981-19
Batch Number: 079/20/TT46
Category: 3rd category

To file for your claim you are to contact claims agent
immediately at email below in order to match up your winning
email address:

FULL NAME:
CONTACT ADDRESS:
COUNTRY:
AGE:
MAN/WOMAN:
YOUR OCCUPATION:
MOBILE NUMBER:

You must not reveal winning information to anyone or persons.
This is to avoid double claiming of your winning prize.

Congratulations!!!

Yours Faithfully,

Online Coordinators
Toyota Lottery Organization.
E-mail: toyotalotterypro@aol.com
Joan; 0081 800-331-4331
Lily; 0086 571-8502-2044

Another email spam campaign claiming that recipient has won a Mercedes Benz:

Text presented within this mail:

CONGRATULATION! CONGRATULATION!! CONGRATULATION!!!

 

We happily announced that your E-mail Address has been selected
among the winners of the Mercedes Benz International Online
Lottery Draw 2019 XMAS promo. You are now a winner of a brand
new "Mercedes Benz c300 4matic 2019" and the grand prize of
$4,500,000.00 USD.

 

For easy claim of your winnings, you are simply advice to contact
our Claim Agent in Texas Barrister Riggs Smith (
riggssmith746@gmail.com )You can call him on this number or
text,( 208-262-3312 )USA with the below details as stated.

 

NAME:
CONTACT EMAIL ADDRESS:
OFFICE ADDRESS:
PHONE NUMBER:
OCCUPATIONS:

 

All necessary information on what to do in receiving your
winnings will be treated by our claim agent once contacted by
you.

 

NB: Delivery cost is mandatory in claiming your winning.

Your Mercedes Benz Online Lottery Draw Reference Claim Code:
(556682).

Yet another example of Toyota lottery-themed spam email:

Text presented within:

Subject: RE: G.O.O.D.N.E.W.S; Y.O.U. . .H.A.V.E. . .W.O.N. . .$.1.M. . .(.O.N.E. . .M.I.L.L.I.O.N. . .U..S. . .D.0.L.L.A.R.S)

Reply To: [toyotafranklee2016@gmail.com]

T.O.Y.O.T.A. . .L.O.T.T.E.R.Y. . .W.O.R.L.D.W.I.D.E
 
T.O..C.L.A.I.M. . .Y.O.U.R. . .W.I.N.N.I.N.G. . .P.R.I.Z.E. . .P.L.E.A.S.E. . .C.O.N.T.A.C.T. . .O.U.R. . .O.F.F.I.C.E. . .B.Y. . .S.E.N.D.I.N.G. . .Y.O.U.R. . .F.U.L.L. . .D.E.T.A.I.L.S. . .T.O. . .M.A.T.C.H
 
F.U.L.L. . .N.A.M.E. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .
A.D.D.R.E.S.S. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . ...
A.G.E. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . ...
N.A.T.I.O.N.A.L.I.T.Y. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . ..
M.A.L.E/F.E.M.A.L.E. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . ...
C.O.U.N.T.R.Y. . .W.H.E.R.E. . .Y.O.U. . .N.O.W. . .L.I.V.E. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . ...
O.C.C.U.P.A.T.I.O.N. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . ...
M.O.B.I.L.E..N.U.M.B.E.R. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . ...
 
C.O.N.G.R.A.T.U.L.A.T.I.O.N.S. . .O.N.C.E. . .A.G.A.I.N.
 
M.R. . .F.R.A.N.K. . .L.E.E
F.O.R:. . .T.O.Y.O.T.A. . .L.O.T.T.E.R.Y. . .W.O.R.L.D.W.I.D.E
Reply To: [toyotafranklee2016@gmail.com]

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Quick menu:

• What is TOYOTA LOTTERY ORGANIZATION spam?
• Types of malicious emails.
• How to spot a malicious email?
• What to do if you fell for an email scam?

Types of malicious emails:

Phishing Emails

Most commonly, cybercriminals use deceptive emails to trick Internet users into giving away their sensitive private information, for example, login information for various online services, email accounts, or online banking information.

Such attacks are called phishing. In a phishing attack, cybercriminals usually send an email message with some popular service logo (for example, Microsoft, DHL, Amazon, Netflix), create urgency (wrong shipping address, expired password, etc.), and place a link which they hope their potential victims will click on.

After clicking the link presented in such email message, victims are redirected to a fake website that looks identical or extremely similar to the original one. Victims are then asked to enter their password, credit card details, or some other information that gets stolen by cybercriminals.

Emails with Malicious Attachments

Another popular attack vector is email spam with malicious attachments that infect users' computers with malware. Malicious attachments usually carry trojans that are capable of stealing passwords, banking information, and other sensitive information.

In such attacks, cybercriminals' main goal is to trick their potential victims into opening an infected email attachment. To achieve this goal, email messages usually talk about recently received invoices, faxes, or voice messages.

If a potential victim falls for the lure and opens the attachment, their computers get infected, and cybercriminals can collect a lot of sensitive information.

While it's a more complicated method to steal personal information (spam filters and antivirus programs usually detect such attempts), if successful, cybercriminals can get a much wider array of data and can collect information for a long period of time.

Sextortion Emails

This is a type of phishing. In this case, users receive an email claiming that a cybercriminal could access the webcam of the potential victim and has a video recording of one's masturbation.

To get rid of the video, victims are asked to pay a ransom (usually using Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency). Nevertheless, all of these claims are false - users who receive such emails should ignore and delete them.

How to spot a malicious email?

While cyber criminals try to make their lure emails look trustworthy, here are some things that you should look for when trying to spot a phishing email:

• Check the sender's ("from") email address: Hover your mouse over the "from" address and check if it's legitimate. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft, be sure to check if the email address is @microsoft.com and not something suspicious like @m1crosoft.com, @microsfot.com, @account-security-noreply.com, etc.
• Check for generic greetings: If the greeting in the email is "Dear user", "Dear @youremail.com", "Dear valued customer", this should raise suspiciousness. Most commonly, companies call you by your name. Lack of this information could signal a phishing attempt.
• Check the links in the email: Hover your mouse over the link presented in the email, if the link that appears seems suspicious, don't click it. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft and the link in the email shows that it will go to firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0... you shouldn't trust it. It's best not to click any links in the emails but to visit the company website that sent you the email in the first place.
• Don't blindly trust email attachments: Most commonly, legitimate companies will ask you to log in to their website and to view any documents there; if you received an email with an attachment, it's a good idea to scan it with an antivirus application. Infected email attachments are a common attack vector used by cybercriminals.

To minimise the risk of opening phishing and malicious emails we recommend using Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows. 

Example of a spam email:

What to do if you fell for an email scam?

• If you clicked on a link in a phishing email and entered your password - be sure to change your password as soon as possible. Usually, cybercriminals collect stolen credentials and then sell them to other groups that use them for malicious purposes. If you change your password in a timely manner, there's a chance that criminals won't have enough time to do any damage.
• If you entered your credit card information - contact your bank as soon as possible and explain the situation. There's a good chance that you will need to cancel your compromised credit card and get a new one.
• If you see any signs of identity theft - you should immediately contact the Federal Trade Commission. This institution will collect information about your situation and create a personal recovery plan.
• If you opened a malicious attachment - your computer is probably infected, you should scan it with a reputable antivirus application. For this purpose, we recommend using Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows.
• Help other Internet users - report phishing emails to Anti-Phishing Working Group, FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, National Fraud Information Center and U.S. Department of Justice.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Why did I receive this email?

Spam emails are not personal, even if they include details relevant to the recipients. Cyber criminals distribute this mail in mass-scale campaigns – therefore, thousands of users receive identical (or incredibly similar) emails.

I have provided my personal information when tricked by this spam email, what should I do?

If you have provided your account credentials – change the passwords of all potentially exposed accounts and inform their official support. However, if the disclosed information was of a different personal nature (e.g., ID card details, passport photos/scans, credit card numbers, etc.) – immediately contact the corresponding authorities.

I have read a spam email but didn't open the attachment, is my computer infected?

Devices are infected when malicious attachments or links are opened/clicked; merely reading and email poses no infection threat.

I have downloaded and opened a file attached to a spam email, is my computer infected?

If the opened file was an executable (.exe, .run, etc.) – most likely, yes – your device was compromised. However, you might have avoided the infection if it was a document (.doc, .xls, .one, .pdf, etc.). These formats may need additional user interaction to jumpstart malware download/installation chains (e.g., enabling macro commands, clicking embedded files/links, etc.).

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections present in email attachments?

Yes, Combo Cleaner is capable of detecting and eliminating practically all known malware infections. It must be emphasized that running a full system scan is crucial since high-end malicious programs typically hide deep within systems.

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