How to identify fake emails like "Asia Pacific Lottery"
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on
What is "Asia Pacific Lottery" email scam?
After reviewing the email, we've concluded it's a lottery scam. Scammers usually send such emails to trick recipients into providing them with personal information and (or) sending money. There are no real prizes in such scams, so recipients should ignore them.
More about the "Asia Pacific Lottery Email Scam" scam email
This email claims that the recipient has won a lottery prize of $1,000,000 in the Asia Pacific Lottery promotion. It provides fake reference numbers and instructions for claiming the prize, requests personal information, and directs the recipient to email a coordinator (Mr.Sukarno Aditya).
However, it is a scam aimed at tricking recipients into providing personal information or sending money. In this email, recipients are asked to provide full name, address, nationality, ID card (or passport) details, occupation, sex, phone number, and home address. Further communication with scammers may lead to requests to provide other information, like credit card details or passwords.
Also, scammers may instruct recipients to pay some "administration fees" (or other fake fees) to trick them into transferring money. Either way, it is strongly recommended not to respond to such emails with any personal information or send money to the provided accounts (or crypto wallets).
Providing scammers with the requested information could lead to various consequences, including identity theft and financial losses. Additionally, victims may be inundated with unsolicited emails, phone calls, or texts attempting to extract further personal information or money.
| Name | Asia Pacific Lottery Email Scam |
| Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud |
| Fake Claim | The recipient has won $1,000,000 in a lottery |
| Disguise | Letter from Dr. Guang Bendilly |
| 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. |
Similar scam emails in general
Typically, such emails claim that the recipient has won a large sum of money in a lottery and urge the recipient to respond quickly to claim their prize. Additionally, they frequently request personal information such as full name, address, phone number, and sometimes even financial details.
Finally, they typically instruct the recipient to contact a specified email address or phone number to initiate the prize claim. Some examples of similar scams are "Giveaway Of Lottery Winnings", "DHL Lottery", and "Asian Welfare Lottery".
It is important to be aware that scam emails can be designed to trick users into executing malware on their computers.
How do spam campaigns infect computers?
Cybercriminals employ various tactics to distribute malware, including sending fraudulent emails. In these cases, they include malicious attachments or links in their messages, which can infect computers upon opening them. Commonly, emails used to deliver malware contain malicious MS Office documents, PDFs, archives, executables, or script files.
When users click on malicious links in deceptive emails, they may be directed to web pages that deceive them into downloading harmful files or programs, or they might be led to sites that automatically initiate the download of malware without any user interaction.
How to avoid installation of malware?
Refrain from accessing dubious websites or using peer-to-peer networks, unofficial app stores, third-party downloaders, and similar sources for downloads. Download files and software only from official pages or app stores. Be careful when receiving suspicious (e.g., irrelevant or unexpected) emails containing links or files, as they may contain malware.
Do not trust advertisements, pop-ups, or similar content found on untrustworthy websites. Maintain the security of your system by consistently updating your operating system, software, and antivirus programs. It is also recommended to use a reputable security tool.
If you have already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.
The appearance of the "Asia Pacific Lottery" scam email (GIF):
Text presented in this scam email:
Subject: Re:2024 WINNING EMAIL LOTTERY PROMOTION PRIZE NOTIFICATION!!
FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT,
ASIA PACIFIC LOTTERY ASSOCIATION LIMITED,
ASIA PACIFIC REGIONAL OFFICE,
JAKARTA INDONESIA.
2024 WINNING EMAIL LOTTERY PROMOTION PRIZE NOTIFICATION!!
Congratulations To The Beneficiary of this email!!
Move this message to your inbox before replying in order to respond back to you.
It's our pleasure to inform you that your email address has won the lottery, ASIA PACIFIC LOTTERY 9th edition season international online lottery promotion.
All the Winner addresses were selected randomly from the World Wide Websites through a computer draw system and extracted from over 200,000 email addresses & official addresses, that are listed online from Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, North and South America, Middle East and Africa. This is part of our yearly international program.
You have therefore been approved for a lump sum payment of US$ 1,000,000 as a cash prize among some lucky other 50 winners individuals on the 2nd category ( One Million United States Dollars Only ) cash prize winning.
These are your Reference to your winnings
Ref: ACLC/9420X2/68
Batch: 074/05/ZY369
Ticket number:56475600545 188
Lucky Numbers: 05,06,17,20,28,42(Bonus33)
Note, This Lottery was promoted and sponsored by some conglomerates of some multinational companies as part of their social responsibility to the citizens in the communities where they have operational bases. You don't have to purchase a ticket to enter or play the lottery, as this are ticket free. The promotion was drawn online through a computer balloting system which your email address luckily on randomly was selected.
To file your prize claim, You are advised to fill all the listed information below and submit to the coordinator on this given email: adityasukarno36@gmail.com to enable our coordinator below contact you with further information and direction on how to redeem your cash prize.
Name Coordinator: Mr.Sukarno Aditya
E-mail adityasukarno36@gmail.com
Information to be filled.
1.Name in full---------
2.Address----------------
3.Nationality-----------------
4.Copy of your International passport or i'd card------------------
5.Occupation------
6.Sex -------------
7.Phone/Fax-----------
8.Present Country------
In order to avoid any unnecessary delays and complications, please remember to quote your reference numbers in all correspondences with us, Furthermore, should there be any change of address, please do inform our Coordinator as soon as possible.
For security measures, you are advised to keep your winning announcement confidential until your claim is processed and your prize remitted to you in whatever manner, This is part of our precautionary measures to avoid a double claimants or unwarranted claims as has happened in the past. Take note as We shall not be responsible for any prize lost, if claimed by unknown persons. Please be warned.
Warning!! You are expected to claim your prize immediately on receiving the notification, and not exceeded more than 30 days. Any prize not claimed between these days will be returned to HER MAJESTYS DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY.
CONGRATULATIONS!! Once again from all members and staff of the Asia Pacific Lottery Association Limited and thank you for being a part of our International Promotion program.
We wish you continued good fortunes.
Yours Faithfully,
Announcer!!
Dr.Guang Bendilly
On behalfs of the Asia International Lottery Organization
Asia Pacific Office
Jakarta Indonesia.
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Quick menu:
- What is Asia Pacific Lottery scam?
- 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?
Emails like this one are generic. They are not personal and are sent by scammers to a large number of recipients, hoping that someone will fall for them.
I have provided my personal information when tricked by this email, what should I do?
If you have sent your ID card (or passport) details to scammers, contact the authorities as soon as possible. If you have shared financial information, call your bank.
I have downloaded and opened a malicious file attached to an email, is my computer infected?
The likelihood of infection varies based on the file type you access. For instance, merely opening a document file may not trigger malware execution. However, opening an executable file is more likely to immediately introduce malware into your system.
I have read the email but did not open the attachment, is my computer infected?
Opening emails poses no danger. The risk lies in clicking on malicious links or opening attachments.
Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections that were present in email attachment?
Although advanced malware may attempt to conceal itself, robust security tools like Combo Cleaner can proficiently detect and eradicate them. Conducting a thorough full system scan enhances the likelihood of successful removal.
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