How to spot fake emails like "World Lottery" email scam
Written by Tomas Meskauskas on (updated)
What kind of scam is "World Lottery" email scam?
We have inspected this email and learned that it is a lottery scam email. It is a type of fraud where scammers send emails to unsuspecting individuals, claiming that they have won a large sum of money in a lottery or sweepstakes. These emails typically instruct recipients to respond with personal information.
More about the "World Lottery" scam email
This email contains a congratulatory message stating that the recipient's email address has been selected in a world lottery draw and has won 1.5 million dollars. The email instructs the recipient to provide full name, phone number, and address in order to participate and claim the prize.
The sender of the email is identified as Arnold Watchtower, who supposedly is the Head of Operations for the World Lottery Association (WLA).
Typically, emails of this type instruct recipients to respond with personal information, such as their name, address, and bank account details, in order to claim the prize money. They may also request that recipients pay a fee or taxes before they can receive the prize money.
However, once victims send the requested information or payment, scammers disappear, and victims never receive any prize money. It is important to note that legitimate lotteries or sweepstakes will not ask for personal information or payment upfront, and they will typically contact winners through official channels.
| Name | World Lottery Email Scam |
| Threat Type | Phishing, Scam, Social Engineering, Fraud |
| Fake Claim | The recipient has won 1.5 million dollars |
| Disguise | Letter from Arnold Watchtower regarding a lottery winning |
| 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
Email scams, including lottery scam emails, are a type of online fraud where scammers send unsolicited emails to individuals in an attempt to trick them into giving away personal information or money.
These emails often claim that the recipient has won a large sum of money or has been selected for an exclusive opportunity. They typically request personal information or payment to claim the prize. However, the supposed prize does not exist, and any personal information or payment sent to the scammers is lost.
More examples of email scams are "Suspicious Login Attempt On Your Windows Computer Email Scam", "Account Will Be Terminated Email Scam", and "Care For The Poor And Less Privileged Email Scam". Cybercriminals can also use emails to lure recipients into infecting their computers.
How do spam campaigns infect computers?
Cybercriminals attach malicious software (such as a virus or ransomware) to emails. Once users download and open the attachment, the malware infects their computer and causes damage (e.g., steals data or locks files for ransom).
Another common tactic is for threat actors to include a link in the email that leads to a fake website or a site that automatically downloads malware onto the user's computer.
How to avoid installation of malware?
Be cautious when opening emails from unknown senders or those that appear suspicious. Avoid clicking on links or downloading attachments from these emails. Download software and files only from official websites (or stores). Keep both the operating system and installed software updated. Do not trust ads on suspicious pages.
If you've already opened malicious attachments, we recommend running a scan with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to automatically eliminate infiltrated malware.
Text presented in the "World Lottery" email letter:
Subject: WORLD LOTTERY ASSOCIATION (WLA) NOTIFICATION
CONGRATULATIONS
Your email was selected among the world lottery draw with the sum of 1.5 million dollars, kindly send your full name, phone number, and address to be able to participate and claim your prize.
Yours Sincerely.
Arnold Watchtower
Head of operationsLausanne Office: Avenue de Provence 14 • Case postale 6744 • 1002 Lausanne • Switzerland • +41 21 518 9600 • info@world-loteres.org
Montreal Office: c/o Loto-Québec • 500 Sherbrooke Street West, Suite 2000 • Montréal, Québec H3A 3G6 • Canada • +1 514 282 0273 • info@world-loteres.org
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Quick menu:
- What is World Lottery scam email?
- 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?
Scam emails are typically not personal and are often sent out in large numbers to a broad audience. The goal of scammers is to trick as many people as possible into providing personal information or sending money, so they often use a generic approach that is not personalized to the individual recipient.
I have provided my personal information when tricked by this email, what should I do?
If you provided financial information, contact your bank or credit card company as soon as possible to report the fraud. If you provided login information or passwords, change them immediately for all accounts associated with the email address used to respond to the email.
I have downloaded and opened a file attached to this email, is my computer infected?
If you have opened a file that you suspect may be malicious or have been tricked into opening a malicious file that was attached to an email, it is possible that your computer could be infected with malware. It depends on the file type.
I have read the email but didn't open the attachment, is my computer infected?
If you only read the email and did not open the attachment, your computer is not infected with malware. Simply opening an email is not enough to infect your computer.
Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections that were present in email attachment?
Combo Cleaner can detect and remove most types of known malware infections. However, it is important to note that advanced malware may be deeply hidden in the system, so it is recommended to run a full system scan to ensure complete removal.
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