How to avoid falling for the "Facebook Casino Online Promotions" email scam

What is "Facebook Casino Online Promotions" scam?

We have examined this email and concluded that it is an advance-fee scam. The message falsely claims the recipient has won one million dollars through a fictional prize program called "Facebook Casino Online Promotions." There is no prize. Recipients who engage will eventually be pressured into paying fabricated fees to "claim" winnings that do not exist.

More about the "Facebook Casino Online Promotions" scam email

The email opens with a congratulatory announcement, claiming the recipient's address was drawn from 800,000 entries and has won $1,000,000 in the "1st Category." Fabricated reference numbers and a "Facebook No." are included to make the message appear official.

Recipients are directed to contact a so-called "Claim Director" and provide a detailed personal profile - full name, residential address, gender, city, country, phone number, age, and occupation.

Handing over this information is just the beginning. Once contact is made, victims are typically told that taxes, processing fees, or administrative charges must be paid before the prize can be released. The demands grow over time, and no winnings ever arrive.

The email also falsely claims the program is "sponsored and supported by the United States of America/Lotto Authority." No such authority exists. Facebook and Meta are not associated with this scam in any way, and the use of "MARK ZUCKERBERG" as the displayed sender name is entirely fabricated.

Email scams in general

In conclusion, this is an advance-fee scam disguised as a prize announcement from Facebook. There is no lottery, no prize money, and no legitimate organization behind it. Anyone who engages will eventually be asked to pay escalating fees. The email should be deleted immediately.

Sometimes, emails like this are also used to spread malware.

More examples of similar scam emails are American Airlines Account Information Has Changed, Your Mailbox Hit A Snag - Quick Update Needed, and You Have Virus On Your Email.

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Malware is routinely distributed through email attachments. The files used vary widely - common formats include executables, compressed archives, PDFs, Microsoft Office documents, and scripts. Opening such a file, or taking actions within it such as enabling malicious macro commands, triggers the malware installation process.

Spam emails may also contain links leading to malicious websites. Some of these pages silently push downloads onto visiting devices; others use fake prompts to convince users to run harmful files manually. In either case, malware typically requires the user to take some action before it can take hold.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Be skeptical of any unsolicited email, especially those making unexpected announcements or demanding immediate action. Do not click links or open attachments in messages from senders you did not expect to hear from.

Only download software from its official source or trusted app stores. Avoid unofficial download sites, torrent platforms, and cracked software packages, as these commonly carry hidden malware. Keeping your operating system and all applications up to date is equally important, since attackers frequently exploit unpatched vulnerabilities.

Use a reputable antivirus program and run it regularly. If you suspect you have opened a harmful file, scan your system with Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows to identify and remove any threat that may have been installed.

Text presented in the "Facebook Casino Online Promotions" email letter:

Subject: Congratulations!!!!"You have won!

Dear Beneficiary,

Congratulations!!!!"You have won $1,000,000.00 from Facebook Casino Online Promotions.

We wish you success in our Facebook Casino Online Promotions /Email Internet Program; the announcement was made today in the United States of America.

Your Email Address was attached to Reference No: 01-05-09-17-00-60, Drew the Lucky winning No 01- 04- 14 -15 -25 -17 from 800,000 e-mail addresses, consequently won in the 1st Category. You have therefore been approved to claim a star prize of $1,000,000 (One million United States Dollars) credited to Facebook No: 03-06-23-60-68-MB/2026 Payable through our Paying Agent in the United States of America.

Below are your winning details for claiming:
Winning Reference No: 01-05-09-07-00-60;
Lucky Winning No: 01- 04- 14 -15 -25 -17
Facebook No: 03-06-23-60-68-MB/2026.
Amount Won: $1,000,000.00

To claim your winning prize, contact AGENT TERRENCE EDWARD, Claim Director at our Paying Office in the USA for immediate release of your funds.

Agent Name: Jimmy Curtis
WhatsApp Only: +254738366366
You are hereby advised to contact AGENT TERRENCE EDWARD for your claim and send your information below with your winning details immediately via email to process your payment.

Full Names/Resident address:
Gender:
City:
Country:
Direct Mobile Cell:
Age:
Occupation:
Alternative Email:
Reference No:

Note: If you received this message in your SPAM/BULK folder, it is simply because your ISP introduced restrictions. Please treat us as important.

This Program is sponsored and supported by the United States of America/Lotto Authority.

Congratulations, once again, from all our staff, and thank you for being part of our promotions program.

Yours Truly,
Promotion Manager,
Facebook Online Promotions.

Full appearance of "Facebook Casino Online Promotions" scam email (GIF):

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Quick menu:

• What is Facebook Casino Online Promotions phishing 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?

Spam emails like this are sent to large numbers of addresses at once. Scammers compile recipient lists through data breaches, compromised websites, and similar sources. These messages are generic and not specifically targeted at you.

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

If you submitted personal details, stay alert for identity theft and follow-up scam attempts. If you also transferred money, contact your bank or payment provider right away to report the fraud and ask about recovery options.

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

Executable files (.exe, .msi, and similar formats) can activate malware as soon as they are opened. Document types such as Word files or PDFs typically require additional steps - like enabling macros - before infection can occur. The actual risk depends on the file type and what you did with it.

I have read the email but did not open the attachment, is my computer infected?

No. Simply reading or previewing an email is harmless. A computer can only be infected through active interaction with malicious content - opening a file, clicking a harmful link, or running something. If you took none of those actions, your system is safe.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections that were present in email attachment?

Combo Cleaner can detect and remove the vast majority of known malware. Running a full system scan is recommended, since some advanced threats can embed themselves deeply enough to avoid detection during a quick scan.