A Big Hoax: Ericsson Free Laptop T18 and R320 Promotion

A Big Joke

Email chain letter claims phone manufacturer Ericsson will give away free laptop computers to those who forward the message to at least eight people.

Few examples:
A Big Hoax: Ericsson Free Laptop T18 and R320 Promotion
"Dear All,

Ericsson is distributing free laptops for their brand promotion. They hope to increase their popularity and sale by this campaign. All you need to do is
send an email about this promotion to 8 people and you will receive an Ericsson T16 Laptop.However, if you send an email to 20 or more people, you will receive an Ericsson R320 Laptop.Make sure you send a copy to: anna.swelung@ericsson.com "

In Bulgarian:

"Здравейте,
Компанията Ericsson раздава безплатно преносими компютри, с цел да се противопостави на Nokia, която прави същото. Ericsson желае да разшири своята известност. По тази причина Ericsson раздава безплатно новия преносим компютър WAP.Всичко, което трябва да се направи, е да се изпрати това съобщение на 8 ваши познати. До около две седмици ще получите компютър Ericsson T18.Ако съобщението бъде изпратено на 20 или повече души, ще получите дори компютър Ericsson R320. Важно: Копие от съобщението си трябва да изпратите на anna.swelung@ericsson.com.Важно е да се знае, че това
не е измислица, а наистина действа! Затова, доставете си удоволствие, като си направите подарък с един от тези преносими компютри.
Късмет! "

This is the statement from the Ericsson site:

"About the "Free Phone/Laptop" Email Hoax

Ericsson is not giving away free phones or laptops. The chain mail you have received is a fraud and there is no person with the name of Anna Swelund working at Ericsson. At Ericsson, we are constantly looking at new innovative ways to market ourselves, chain e-mails are not one of them. We kindly ask you not to forward the chain mail further.

Thank you.


Sony Ericsson also released the following statement in response to a new version of the hoax:

"Hoax Competition Email

Sony Ericsson has been made aware of an online email campaign claiming that Ericsson will give away a free laptop computer to users who forward the promotional information. The same campaign includes a photograph of the Sony Ericsson logo and mentions an Ericsson contact name and email number.
Sony Ericsson confirms that this email campaign is a hoax. In addition, Sony Ericsson confirms that the Ericsson contact name does not exist. All competitions and promotions involving Sony Ericsson are run through official channels such as Sony Ericsson’s website or Sony Ericsson’s partners’ websites. Please be wary of any competition or promotion that appears to come from outside of Sony Ericsson or Sony Ericsson’s partners official channels. Examples of these include via spam emails or SMS.
Please do not reply to or forward the email if you receive it."