Something for nothing

Ilan sa inyo ang nakatanggap na ng isang e-mail na galing diumano kay Anna Swelund ng Ericsson at nagsasabing kapag finorward n'yo yun ay padadalhan kayo ng kumpanya (minsan ng Nokia, but mostly Ericsson) ng kanilang latest model na cellphone? Usually, ilang milyong beses nang nai-forward ang email na iyon bago makarating sa akin, at nakalagay pa doon kung sino-sino ang pinadalhan at nagpadala ng basurang email.

Sa mga nagoyo na nito: Gumising kayo! Walang Anna Swelund. Walang darating na telepono. Kung marunong man lang sana kayong mag-Google, makikita nyong number entry siya for hoaxes on marketing strategies. Sino ba naman kasi ang magbibigay ng telepono i-forward lang ang email? Something for nothing, ang dali di ba?

Naiinis lang ako kasi marami rin sa mga nabibiktima ay mga kakilalang taga-UP at sa akin pa talaga ipapadala. Siguro may limang beses o higit pa sa loob in ilang taon ko nang nakukuha ito. At hindi pa rin nila nadidiscover na walang Anna Swelund, at walang teleponong darating.

Heto ang sample hoax email galing sa Breakthechain.org:

Dear Friends,

Ericsson is offering this great prize if you can engage in this new marketing strategy.

Subject: FW: Ericsson WAP give-away

Dear customer,

Our main competitor, Nokia, is giving free mobile phones away on the Internet. Here at Ericsson we want to counter their offer. So we are giving our newest WAP-phones away as well. They are specially developed for Internet happy customers who value cutting edge technology.By giving free phones away, we get valuable customer feedback and a great Word-of-Mouth effect. All you have to do, is to forward this message to 8 friends.

After two weeks delivery time, you will receive a Ericsson T18. If you forward it to 20 friends, you will receive the brand new Ericsson R320 WAP-phone.

Just remember to send a copy to Anna.Swelund@ericsson.com (mailto:Anna.Swelund@ericsson.com), that is the only way we can see that you forwarded the message.

Best of luck
Anna Swelund
Executive Promotion Manager for Ericsson Marketing

Meron pang ibang version na kunyari ay petition na itigil ang shooting ng isang pelikulang nagsasabi na si Jesus ay bading. Pero sa ibang araw na lang iyon.