The Coca-Cola Award/Promo Winner Notification

The Coca-Cola Company has learned of several emails in circulation which falsely claim that the recipient of the email has been randomly selected for a cash prize from the Company.

Subject lines for the emails have ranged from "The Coca-Cola Award Notification" to "The Coca-Cola Promo Winning Notification" to "The Coca-Cola Worldwide Christmas Promo" or other similar titles.

Recent versions of the email hoax indicate a joint promotion with the British American Tobacco Company, an annual mid-year Coca-Cola promotional draw (which includes the name of former Coca-Cola executive vice president, Carl Ware), or a car giveaway in Hong Kong.

The emails include formal language that makes them look "official," and are sometimes designed to look legitimate by including images or photographs, a "secret pin code" or reference/ticket number and contact information for a Coca-Cola representative.

The Response from The Coca-Cola Company: The Coca-Cola Company is in no way associated with these emails or programs. We are not a sponsor and our name and trademarks are used here without permission. We are currently investigating the situation.

This appears to be a form of fraud known as "phishing," wherein perpetrators attempt to develop relationships with victims in order to obtain personal and financial information. Common signs that a message may be a part of an email scam or phishing campaign include: