A bizarre email purportedly sent by Facebook has been hitting inboxes around the world and trying to convince the recipients that they have been awarded a "100% Gold Status membership" and $2.5 millions from the social network:


It should be quite obvious to anybody that the email did not, in fact, come from Facebook, but inexperienced users may still be pulled into this advance fee scam.

"Those who fall for the ruse and contact the 'Executive Secretary' as instructed will soon be asked to send upfront fees, ostensibly to cover various - entirely imaginary - costs such as insurance, legal and banking expenses," explains Hoax-Slayer. "The scammers will insist that these fees cannot be deducted from the cash award, which of course is also entirely imaginary."

In the end, the victims are also asked to share their personal and financial information - ostensibly for making sure that the bogus prize is sent to the right person - and so they lose more than just money.