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Claim: Internet users can receive free laptop computers from Ericsson for forwarding an e-mail message to eight friends.
Example: [Collected via e-mail, February 2007]
Origins: The above-quoted jape is yet Way back in April 2000, after an iteration of this hoax stated that Nokia was giving away free cell phones, a new version was set loose claiming that Ericsson was trying to one-up their competitor with a similar offer:
Dear customer
But of course, Ericsson made no such offer, the e-mail address provided was bogus, and the company employed no one by the name of "Anna Swelund." Ericsson was hit so hard by inquiries about this hoax that they set up an auto-response for mail to the Anna.Swelund@ericsson.com 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 especially 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 Best of luck Anna Swelund Executive Promotion Manager for Ericsson Marketing Any rights not expressly granted herein are reserved. Reproduction, transfer, distribution or storage of part or all of the contents in any form without the prior written permission of Ericsson is prohibited except in accordance with the following terms. Ericsson consents to you browsing Ericsson World Wide Web pages on you computer or WAP-phone and printing copies of these pages for private use only. Five years later, in May 2005, the Ericsson version was dusted off, updated to include an offer for free laptops, and sent winging around the Internet to fool a whole new crop of gullible recipients:
The Ericsson Company is distributing free computer Lap-tops in an attempt to match Nokia that has already done so. Ericsson hopes to increase its popularity this way. For this reason, they are giving away the new WAP laptops. All you need to do to qualify is to send this mail to
This latter version began hitting inboxes again in February 2007, but the bottom line is that no matter which incarnation of this silliness one receives, the principle is the same: there's still no free lunch, and big companies aren't going to hand out fabulous vacations, Last updated: 7 March 2007 Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2008 by snopes.com. This material may not be reproduced without permission. snopes and the snopes.com logo are registered service marks of snopes.com.  Sources:
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