Congratulations! You (did not) Win!

Everybody loves to win a prize. Whether it is a handful of coins from a slot machine or a pair of tickets from a raffle draw, a prize is a prize – it is always welcomed by happiness and delight. Just the idea of being so unbelievably lucky will make anybody feel excited. So, how does the idea of seeing your friends jump for joy after they learn that they just “won” a prize appeal to you?

A fake prize notification is one of the most common types of prank email. It is a simple email that informs the recipient that he or she just won a prize (in the form of cash, tickets, or gifts) after being declared the winner of an online contest or a raffle promo.

Composing the prize notification

Composing this type of prank email, however, requires a lot of planning. You have to plan the contest from which the recipient “won” the prize, the type of prize that the recipient “won,” and the instructions on how the recipient can claim the prize. These details play important roles in verifying the “authenticity” of your prank email.

Disappointing the fake winner

You have to be careful in sending this kind of prank email, though. Not everybody, after all, can handle a prank email very well. Make sure that the people who will receive the prank email are those who can laugh at practical jokes (even when the jokes are on them) because those kinds of people can appreciate the genius behind a prank. Beware of uber-sensitive recipients. Not only do they have the potential to get personally hurt, but they also have the tendency to make false accusations. Being accused as a phisher or a scammer, after all, is the last thing you need.