Anna Swelund
Anna Swelund (sometimes spelled Anna Swelung ) has become a cult figure in the internet community. This is a fictional person who is supposed to work as a sales manager for Nokia , Ericsson or another mobile phone manufacturer .
From time to time (around since 2000) chain mails (so-called hoaxes ) have been circulating on the Internet , in which it is claimed that the above-mentioned company is giving away mobile phones. This happens because a competing company is doing the same - in order to become better known, one wants to do the same.
The recipient is asked in the mail to forward the mail to a certain minimum number of people and to send a copy of this mail to Anna Swelund. As a reward for this, a free mobile phone from the respective manufacturer beckons, which should be sent two weeks after receiving the email. In reality, however, the reward looks different: The e-mail addresses in the distribution list are entered in spam lists, so there are countless spam as a reward.
In some versions of the mails, Anna's last name has mutated to "Swelung" or "Sweling".
Ericsson responded with a denial in a press release, and the email account Anna.Swelund@ericsson.com was set up to send back an automatic reply email, which explains that the chain email is a fake. Other companies also reacted in a similar way.
How the name "Anna Swelund" came about is unclear. An attempt was made to make the name appear as authentic as possible. The "swe" was probably chosen as a reference to the Scandinavian manufacturer, "-lund" is a common part of the name in the Swedish-speaking area (like "-son").