419 scam: "Mr. Johnson Abua"<mr.john@oceanicbank.com> ATTENTION BENEFICIARY

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"419" Scam – Advance Fee / Fake Lottery Scam

The so-called "419" scam is a type of fraud dominated by criminals from Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Victims of the scam are promised a large amount of money, such as a lottery prize, inheritance, money sitting in some bank account, etc.

Victims never receive this non-existent fortune but are tricked into sending their money to the criminals, who remain anonymous. They hide their real identity and location by using fake names and fake postal addresses as well as communicating via anonymous free email accounts and mobile phones.

Keep in mind that scammers DO NOT use their real names when defrauding people.
The criminals either abuse names of real people or companies or invent names or addresses.
Any real people or companies mentioned below have NO CONNECTION to the scammers!

Read more about such scams here or in our 419 FAQ. Use the Scam-O-Matic to verify suspect emails.

Click here to report a problem with this page.

Some comments by the Scam-O-Matic about the following email:

This email uses a separate reply address that is different from the sender address. Spammers use this to get replies even when the original spam sending accounts have been shut down. Also, sometimes the sender addresses are legitimate looking but fake and only the reply address is actually an email account controlled by the scammers.
The following phrases in this message should put you on alert:
- "western union" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "mtcn" (this will cost you money - be careful with upfront payments to anyone you only know through email, especially if they promise you a lot of money. NEVER send money by Western Union or MoneyGram to people you do not know personally - NO EXCEPTIONS! Instant wire transfer services are not meant to be used with strangers because they offer no protection against fraud. That is precisely why the criminals want you send money that way. )
- "million united states dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- ",000,000" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "00,000.00" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "lagos" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
- "johnsonabua@gmx.com" (this email address has been used in a known scam)
This email message is a fake lottery scam. Consider the following facts about real lotteries:
1. They don't notify winners by email.
2. You can't win without first buying a lottery ticket.
3. They don't randomly select email addresses to award prizes to.
4. They don't use free email accounts (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc) to communicate with you.
5. They don't tell you to call a mobile phone number.
6. They don't tell you to keep your winnings secret.
7. They will never ask a winner to pay any fees to receive a prize!
Western Union money transfer is completely untraceable and therefore is *not* safe to use with anyone you do not know personally. It is the preferred method of online criminals to collect money from their victims.

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr. Johnson Abua" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <johnsonabua@gmx.com>
Date: Fri, 11 May 2012 21:08:45 -0400
Subject: ATTENTION BENEFICIARY

Lagos Corporate Office
Plot 270 Ozumba Mbadiwe,
Victoria Isalnd, Lagos.

ATTN: Microsoft Lucky Winner.

THE TRANSFER OF YOUR LOTTERY WINNING FUNDS OF One Million United States Dollars (US$1,000,000.00) INTO YOUR BANK ACCOUNT.

The above subject matter refers. This email is as regards your Won Prize of One Million United States Dollars ($1,000,000.00) from the Microsoft email users online Lottery Award. your Won Prize of $1,000,000.00 was been Deposited into our Bank for us to Transfer it to you Via our Bank Wire Transfer service.

You were been selected as one of the Lucky Winners in the ONLINE MICROSOFT CORPORATION WORLD EMAIL USERS LOTTERY AWARD. Your lucky winning numbers are 887/13/865/37/10/83.

All participants "email addresses" were selected through a computer balloting system drawn from Nine hundred thousand names from Canada, Australia, United States, Asia, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Oceanic as part of the Bill Gates Microsoft World Online Lottery Foundation International Promotions Program which is conducted annually.

Your Email Address was therefore been approved to claim a total sum of US$1,000,000.00 (ONE MILLION UNITED STATES DOLLARS) This is from a total cash prize of USD$ 10,000,000.00 shared among the (10) Ten Lucky Winners and Our Bank the Oceanic Bank of Nigeria has been Instructed to make the Bank Wire Transfer of your Won Prize of $1,000,000.00 to you the Lucky Winner.

We have waited for you to contact us for the Claim of your Won Prize of $1,000,000.00 but we did not hear from you, so we decided to inform Mr.Goodman White who happens to be the Claim Manager of your Won Prize of $1,000,000.00.

Mr.Goodman White gave us your informations and also asked us to Contact you to remind you about the Claim of your $1,000,000.00. So right now we are contacting you just to find out if you still wish to Claim your Won Prize of $1,000,000.00.

To claim your Won Prize of $1,00,000.00 would only cost you the sum of just Fifty United States Dollars ($50) For the Bank Wire Transfer of your $1,000,000.00, we need you to make the payment of just $50 for the Bank Wire Transfer of your $1,000,000.00 to you.

So on the receipt of this email, If you are ready to claim your Won Prize of $1,000,000.00 and if you are willing to make the payment of just $50 for the Bank Wire Transfer of your $1,000,000.00 then do furnish with your Informations Below:

Your Name..............
Your Address...........
Phone Number..........
Age...........................
Occupation...............

Soon as you get Back to us with the above requested informations, Then you will have to send the $50 to us via western union money transfer with the following name

Receiver's Name: JUDITH DUROJAYE

Receiver's Address: 16 Maryland Victoria Island Lagos Nigeria.

Text Question: What Color

Text Answer: White

Amount To Be Sent: $50

MTCN:............

Once you make the payment and furnish us with the requested information we shall Wire Transfer of your Winning Prize of $1,000,000.00 into your Local Bank Account.

Good luck and Congratulations once again.

Best regards,
Mr. Johnson Abua
johnsonabua@gmx.com
(G.M ) Oceanic Bank NIG, PLC

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam