419 scam: "John Aboh"<johnaboh@presidency.gov.ng> Hoping to hear from you soonest.

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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:
- "dear beneficiary," (this SPAM email was probably sent to thousands of people)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "John Aboh" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <taiwohasssanvent@yahoo.com>
Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2012 19:18:15 +0200
Subject: Hoping to hear from you soonest.

Dear Beneficiary,

My name is John Aboh, a Special Adviser to the President of Nigeria on Foreign Affairs matters. I have been advised by His Excellency to investigate all funds beneficiaries and ensure that their funds are released accordingly without any further delay.

On behalf of His Excellency, we sincerely apologize to all beneficiaries like you, who have been scammed by criminals who claimed to be officials of this government. You are therefore advised to stop further communication with anyone claiming to represent this government in particular or Nigeria in general.

After going through your files this morning, it was found out that some documents are missing, that is why you have not received your funds. Instead of those criminals to tell you the truth about your funds, they were busy extorting money from you. Please get back to this office if you are willing and ready to proceed with us in order to receive your long delayed funds.

I must bring to your notice that some fees must be involved to obtain the missing documents before your funds could be remitted into your designated bank account. After obtaining these documents, the government of Nigeria will take care of whatever it takes to have this funds in your account without any further delay.

Hoping to hear from you soonest.

Yours Faithfully,
John Aboh

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam