419 scam: "Mrs. Maria Johnathan" <estherokabe219@gmail.com> (no subject)

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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:

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. )
- "abuja" (a location commonly mentioned in 419 scams)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.
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: "Mrs. Maria Johnathan" <estherokabe219@gmail.com>
Date:
Subject:

--
RE: 2019 - 2023 SCAM VICTIM'S COMPENSATION FROM THE IMF ABUJA NIGERIA

This is Mrs. Maria Johnathan, I write to inform you that International
Monetary Fund (IMF) is compensating all the scam victims and your
email address was found in the scam victim's list. This Western Union
office has been fully mandated by the IMF to transfer your
compensation to you via Western UnionÂ® Money Transfer.

However, we have concluded to affect your own payment through Western
UnionÂ® Money Transfer, $5,000 twice daily until the total sum of
$2.500.000 Million is completely transferred to you. We can not be
able to send the payment with your email address alone, there fore we
need your information as to where we will be sending the funds, such
as;

Receiverâ€™s name:...................
Your Full Name
Address:......................
Country:..................
Phone number:...................

Contact Person Tom West
Email redacted@domain.name
Country Abuja Nigeria

Note that your payment files will be returned to the IMF within 72
hours if we did not hear from you, this was the instruction given to
us by the IMF. We will start the transfer as soon as we received your
information.

Thanks and God bless you,
Mrs. Maria Johnathan
IMF Officer
Abuja Nigeria

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam