Does Mary Johnson want to send you $8.5 million?
Recipients have been receiving strange email messages from someone claiming to be Mrs. Mary Johnson, a widow from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. In the message, the fraudster penning as Mary Johnson claims that she has a few weeks to live and that she wants to entrust her 8.5 million dollars to a concerned individual’s care who will donate the money to charity and the less privileged with it.
In order to receive the money from Mrs. Mary Johnson, the recipient is instructed to reply or send a message to an email address claiming to belong to Mrs. Mary Johnson. The message instructs the potential victim to urgently reply because her health is “pretty bad.” The recipient is instructed to give Mrs. Mary Johnson their word that they will not betray her and once this is done, she promises to furnish them with more details about the “charity funds.”
This is an advanced-fee-scam scam similar to the infamous Nigerian Prince scam that still rakes in over $700,000 a year. An advanced-fee scam is a form of fraud where a fraudster promises the victim something significant such as a large sum of money in return for a small upfront payment. Once the payment is made, the scammer will attempt to persuade the victim to pay more fees or disappear.
In the case of the Mrs. Mary Johnson scam, the fraudster has sent bulk email messages hoping to reach a large pool of people, and the way they obtained the email address is likely from a mailing list or list of email addresses that were leaked following a third-party breach. To check if your email was compromised in a breach visit haveibeenpwned.com.
DEAR FRIEND
From Mrs. Mary Johnson.
Reply-To mrsmaryjohnson98@gmail.com
—
I know it will be a great surprise reading from me today but consider
this a divine intervention. My name is Mrs. Mary Johnson, a widow from
Milwaukee, WI 53204. I am presently writing you from my sickbed
because i have been fighting cancer and the doctor says i have a few
weeks left.I want to entrust my money $8.5 million dollars to your care for
charity purposes and crave your indulgence as a concerned individual
to help use my money for charity and also assist the poor with less
privileged in the society so reply to my private email (
mrsmaryjohnson98@gmail.com) for more information as I’m not always
online due to my health and my late husband’s brother wants me dead so
that he will claim all my late husband and i worked for.I will tell you more about myself and what you need to do with the
money once your receive it. Give me your word that you will not betray
my trust so that i furnish you with more details about the Charity
Funds. Please reply now as my health is pretty bad, It’s urgent and
very important you keep this email confidential.Have a blessed day and do not forget to pray for me.
Bless you.
Mrs. Mary Johnson
