Couple of weeks back, I received an email from one Mr. Manuel Franco. He introduced himself as a winner of $768.4 million in Powerball lottery on APRIL 23th, 2019.  He informed me that he was donating 12.5 Million US Dollars to me!

If I did not know better, I'd have had a heart attack by now.

Below you'll find, my communication with him. My comments are in red.

The email from Mr. Manuel Franco

From: Mr Manuel Franco <asda66@mail.goo.ne.jp> (Man from USA using a Japan domain name. A red herring for me)
Sent: 26 June 2022 12:48
To: undisclosed-recipients: (Another sign that it is a phishing email)
Subject: GOOD NEWS FOR YOU,

Good day lucky winner Email Owner,

I am Mr. Manuel Franco the current winner of $768.4 million in Powerball lottery on APRIL 23th, 2019 drawing, I want to inform you that I'm donating {$12.5 Millions} to 5 random individuals from any part of worldwide and if you get this email then your email was selected after a spin ball. I have spread most of my wealth over a number of charities and organizations. I have voluntarily decided to donate the sum of {$12.5 Millions} to you as one of the selected {5}, to verify my winnings please see my interview by visiting this link below.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/winner-768-million-powerball-jackpot-revealed/story?id=62571392,

(he is just trying to earn my trust by sharing a link that is publicaly available to any one)

Firstly, I must express my gratitude towards your interest to accept this donation and assist us with our charitable course, (when did I show my interest?) I was never a believer of luck until I won the lottery, the same luck that drew me to this fortune has attracted me to you. Your email address was submitted to us by the Email internet management teams (internet management teams? What that? I tried to google the term. All I got was Microsoft Teams!!) as an email User and a part of our donation list your Email ID is among those listed to receive the donation sum of US$12,500,000.00 through the help of my accountant agent Mr. Edward Manzi jr the Chairman & CEO of Fidelity Bank Headquarters. (Wow! Chairman & CEO of Fidelity Bank is your accountant agent? Man you MUST be BIG. And yes, Google search on Mr. Edward Manzi jr does show that the name of Chairman & CEO of Fidelity Bank is indeed Edward Manzi. Another ploy used by phishing email scammers – build some trust by using verifiable facts that are publically available) Be rest assured that you are not at any risk with this money.

The $12,500,000.00 donation we are offering you might not be too much for you or your business (Yes, actyually 12.5 million US DOllars is peanuts for me! Such modesty!!) but I believe it's enough to assist you in helping others to keep humanity alive even in the face of this great adversity. (Sure, I can do that to keep humanity alive) We have chosen you to be a part of these blessings because we believe that there is an expression of worship. I would like to advise you to keep this to yourself until the donations get to you.

Make sure you contact Mr. Edward Manzi jr yourself with below information to enable quick releasing the donation payment to you because bankers are always engaged with many customers activities. THIS IS YOUR WINNING NUMBER:[ FRANCO19022FUNDS ] make sure you [email] Mr. Edward Manzi jr your WINNING NUMBER [ FRANCO19022FUNDS ] and also email him your personal information if you want him to release your payment of {$12.5 Millions} to you.

Contact Person: Mr. Edward Manzi jr
Email: emanzi@biznetvigator.com
Tel: +1 (978) 440-4155—> TEXT MESSAGE ONLY AND YOU CAN TEXT HIM ONCE YOU EMAIL HIM YOUR INFO FOR URGENT NOTIFICATION

Please make sure you send Mr. Edward Manzi jr your full information listed below because he will need those information to keep records of you and also for the financial institution to assign the donation to you.

FULL NAME:.
AGE:.
GENDER:.
ADDRESS:.
COUNTRY:.
OCCUPATION:.
PERSONAL PHONE NUMBER:.
OFFICE PHONE NUMBER:.
PERSONAL WHATSAPP NUMBER:
A PICTURE OF YOUR ID OR PASSPORT:.

Mr. Edward Manzi jr also receives text messages at +1 (978) 440-4155 for bank business only. You can text him anytime about your donation payment for urgent notification.

Therefore: you hereby advise to make sure that you comply with every instruction once you contact Mr. Edward Manzi jr the Chairman & CEO of Fidelity Bank Headquarters today because the new payment of US$12.5 Million sign in your name is 100% genuine with due process of law,

HOWEVER, THIS TRANSACTION IS BEING MONITORED BY THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT IN ORDER TO GUARD US FROM SCAM INTERNET ACTIVITIES. (Why all in capital? By mentioning this the email sender is trying to make me believe that this is not a scam internet activity)

Hope to make you and your family happy.
Congratulations & Happy Celebrations in Advance,

Best regards.
Mr. Manuel Franco

Remains blessed from Mr. Manuel Franco Funds Donation Families.

NOTE: If you received this message in your SPAM/JUNK folder , that is because of the restrictions implemented by your Internet Service Provider, I urge you to treat it genuinely and kindly move it to your inbox. (Sure, will do that Sir!)

This email from Mr. Manuel Franco is suspect

This email falls in the category of classic phishing email on the following counts:

1. Not addressed to me directly but to “undisclosed-recepients”

2. Offereing a huge amount for no reason – does not know me at all.

3. Reply to email address is not the same as the email address used to send the message.

4. Emaill address domain is Japanese where as he is from the USA

I have sent him a reply. Let's see what happens

My reply to Manuel Franco's email

Prakash Varma <pv@pv.com>

To: emanzi@biznetvigator.com

Wed, 20 Jul at 1:58 pm

Dear Mr. Edward Manzi jr

I received an email from Mr. Manuel Franco saying that he is donating 12.5 million dollars to me!

Is it realy true? Why will he give me so much money when I do not even know him?

HOw do I get the money? Shall I send my bank details?

regards

Prakash Varma

I now wait for the “Chairman & CEO” of Fidelity Bank to write back to me.

I received an email from someone who claimed to be Mrs. Abigail Johnson. She introduced herself as a philanthropist and the C.E.O/President of Fidelity Investments Inc, commonly referred to as Fidelity. She told me that I should count myself as lucky to have been  selected by her to receive 3 Million USD in donation!

You'll find below, my communication with fake email sender. My comments are in red.

The email from “Mrs. Abigail Johnson”

Additionally, why would the CEO of such a large organization use a Gmail id? She would send email from the company domain.

Finally, the reply to email (mrsabigailpj@gmail.com) is different from the email that is used to send the message (mssgindex@gmail.com). A classic scammer tactic

I'd , therefore suspect this email very much.

Fraud Email

Any email that offers to donate or give such large sums of money is obviously a fradulent email. Why would anyone offer a complete stranger millions of dollars?

The sender is Phishing for someone to take the bait and reply back.

This email had no links except to the Wikipedia page about the real Abigail Johnson. Ideally, one should not click on any link in such an email. However, the cursor on the link showed the link url to be genuine.

If a person were to click on this link, they would be taken to the Wikipedia page about Abigail Johnson. One could think  that the email is genuine. However, this is precisely what one should be beware of. As I have said earlier, why would anyone offer to give 3 million dollars to me out of the blue?

However, as suggested by the sender, I counted myslef as lucky and wrote her this reply.

My Reply to “Mrs. Abigail Johnson”

To: mrsabigailpj@gmail.com

Mon, 31 May, 2021 at 12:07 pm

Dear Mrs. Abigail Johnson

Thanks you for your email. It is good to make acquaintance of the CEO of such a large and respected company. An honor indeed.

Do share details of what I need to do further to receive the funds.

best regards

Prakash Varma

I received the following reply the next day

Mrs Abigail Johnson <mrsabigailpj@gmail.com>
To: Prakash Varma

Tue, 1 Jun, 2021 at 6:24 pm

Dear : Prakash Varma
(ABF/05087/2021)

Thanks for your immediate response and congratulations to you from Abigail Johnson Foundations. (I looked for Abigail Johnson Foundations – there is no such foundation. There is however a Fidelity Foundation, of which Abigail Johnson is a Trustee). Recently, My doctor told me that I will undergo a Surgery (Cancer of the lung) and I may not survive it or live longer than required due to my health condition. (A 100% lie. Most scammers take this line when phishing. The real Abigail Johnson is healthy, touch wood).

As you receive this fund, Please ensure that you touch the lives of less privileged, orphans and physically impaired as a way of helping the Abigail Johnson Foundations circulate the work of charity and philanthropy. I am hoping that you will be able to use the money wisely and judiciously. I ask you to do what you can to alleviate the level of poverty in your region and also try to enhance the standard of living of as many people as you can and see the joy and happiness of giving.

I am always tied up with very busy schedules and sometimes failing health, I have therefore mandated Mr. Glen Dunker (Director of banking operations, Chase bank.) (I could not find any Glen Dunker at Chase Bank – not on Google. And not even on LinkedIn). To effectively arrange for the dispatch/remittance of your donation funds to you with immediate effect

To this effect, you are required to quickly contact Mr.Glen through the below details
Mr. Glen Dunker. (Director Of banking operations and Remittance, Chase bank)
Email: ( chase.info1@groupmail.com ) (Why would a Director at Chase Bank use an email on a domain like groupmail.com? Fact is that this is just a domain taken by the phishing email sender to send / receive emails – that is my guess. There is no website on this domain. It is a parked domain)

Tell: +1 469 532 0321

Please, forward to him:
Full Name:
Contact Address:
Country:
Occupation:
Mobile Number:

Like I always say , we rise by lifting others. In this situation, you can lift the less privileged out of poverty and agony by ensuring that you receive this funds and use it to touch lives especially in this great time of need caused by the covid-19 pandemic. Thus, we find fulfillment and live time joy through our actions

Please, endeavor email him (ABF/05087/2021) as your personal identification code

Best Wishes.

Parked Domain Being Used For Phishing Scam

As I mentioned above the supposed email of Glen Dunker is on domain “groupmail.com”. If I type groupmail.com in my browser, I am taken to the following page

The fake email sender is doing two things, at least:

1. Using this domain for emails. That way he / she does'nt have to worry about getting the email id banned.

2. Earning advertisement revenue along the way as a bonus! Smart Boy.

For quite sometime, I did not write to Mr. Glen Denker. I wanted to see what would happen. If I'd get any more email like I have in someother cases. I however did not receive any more email. Atleast not from that email address.

I wrote to “Abigail Johnson” after a year!

Praksah Varma <mycorrectemail@domain.com>

To: Mrs Abigail Johnson (mrsabigailpj@gmail.com)
Sun, 26 Jun at 6:25 pm

Dear Mrs. Abigail Johnson,

I wrote to Mr. Glen but did not receive any reply. I was then down with covid and had to be in hospital for long time. Now I am fine. I hope you are also fine. I hope your cancer in cured.

I read about you. You are very rich. Also you seem to have a very kind heart.

Can you ask Mr. Glen to write back please.

Praksah Verma

Just when I had given up, I received this reply from Abigail Johnson

Mrs Abigail Johnson <mrsabigailpj@gmail.com>
To:Prakash Varma
Tue, 5 Jul at 6:27 pm
Dear : Prakash Varma
(ABF/05087/2021)

Thanks for your email, am so happy to hear that you doing healthy now. Am still at the hospital battling for survival . My only consolation is the good news from the bank about some beneficiaries that has recieved the fund and are lifting lives out of poverty as I have desired. (“She” is trying to tell me that she has given money to some other lucky fellow too.)

Once more, Please kindly contact Mr. Glen Dunker again :

Email: ( chase.info1@groupmail.com )
Tel: +1 310 879 5096 (The phone number has changed in one year!)

My Email to Glen Dunker

Prakash Varma <mycorrectemail@domain.com>

To: chase.info1@groupmail.com
Tue, 5 Jul at 10:19 pm

Dear Mr. Glen Dunker,

I have been advised by the gracious Mrs Abigail Johnson that I should write to you for the donation that she has planned to give to me. This donation I will use to help people and lift them out of poverty. What a noble soul she is. I pray to the almighty Lord to grant her good health. I hope she becomes well soon enough to be able to visit the people she is helping

I will be thankful if you can guide me about the process to get the donation.

best regards

Prakash Varma

I received this reply from Mr. Dunker

Chase Online <chase.info1@groupmail.com>
To: Prakash Varma
Wed, 6 Jul at 6:27 pm

Chase Online Banking:- Its easy, fast , convenient and reliable
Our Vision/Our Mission:To create a unique International Bank focused on providing creative solutions to customers' business problems, with an absolute commitment to quality and availability around the globe.@ Chase Bank, effectiveness and efficiency to serve you is our priority

J.P Morgan Chase Bank
Mr. Glen .M. Dunker
Head Of Operation
E-mail : (jpm.chaseonline@groupmail.com)
Tel +1 310 879 5096
File No:- 1067/MM/FIDELITY
Fund Ref :- ABF/05087/20201

RE: Immediate Disbursement/Remittance Of Your Donation Fund Valued (US$3.000.000) Only

Attn : Prakash Varma
Ref : (ABF/05087/2022)/File No:- 1067/MM/FIDELITY

The management of JP Morgan Chase wishes to acknowledge the receipt of your email and your chosen option very well noted. (I don't remember choosing any option other than the fact that I am happy to receive donation. But then who am I to argue?)

At JP Morgan Chase, effectiveness and efficiency to serve you is our priority, This is to say, that the immediate actualization of your the delivery of your fund donation is right in your hands just by following the Chase bank protocols. (Okay. So what are the Chase Bank protocols?)

NB : In order to actualize the delivery of your fund within the mandated time frame, we have already set up a schedule on your behalf to facilitate the immediate delivery of your donation fund. (That's real fast man) Hence, the completion of your delivery is subject to JP Morgan Chase Terms and Conditions in accordance to financial laws and banking ethics governing the operations of JP Morgan Chase and inline with memorandum of understanding with A.B.F (Abigail Johnson Foundation) (“Terms and Conditions” was in red in Glen's email. I thought that it would be a link that will give me Terms & Conditions. But it was just text. No link)

To this effect and in order to effectively issue and deliver your Certified ATM card, you are obliged to $290 only for express delivery/logistics and documentation as inline with the memorandum signed with Abigail Johnson foundation.

Thus, the sum is payable to our cashier department via bitcoin wallet ( bc1qru7w0kamt50vazpcu6k5gwn93fsfmv7a3wm7ny )

Please note, in accordance with the memorandum/deed with Abigail Johnson Foundation, no part of the donation fund can be accessed till the funds are remitted to the beneficiaries , this is to avoid compromise/diversion of funds.

For further clarification/directives , please call +1 310 879 5096

Thanks for understanding and cooperation. Please be assured,it's our priority to serve you to your satisfaction.

Yours In Service
Mr .Glen .M. Dunker
Head Of Operation
E-mail : (jpm.chaseonline@groupmail.com)
Transfer Ref:- 54297/HH/01/2021

I replied to Glen Dunker a fews days later

Prakash Varma

To:Chase Online
Mon, 11 Jul at 5:03 pm
Dear Mr. Glen,

I am in receipt of your email about the transfer of donation from Abigail Johnson Foundation.

I do not have bitcoins. I also do not know how bitcoin transactions work. It is therefore not possible for me to transfer money to your bitcoin wallet.

I can share my bank details. You can have the donation money transferred to that account after subtracting your fee. I think that will be the easiest way to give us the donation.

We have already identified the people we would like to help from the donation money. I think Mrs. Abigail Johnson will be very pleased with the results.

best regards

Prakash Varma

Mr. Glen Dunker sent this reply

Chase Online <chase.info1@groupmail.com>
To:Prakash Varma
Mon, 11 Jul at 7:39 pm

RE: Immediate Disbursement/Remittance Of Your Donation Fund Valued (US$3.000.000) Only

Attn : Prakash Varma
Ref : (ABF/05087/2022)/File No:- 1067/MM/FIDELITY

RE: Immediate Disbursement/Remittance Of Your Donation Fund Valued (US$3.000.000) Only

Attn : Prakash Varma
Ref : (ABF/05087/2022)/File No:- 1067/MM/FIDELITY

With due regards to your email and its content very well noted . Please completely assured, as a renown global bank , we share in Mrs . Abigail's ideology of helping humanity , especially the less privileged. Thus, we give our utmost priority to ensure we deliver best service .

Thus, all proper arrangement, necessary logistics and required documentation are intact and your donation fund will be transferred immediately upon your compliance with the mandatory $290 (23500 rupee)

Your can conveniently effect deposit to allied bank partners in India with the below details and payment slip emailed

PUNJAB & SIND BANK.
NAME: L RENJAMO MURRY.
A/C NO: 03491000018365.
IFSC CODE: PSIB0000349.
BRANCH: KALIBARI ROAD.

Finally, You are also required to provide , your mobile number, address and banking details to enable us process the transfer of of your donation fund.

For further clarification/directives , please call +1 310 879 5096

Thanks for understanding and cooperation. Please be assured,it's our priority to serve you to your satisfaction.

Yours In Service
Mr .Glen .M. Dunker
Head Of Operation
E-mail : (jpm.chaseonline@groupmail.com)
Transfer Ref:- 54297/HH/01/2021

My Thoughts

He has a bank account in India? I checked up the IFSC Code that he has mentioned in the bank details – IFSC CODE: PSIB0000349. As per the details shared by him, the address of the bank branch is Kalibari Road. This is what I found:

Man! the deatils are correct. So there must be a bank account too in that name. I am sure phishing emails go all over the world. So do they have bank accounts in all countries? How does one find that out?

Then another thought occured to me. How did he know that I am from India? Have I mentioned that during our communication? I checked and found that I have not mentioned India or any Indian city at all. So he must have guessed from my name that I am an Indian and therefore he shared an Indian Bank's details.

What does that tell me? He is an Indian or he knows Indian names. Phone number that he shared twice are US numbers.

Too confusing at this stage.

Anyway, the good thing is that I have not mentioned that I live in India. And Indians are all over the world. So I sent this email to agent of  “Mrs. Abigail Johnson”.

My reply – I am not in India!

Prakash Varma

To:Chase Online
Thu, 14 Jul at 12:39 pm

Dear Mr. Dunker

Received your reply and noted the Bank detauils. You have shared Bank details of some bank in India. I don't live in India.

I live in Durban, South Africa. Will not be possible for me to send money to some bank in India.

You can give me bank details of some bank here in South Africa. But I will feel more comfortable if I am able to send money directly to Chase Bank. That way I also know that my money is safe.

Thanks in advance for understanding

Prakash

Reply received from Glen Dunker

Chase Online <chase.info1@groupmail.com>
To:Prakash Varma
Sat, 16 Jul at 4:38 am (Why would someone working with a bank send an email at this hour?)

RE: Immediate Disbursement/Remittance Of Your Donation Fund Valued (US$3.000.000) Only

Attn : Prakash Varma
Ref : (ABF/05087/2022)/File No:- 1067/MM/FIDELITY

With due regards to your email and its content very well noted .

In respect of the payment and your convinent, please let me know if your can transfer to our allied partners
is Europe or you will prefer to transfer to an account here in USA. (I notice that his English is getting worse with each passing email. And he is giving me the option of choosing which continent I should send money to! It must be a gang that operates. I don't think a single person could have bank accounts in different countries like he is suggesting. I know opening a bank account in India is not easy. You require all kind of documentation and tax id. I am sure so is the case in most countries)

You are required to let me know the most convinent for u .

For further clarification/directives , please call +1 310 879 5096

Thanks for understanding and cooperation. Please be assured,it's our priority to serve you to your satisfaction.

Yours In Service
Mr .Glen .M. Dunker
Head Of Operation
E-mail : (jpm.chaseonline@groupmail.com)
Transfer Ref:- 54297/HH/01/2021

The Abigail Johnson scam operates from multiple countries

The email from Glen Dunker made me realise that Abigail Johnson scam operates from multiple countries. I am sure this would also be true of other phishing scams.

They have a bank account in India. He has given me option of choosing a bank in Europe or USA. That means at least 3 bank accounts. And I am sure they must be in different names.

Earlier I had thought that I'll reply after a few days. But then I changed my mind and decided that I will reply immediately. If he can send me an email on Saturady morning at 4.38 am, then I can also write on Saturday. I could get a reply on Sunday. Imagine Wall Street bankers working 7 days a week !

My reply to Mr. Dunker

Prakash Varms 

To:Chase Online
Sat, 16 Jul at 5:48 pm

Hi Glen,

You could share the details of both Europe and US banks. I'll check with my Bank – First National Bank where it is easier to transfer money.

Also, Mr. Glen, I hope you don't mind but I will be happy if I can send money directly to the Chase Bank account. $290 may not be big amount for Mrs. Abigail Johnson, but it is not a small amount for me.

thanks and regards

Prakash

I now wait from Mr. Dunker's reply. Will keep you posted

Last updated on July 16, 2022