Police foil Nigerian’s million-dollar fraud plot

Sent e-mails to Pune man saying he had won lottery

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the city police on Friday arrested Nigerian, Martin Jones, for allegedly attempting to dupe a Pune-based man to the tune of Rs1.5 lakh via e-mails.

EOW officials said the complainant received an e-mail from Microsoft Lotto, UK last month, stating that he had won a lottery of US $1 million.

The e-mail stated that the complainant should forward his personal details to the e-mail address of one Johnson Smith, who was said to be the claim agent for Microsoft Lotto, UK. The complainant followed the instructions and sent a mail to Smith. An EOW official, on condition of anonymity, said the complainant contacted Jones via e-mail on Thursday. Jones told him to meet him at a restaurant near CST station on Friday. 

“The complainant however verified the authenticity of Microsoft Lott, UK on the Microsoft website on Thursday. He was shocked to learn that there was no such company as Microsoft Lotto, UK. He then registered a complaint with us, after which, we laid a trap and arrested Jones when he came to meet the complainant at the restaurant near CST station on Friday,” said the official. Jones has since been remanded to police custody till July 13.