419 scam: "Societe Generale Bank"<patrickw2wo@qq.com> Business Proposal

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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 friend" (a common phrase found in 419 scams)
- "million united states dollars" (they want you to be blinded by the prospect of quick money, but the only money that ever changes hands in 419 scams is from you to the criminals)
- "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "Societe Generale Bank" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <patrickwo@qq.com>
Date: Tue, 2 Apr 2013 10:51:55 -0700
Subject: Business Proposal

Dear Friend,

Compliment of the day to you my name is Patrick Wo Business Manager Societe Generale Bank HONG KONG,
I am contacting you to seek your partnership in a pending business project,which I have here in my hand and ready to be executed without hitches,

I would give to you a more detailed explanation of this project which I prefer to call a deal,
if I get your positive response in agreeing to partner with me since this business is
100% risk free because I have all the modalities fashioned out to give this business an excellent outcome.

In an attempt to throw light on this business deal, a month ago a Bahrain multinational company opted an overdraft from our bank,and it was over invoiced with an amount of,Six Million United States Dollars,thus I seek your partnership to enable me transfer this funds to your account for both of us and,

I am open to negotiate your percentage so far you put in your utmost attention,confidentiality and sincerity due to the nature of the business.

Please if you are interested do respond back to me via this email :patrickwo@qq.com for further information.

Best Regards,
Patrick Wo

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam