419 scam: "Mr. Chen Guangyuan." <chen510guangyuan@yahoo.com.hk> Assistance Needed

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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:

An email address listed inside this email has been used in a known fraud before.
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)
- "30% for you " (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)
This email message is a next of kin scam.
This email lists free webmail addresses. Use of such addresses is typical for scams. Lotteries, banks and any but the smallest of companies do not normally use such addresses. Criminals use them to anonymously send and receive email at Internet cafes.
- chen712guangyuan@yahoo.com.hk (email address has been used in a known fraud before)

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr. Chen Guangyuan." <chen510guangyuan@yahoo.com.hk>
Reply-To: chen712guangyuan@yahoo.com.hk
Date: Wed, 14 Apr 2010 12:57:43 -0300
Subject: Assistance Needed

Dear Friend,

My name is Mr. Chen Guangyuan, I am a staff of Bank of China, Our late
client named Ghazi Musa Hassan made a fixed deposit amount of
$17,300,000, he did not declare any next of kin in any of his paper
work, I want you as a foreigner to stand as the beneficiary to
transfer this funds out of my bank into your account, after the
successful transfer, we shall share in the ratio of 30% for you and
70% for me.

I want to assure you that all is well planned as we shall do this
inline with all legal and banking requirements. All I need from you is
your willingness, trust and confidentiality so that we can work
together to achieve success. Should you be interested please send me
the required information below.

1, Full names,
2, private phone number,
3, current resident

And I will prefer you reach me on my private email address below:
{chen712guangyuan@yahoo.com.hk}

Kind Regards,
Mr. Chen Guangyuan.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam