419 scam: "Mr. Wong Shim."<wongshim33@yahoo.com.hk> Dear Friend,

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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)
- "with absolute secrecy" (scammers urge victims to keep the transaction secret because they don't want anyone to point out to them that it is a scam)
- "is 100% risk free" (almost true for the criminal trying to scam you - arrests of online criminals are rare)
This email message is a next of kin scam.

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr. Wong Shim." (may be fake)
Reply-To: <wshim99@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Thu, 3 Jun 2010 02:12:23 -0700
Subject: Dear Friend,

Dear Friend,

Compliments of the day and my best wishes to you, I apologize if the contents here under are contrary to your moral ethics, but please treat with absolute secrecy and personal. My name is Mr. Wong Shim, a Indonesia and Bank Manager with Asia Bank.We have a deceased customer of our bank, whose proceeds has not be claimed. We lost this customer and his family in the tsunami disaster on the 26th December 2004 in Sumatra Indonesia.
Below is the link to view the full story.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Indian_Ocean_earthquake

His account of US$7.3million with us has been unclaimed due to unavailability of a next of kin/relatives to claim his proceed. In accordance with the escheat laws of government with banks, the board of directors of the bank met forth night ago and resolved to turn the proceed of the deceased over to Government having waited for too long without the deceased relatives/next of kin surfacing and if this is done, invariably, the funds will end up to become Government fund and it is as a result of this that am moved to contact you, it will be easy for me to get you as the next of kin and beneficially to this fund above as I have verified and worked on it.

In view of this, am seeking your honest cooperation and understanding to stand as the deceased next of kin to enable us claim the inheritance before the period given by the bank elapse. If you are interested and in agreement with me, get back to me quickly and we will proceed without you coming to the bank, and be rest assured that it is 100% risk free project and you are protected from any breach of law and as well the proceeds

will be shared accordingly once the fund move into your account in your country or in your account outside your country.

Finally I will attach my documents to you to identify myself to you when you respond, and to show you how important it is at the moment.

Please reply immediately with your telephone and fax numbers for easy communication and oral discussion.

I await your prompt response.

Best Regards.

Mr. Wong Shim.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam