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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:

Fraud email example:

From: "Mr Lee Hao" <info@leehao.com>
Reply-To: <leehao44@hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2015 23:49:21 +0000
Subject: FYI


Dear Friend,

I am writing this mail in confidence . I am looking for a trust worthy person and I decided to contact you because you and the deceased customer has the same surname.

My name Lee hao and I work in Private Banking Division of Bank of Communication Hong Kong and 9years ago I opened and managed account for an individual Ryan with a financial portfolio of USD$9,000,000.00(Nine Million United States Dollars)which he wished to invest and have spun around in the growing market in mainland China at that time.

we made various investment opportunities and this hide high return and with sometimes getting back return as high as %0.02 of funds total quarterly. This ran until last quarter in 2009 when he instructed me he had URGENT investments in Hong Kong which requires cash payment and that I liquidate funds principal(9M) and have monies available to him in Hong Kong which we did. We made contact with a reputable bank in Hong Kong at that time(Bank of China) and they agreed to receive the money for a fee and make cash available to our client. I went ahead with the transfer request and that was the end of it. However Bank of China send us memo end of 2010 informing us the money was not claim since that time and that they only inform us about this because after a certain amount of years and money not claim government confiscate money as unclaimed funds.

Further to this an enquiry was carried out and it was discovered that Ryan was involved in automobile accident in Chengdu, Sichuan Province Mainland China in 2010 and died as a result of his injuries sustained. on further enquiry we also discovered he died intestate without a known next of kin to the funds in Bank of China as his wife and only known relation had died some years earlier before making investment with my bank.

This is what I propose: Since you share the same last name as the late Ryan you stand in as next of kin and with my exclusive access to his file and the preparation of legal documents I make you the beneficiary to the funds in bank. I painstakingly work out all modality how this should work without no one get into trouble now or in the future when all concluded. I know this might be a bit heavy for you but trust me on this for you do not have to have known him for provided you have same last name and with the arrangement I have in place I assure you this would work. Nobody get hurt as this lifetime opportunity for me to secure a better future for my family as I retire soon and with all my years in the banking sector very little to show for.

Finally I do understand you may be skeptical about this considering the fact you do not know me and we not have previous dealing. Rest assure this is a known practice in the banking industry here in Hong Kong/mainland China as this happens every time the only other alternative is money revert back to the States enriching already wealthy corrupt government officers. I send you this letter not without a measure of fear as to the consequences of this if my actions are discovered and I beg you do not betray my confidence in this matter for I know nothing ventured is nothing gained. If you are able to render your genuine assistance please get back to me immediately via, email. I look forward to executing this business deal with you.


I ask that if you find no interest in this project that you should discard this mail. I ask that you do not be vindictive and destructive. If my offer is of no appeal to you, delete this message and forget I ever contacted you. Do not destroy my career because you do not approve of my proposal. You may not know this but people like me who have made tidy sums out of comparable situations run the whole private banking sector. I am not a criminal and what I do, I do not find against good conscience, this may be hard for you to understand, but the dynamics of my industry dictates that I make this move. Such opportunities only come ones' way once in a lifetime. I cannot let this chance pass me by, for once I find myself in total control of my destiny. These chances won’t pass me by. I ask that you do not destroy my chance, if you will not work with me let me know and let me move on with my life but do not destroy me. I am a family man and this is an opportunity to provide them with new opportunities. There is a reward for this project and it is a task well worth undertaking.

I await your response.

Best regards
Lee Hao
Email: leehao44@hotmail.com <mailto:leehao44@hotmail.com>

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