joewein.net   joewein.de LLC
fighting spam and scams on the Internet
Try our spam filter!
Free trial for 30 days
  jwSpamSpy

Home
About Us
Spam
419/Nigeria
Fraud
Contact

"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 Chen Qingxuan <chhenqingxuan@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Tue, 21 Feb 2006 11:22:47 +0100
Subject: Reply soon.

Chen Qingxuan
Lloyds TSB Pacific Limited
Hong Kong Branch

Thank you for giving me your time. Please be patient and read my email to you. I am a staff of Lloyds
TSB Group attached in Private Banking services. I am contacting you concerning a customer and, an
investment placed under our banks management 3 years ago, I contacted you independently of our
investigation and no one is informed of this communication and I would like to intimate you with certain
facts that I believe would be of interest to you.

In 2000, the subject matter; ref: bb/tsb/bank/73 came to our bank to engage in business discussions
with our Private Banking Services Department. He informed us that he had a financial portfolio of 8.35
million United States Dollars, which he wished to have us turn over on his behalf. I was the officer
assigned to his case; I made numerous suggestions in line with my duties as the de-facto chief operations
officer of the Private Banking Services Department, especially given the volume of funds he wished to
put into our bank. We met on numerous occasions prior to any investments being placed. I encouraged
him to consider various growth funds with prime ratings. The favored route in my advice to customers is
to start by assessing data on 600 traditional stocks and bond managers and alternative investments.
Based on my advice, we spun the money around various opportunities and made attractive margins for
our first months of operation, the accrued profit and interest stood at this point at over 10 million United
States Dollars, this margin was not the full potential of the fund but he desired low risk guaranteed returns
on investments. In mid 2001, he asked that the money be liquidated because he needed to make an
urgent investment requiring cash payments in Europe. He directed that I liquidate the funds and had it
deposited with a firm in Europe. I informed him that our bank would have to make special arrangements
to have this done and in order not to circumvent due process, the bank would have to make a 9.5 %
deduction from the funds to cater for banking and statutory charges. He complained about the charges
but later came around when I explained to him the complexities of the task he was asking of us. Cash
movement across borders has become especially strict since the incidents of 9/11.

I contacted my affiliate in Europe and had the funds available in main land Europe. I undertook all the
processes and made sure I followed his precise instructions to the letter and had the funds deposited in a
security consultancy firm, the firm is a specialist private firm that accepts deposits from high net worth
individuals and blue chip corporations that handle valuable products or undertake transactions that need
immediate access to cash. This small and highly private organization is familiar especially to the highly
placed and well-connected organizations. In line with instructions, the money was deposited. He told me
he wanted the money there in anticipation of his arrival from Norway later that week. This was the last
communication we had, this transpired around 25th February 2002. In June last year, we got a call from
the security firm informing us of the inactivity of that particular portfolio. This was an astounding position
as far as I was concerned, given the fact that I managed the private banking sector I was the only one
who knew about the deposit, and I could not understand why he had not come forward to claim his
deposit. I made futile efforts to locate him I immediately passed the task of locating him to the internal
investigations department of our bank. Four days later, information started to trickle in, that he was
apparently dead.

A person who suited his description was declared dead of a heart attack in Cannes, South of France.
We were soon enough able to identify the body and cause of death was confirmed.

The bank immediately launched an investigation into possible surviving next of kin to alert about the
situation and also to come forward to claim his estate. If you are familiar with private banking affairs,
those who patronize our services usually prefer anonymity, but also some levels of detachment from
conventional processes. In his bio-data form, he listed no next of kin. In the field of private banking,
opening an account with us means no one will know of its existence, accounts are rarely held under a
name; depositors use numbers and codes to make the accounts anonymous. This bank also gives the
choice to depositors of having their mail sent to them or held at the bank itself, ensuring that there are no
traces of the account and as I said, rarely do they nominate next of kin. Private banking clients apart
from not nominating next of kin also usually in most cases leave wills in our care, in this case; he died in
testate.

What I wish to relate to you will smack of unethical practice but I want you to understand something. It is
only an outsider to the banking world who finds the internal politics of the banking world aberrational. The
world of private banking especially is fraught with huge rewards for those who occupy certain offices and
oversee certain portfolios. You should have begun by now to put together the general direction of what I
propose. There is US$ 8,370,000.00 deposited, I alone have the deposit details and they will release the
deposit to no one unless I instruct them to do so. I alone know of the existence of this deposit for as far
as the finance firm, the transaction with our deceased customer concluded when I sent the funds to the
firm, all outstanding interactions in relation to the file are just customer services and due process. The
finance firm has no single idea of what's the history or nature of the deposit. They are simply awaiting
instructions to release the deposit to any party that comes forward. This is the situation. This bank has
spent great amounts of money trying to track this man's family; they have investigated for months and
have found no family. The investigation has come to an end. My proposal; I am prepared to place you in
a position to instruct the finance firm to release the deposit to you as the closest surviving relation. Upon
receipt of the deposit, I am prepared to share the money with you in half and no more. That is: I will simply
nominate you as the next of kin and have them release the deposit to you. We share the proceeds
50/50.

I would have gone ahead to ask the funds be released to me, but that would have drawn a straight line
to me and my involvement in claiming the deposit. But on the other hand, you as a foreigner and also
with all the necessary legal and official documentations from me and the presiding attorney and also with
the authority vested upon me by the original depositor, you would easily pass as the beneficiary with the
rights to claim. I assure you that I could have the deposit released to you in a few days. I will simply inform
our bank of the final closing of the file relating to the customer. I will then officially communicate with the
finance company and instruct them to release the deposit to you.

With these two things: all is done. The alternative would be for us to have the firm direct the funds to
another bank with you as account holder. This way there will be no need for you to think of receiving the
money from the firm. We can fine-tune this based on our interactions. I am aware of the consequences of
this proposal. 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 or 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 myself 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 I hope you
understand because for once I found myself in total control and face to face with 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 have evaluated the risks and the only risk I have here is from you refusing to work with me
and alerting my bank. I am the only one who knows of this situation, good fortune has blessed you with a
name that has planted you into the center of relevance in my life. Let's share the blessing.

If you find yourself able to work with me, contact me through this email account:
mrchenqingxuan79@yahoo.com.hk or chenqinw@levele.hu

If you give me positive signals, I will initiate this process towards a conclusion. I wish to inform you that
should you contact me via official channels; I will deny knowing you and about this project. I repeat, I do
not want you contacting me through my official phone lines nor do I want you contacting me through my
official email account. Contact me only through this email address. I do not want any direct link between
you and me. My official lines are not secure lines as they are periodically monitored to assess our level of
customer care in line with our Total Quality Management Policy.

Please observe this instruction religiously. Please, again, note I am a family man; I happily married with
two kids. I send you this mail not without a measure of fear as to what the consequences might be, but I
know within me that nothing ventured is nothing gained and that success and riches never come easy or
on a platter of gold. This is the one truth I have learned from my private banking clients. Do not betray my
confidence. If we can be of one accord, we should plan a meeting, soon.

I await your response.
Sincerely,
Chen Qingxuan


Anti-fraud resources: