419 scam: "Maxwell W. Chen"<maxwell_chenn@dbs.com.sg> Today's Letter

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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.

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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.
This email message is a 419 scam. Please see our 419 FAQ for more details on such scams.

Fraud email example:

From: "Maxwell W. Chen" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <maxwell_chenn@yahoo.cn>
Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2010 12:24:58 -0700
Subject: Today's Letter

Hi, my name is Mr. Maxwell Wong Chen, of Development Bank of Singapore (DBS). A
foreigner died here in Singapore, twelve years ago leaving behind an estate/capital
(US$12.8M) here in DBS.

The Investor died intestate, no body came forward all these years. I, working with you
can secure the funds in the account for us instead of allowing the Government of
Singapore secure it as unclaimed, 20% of the total funds for your part in this transaction.

Reply with your FULL NAME, DATE OF BIRTH, CONTACT ADDRESS, OCCUPATION,
TELEPHONE NUMBER AND FAX NUMBER if you can cooperate.

Thanks,
Maxwell Wong Chen

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam