419 scam: "MR. Kang Jo-won"<kaon@yandex.com> 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)
- "million dollars" (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)
- "there is no risk involved" (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. Kang Jo-won" (may be fake)
Reply-To: <kang.jo-won@yandex.com>
Date: Wed, 29 Mar 2023 15:57:39 +0100
Subject: Dear Friend,

Dear Friend,

My name is Kang Jo-won from South Korea and I work with a bank here in Thailand. I am writing to seek your consent to transfer the sum of $3.7 Million dollars into your bank account. One of our bank's customers deposited the sum of $3.7 Million Dollars in our bank some years ago, but unfortunately this customer died alongside his wife and children in a car crash in France. My bank has now mandated me to locate any of his family members to come forward and claim his funds deposit, but unfortunately all my efforts to locate any of his family members have proved abortive, and I don't want my bank to confiscate the money as unclaimed funds. Fortunately, you share the same last name with our deceased customer so since I am unable to locate any of his family members, and you happened to share the same surname with him, I can arrange and present you to my bank as the deceased customer's next of kin and my bank will remit the $3.7 Million dollars into your bank account for you and I to sh are the proceeds 50/50.

Please note there is no risk involved in this transaction because the transfer procedures will be handled legally and professionally, so if you are interested in the transaction, kindly get back to me for more details.

Thank you.

MR. Kang Jo-won.

Anti-fraud resources:

What can you do when you receive 419 spam