POSTAL - Chung Lee & Paks Wang

My boss received these two letters through the post and passed them onto me. Below is the text of the letter, and here is a link to a .jpg of one of them.
Scam Letter

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From The Desk of Chung Lee
Telephone: +852-8191-4421
Fax: +852-3015-1 847 E-Mail: [email protected]
17th November 2008

Dear Mr Armstrong,

I am Chung Lee, a Business Relationship Manager for the Guangdong Development Bank in China. My colleague attending a seminar in the UK posted this letter on my behalf, I am contacting you with regards the estate of Andrew Armstrong and an investment placed in our bank 5 years ago.

It is important you keep the contents of this mail confidential and respect the integrity of the information you come by as a result of this mail. I contact you independently and no one is informed of this communication. In 2003, the subject matter; Andrew Armstrong came to our bank to engage in business discussions with our private banking division. He informed us that he had a financial portfolio of 8.35 million United States dollars, which he wished to have us invest on his behalf.

Based on my advice, we invested 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 11 million United States Dollars. In mid 2006, he instructed that the principal sum (8.35M) be liquidated because he needed to make an urgent investment requiring cash payments in Hong Kong. We got in touch with a specialist bank in Hong Kong the Chong Hing Bank who agreed to receive this money for a fee and make cash available to Mr Armstrong. However Chong Hing Bank got in touch with us last year that this money has not been claimed. On further enquiries we found out that Mr. Armstrong was involved in an accident in Mainland China, which means he died intestate. He has no next of kin and the reason I am writing you is because you are namesakes.

What I propose is that since I have exclusive access to his file, you will be made the beneficiary of these funds. My bank will contact you informing you that money has been willed to you. On verification, which will be the details I make available to my bank, my bank will instruct Chong Hing Bank to make payments to you. You do not have to have known him. I know this might be a bit heavy for you but please trust me on this. For all your troubles I propose that we split the money in half. In the banking circle this happens every time. The other option is that the money will revert back to the state.

Nobody is getting hurt; this is a lifetime opportunity for us. I hold the KEY to these funds, and as a Chinese National we see so much cash and funds being re-assigned daily. I would want us to keep communication for now strictly by the above contact details. Please, again, note I am a family man; I have a wife and children. I send you this mail not without a measure of fear as to the consequences, 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 act swiftly on this. Please get back to me immediately via the above contact details.

I await your response.

Chung Lee.

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From The Desk of Paks Wang
Telephone: 00 852-8 19 14421 Fax: 00 852-367 6730
E-Mail: [email protected]
14th November 2008

Dear Mr. Armstrong,
I am Paks Wang, a Business Relationship Manager for the Guangdong Development Bank in China. My colleague attending a seminar in the UK posted this letter on my behalf, I am contacting you with regards the estate of Andrew Armstrong and an investment placed in our bank 5 years ago.

It is important you keep the contents of this mail confidential and respect the integrity of the information you come by as a result of this mail. 1 contact you independently and no one is informed of this communication. In 2003, the subject matter; Andrew Armstrong. came to our bank to engage in business discussions with our private banking division. He informed us that he had a financial portfolio of 8.35 million United States dollars, which he wished to have us invest on his behalf.

Based on my advice, we invested 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 11 million United States Dollars. In mid 2006, he instructed that the principal sum (8.35M) be liquidated because he needed to make an urgent investment requiring cash payments in Hong Kong. We got in touch with a specialist bank in Hong Kong the Chong fling Bank who agreed to receive this money for a fee and make cash available to Mr Armstrong. However Chong fling Bank got in touch with us last year that this money has not been claimed. On further enquiries we found out that Mr. Armstrong was involved in an accident in Mainland China, which means he died intestate. He has no next of kin and the reason I am writing you is because you are namesakes.

What I propose is that since I have exclusive access to his file, you will be made the beneficiary of these funds. My bank will contact you informing you that money has been willed to you. On verification, which will be the details I make available to my bank, my bank will instruct Chong Hing Bank to make payments to you. You do not have to have known him. I know this might be a bit heavy for you but please trust me on this. For all your troubles I propose that we split the money in half. In the banking circle this happens every time. The other option is that the money will revert back to the state.

Nobody is getting hurt; this is a lifetime opportunity for us. I hold the KEY to these funds, and as a Chinese National we see so much cash and funds being re-assigned daily. I would want us to keep communication for now strictly by the above contact details. Please, again, note I am a family man; I have a wife and children. I send you this mail not without a measure of fear as to the consequences, but 1 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 act swiftly on this. Please get back to me immediately via the above contact details.

I await your response.

Paks Wang.

Hi Tempest Teacup and welcome to Scamwarners.

You obviously dont need us to confirm that it is a scam

Thanks for posting it here, it may well make the difference between somebody being scammed or keeping their money

Well done

what do you believe to be the con in this?
have you followed up on the letters by;
- phoned them?
- contacted them(through the given phone numbers)?
- email?

It's definitely a scam email. Banks don't send emails to random people asking for help with transactions like this and asking you to keep it confidential. They also never correspond with people from free webmails like ymail.

This is a classic example of a NOK (Next of Kin) advance fee fraud email.

What I propose is that since I have exclusive access to his file, you will be made the beneficiary of these funds.

Number one: Illegal
Number two: Why involve a third party who is a stranger when attempting to steal this unclaimed money?

It is without doubt, 100% scam email. The "con" is that there will be "fees" to be paid for this transaction to take place. The "fees" never end and there is no unclaimed fund, no bank, just a thief stealing the so called "fees" and writing lies in emails.

Though I am no expert on the laws of intestacy in the Peoples Republic of China, it is clear that the sender of the mail isn't either, and he has no intention of obeying the law even if he did know what it was.

China is so closely regulated it is unlikely funds can be transferred out of the country even if a non-resident is entitled to them by inheritance.

I am writing you is because you are namesakes.

Having the same surname is hardly proof of anything.

You do not have to have known him.

That's true, but to have a legally valid claim you have to have been related to him, and if you have relatives they may also be entitled to some of the money. He should be asking about your relatives and obtaining a genealogical tree from you.

For all your troubles I propose that we split the money in half.

If you are the beneficiary of the will he is entitled to nothing. If this is a fraudulent claim you are entitled to nothing and that's what you'd get though, as this is all a 'fairy tale', it's just another reason why this is a hopeless proposition.

The other option is that the money will revert back to the state.

Defrauding the state is a serious crime and being extradited to China would not be a pleasant prospect.

Nobody is getting hurt

That's like telling the IRS that defrauding them of tax is not a crime. It wouldn't help you avoid prison.

This is 100% rubbish and drivel. One document he must possess is a Chinese death certificate for this fictitious person otherwise it would be theft. Scammers are quite good at producing fake documents but I doubt they have one of these made up as they are relying on this fanciful story to be enough to lure you into the story. The request for money will follow, which is all this person is interested in, undoubtedly for fees or other charges which he won't be able to pay for one reason or another.

It's a scam so old it's known by its abbreviation 'NOK' - Next Of Kin scam.

I reveived first contact by post. It was obviously a transfer fee scam but I was curious so I've strung them along and I've been surprised at how elaborate the scenario has turned out. So far I've received several documents from them in support of their story including Executor letter, Deposit Advice and even an Affidavit sworn in front of the Highr Peoples Court Registry.

They haven't actually asked for any money yet, will post further when they do

Barney

If you can mark those documents "fake" and post them (yes, they are definitely fakes), it will help others to recognize fakes in the future.

Hi Barney and Welcome.

I am gladto hear you spotted it as a scam but I am concerned about your safety.

If this scammer has any information that can identify you I encourage you to stop replying.

Scammers are well known to make death threats and while it is extremely unlikely they will it isn't a nice feeling when they know enough about you to make good with their threats.

Please do post those documents, it will help to prevent others from being scammed, if you are not sure on how to post pictures this thread will explain how to do it viewtopic.php?f=28&t=3219