Fake Beneficiary Scam

Now when I received the first e-mail I thought it might be coming from someone with a genuine business proposal, possibly something to do with website development, promotion or website design. It quickly became apparent that the "sensitive business proposal" wording was just to draw you in to the scam about to be played out.

A story has to be told and in this a large amount of money belonging to a deceased corrupt political figure is just "waiting" for you. All you need to do is to pretend to be his next of kin... it does not appear to matter that you are of a different ethnic background as the deceased, for you to fit into this scheme you have to have one attribute to be gullible, believe what you are told forgoe all caution you might exercise in the "real world".

E-Mail received:

Date: 19/12/2024, 04:11

From: no-reply@rakhine.org

To: [Name redacted]

Reply to: kinsanghk1@gmail.com

Subject: **SPAM** Exploring a Sensitive Business Proposal

Hello,

I hope you’re well. I’m reaching out with a confidential business proposal that has potential for mutual growth. Due to the sensitive nature, I can’t share full details just yet.
If this aligns with your interests, I’d be glad to provide more information. Let me know if you’d like to explore this further, or delete this message if not.

Best regards,
K.S Cheung.

Now as I indicated above it did not immediately strike me as a scam. I checked the website rakhine.org which appeared to be an incomplete educational website based in Bangladesh.

So I sent a request for more information to the requested reply to address (often an indication of a scam is the request to reply to a different address than you have been initially contacted on).

Date: 19/12/2024, 04:11

From: [Name redacted]

To: Mr. Kin-Sang Cheung kinsanghk1@gmail.com

Subject: Re: ***SPAM*** Exploring a Sensitive Business Proposal

Hi Mr Cheung,

Please provide more information, we will then be in a better position to know whether this aligns with our interests.

Regards
[Name redacted]

Mr Cheung's reply gives details of the process where I am going to be very rich, or am I? Notice I am asked to reply to yet another different e-mail address with my contact details (useful for any further scam attempt on you). I am requested to deal with the matter in a confidential and secretive manner... if you were to mention it to someone you know they might immediately see what you had failed to see ie that it was a scam.

Date: 19/12/2024, 10:03

From: Mr. Kin-Sang Cheung kinsanghk1@gmail.com

To: [Name redacted]

Reply to: k03067965@gmail.com

Subject: ***SPAM*** Re: ***SPAM*** Exploring a Sensitive Business Proposal

Dear Friend, Thank you for the response, My name is Mr. Kin-Sang Cheung, Chief Risk Officer and Non-Executive Director Dah Sing Bank in Hong Kong. I am requesting your help to transfer the sum of (US79.5M) out of my bank (Dah Sing Bank, Hong Kong Branch) to you for investment purposes. You will provide an investment proposal for a project we can pursue in your country, and we will share the profits, with 60% for me and 40% for you.

Let me first explain the source of the funds in question. In 2005, a government official at the time, Mr. Ali al-Lami, who served as the executive director of Iraq’s Anti-Baath Party committee in Baghdad, deposited US255M for the acquisition of a property under the state’s name in Mosul. However, the actual cost of the property, according to the records, was only US102M. He then requested to open a personal account with US79.5M, while the remaining US73.5M stayed in the state account. As a banker, I recognized this as a scheme to siphon state funds into his personal account. To my surprise, in December 2011, the state requested the property documents, which were in our vault. Upon reviewing them, the property’s cost was recorded as US151.5M instead of the US102M I was aware of. The state also inquired about the US73.5M balance in their account and subsequently closed the account, as Mr. Ali al-Lami had passed away in May 2011, having been gunned down by an unknown assailant. As his account officer, I knew about the US79.5M deposited in his personal account, a fact unknown to anyone in his country. These are the funds we will collaborate to withdraw from my bank.

The proposal is to present you as the beneficiary of the funds, as all connections to the money were lost following Mr. Ali al-Lami’s death. As his account officer, I noticed that his account’s bio-data form was not fully completed when it was opened, and he never provided information to designate a beneficiary in the event of his death. Therefore, the beneficiary for these funds remains unset. If you understand this, I would like to collect some information from you to update our records, making you the official beneficiary. The required details are as follows:

FULL NAME
RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS
YOUR COUNTRY OF RESIDENCE AND COUNTRY OF BIRTH
OCCUPATION
TELEPHONE NUMBER

This project requires significant capital on my part, as I will need to hire a solicitor to prepare the legal documents supporting our claims, given that your assumed benefactor, the late Mr. Ali al-Lami, is deceased. Every step must be legally sound, which is why I need to proceed cautiously, especially as I am still actively employed at the bank. I require your complete dedication and trust to successfully complete this process. I will await your response. I will be setting up a phone specifically for this transaction and I will provide you with the phone number and the best time you can reach me as I prefer not to use it during office hours. I look forward to receiving your details and confirmation of your willingness to collaborate so I can provide further instructions on achieving our primary objective.

Kin-Sang

Now sometimes I will play along with the scammer and provide fake personal details and see what happens next but here I could not be bothered and decided to just challenge them that it was a scam.

Date: 20/12/2024, 13:54

From: [Name redacted]

To: Mr. Kin-Sang Cheung kinsanghk1@gmail.com

Subject: ***SPAM*** Re: ***SPAM*** Exploring a Sensitive Business Proposal

Hi Kin-Sang Cheung,

I had rather hoped this might have been a serious business proposition rather than a 419 scam.

I think we can say that this does not align with my interests because in your scam there is no way I would see any part of the money promised (because there isn't any money) and only end up paying you money!

The exact proposition you make is detailed on a number of scam warning sites.

Regards
[Name redacted]

Now the response I received totally ignored what I had said and offered the opportunity of telephoning him (the country code +852 corresponding to Hong Kong).

Date: 22/12/2024, 12:25

From: Mr. Kin-Sang Cheung mrkinsangcheung@gmail.com

To: [Name redacted]

Subject: ***SPAM*** Re: ***SPAM*** Re: ***SPAM*** Exploring a Sensitive Business Proposal

You can call me on +85281927712

Kin-Sang.

Now I never phone anyone in matters like this.

Date: 22/12/2024, 13:44

From: [Name redacted]

To: Mr. Kin-Sang Cheung mrkinsangcheung@gmail.com

Subject: Re: ***SPAM*** Re: ***SPAM*** Re: ***SPAM*** Exploring a Sensitive Business Proposal

Hi Kin-Sang Cheung,

What is the point of me telephoning you when I have already ascertained that you are running a scam?

https://www.419scam.org/emails/2019-03/23/01180232.12.htm

Regards
[Name redacted]

And that is the last I heard from Kin-Sang, he obviously thought his time was better spent on other responses to his e-mails. Note is you search on Google you can often find the same scam, possibly only differring in the names chosen for the characters.

Michael Fowler

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Fake Beneficiary Scam

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