A 419 scam via snail mail

One of the researchers in SophosLabs waltzed up to my desk the other day and said:

“Would you like to see the latest 419 scam?”

“Sure!” I replied, and out of his back pocket he plucked an envelope and a neatly printed letter.

Yep, it’s a 419 scam via snail mail – sent via the postal service to land on your doormat rather than emailed into your inbox.

The gentleman who contacted my colleague calls himself Tim Wu, and claims to be a private investment manager based in Hong Kong.

It seems that a former client of his (who had the first name “Anderson” and came to a sticky end in a hiking accident in mainland China) didn’t leave a will, and because there is no next of kin some of his $21 million fortune could be coming to my colleague here at Sophos instead!

Speaking as someone who is still waiting for the three million euros that Bill Gates…

Read more in my article on the Naked Security website.

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Graham Cluley is a veteran of the cybersecurity industry, having worked for a number of security companies since the early 1990s when he wrote the first ever version of Dr Solomon's Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Now an independent analyst, he regularly makes media appearances and is an international public speaker on the topic of cybersecurity, hackers, and online privacy. Follow him on Twitter, Mastodon, Bluesky, or drop him an email.

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