jasnrichrdsn
14 November 2005, 09:04
Wang Qin - The Facts, The Fiction, The Scam
1. The Facts.
Wang Qin may or may not be a real person. No one is sure. However, there is a very real-looking Hong Kong passport that has been circulating for years that is sent by scammers to potential victims in an attempt to convince the victims that Wang Qin does exist and that the tale he tells is true.
Many 419 scammers demand to see your passport in order to establish confidence and familiarity. A large sum of money is supposedly involved so he will send you a passport and, the scammer hopes, you will send him yours.
There are no real facts about Wang Qin. It is almost certainly made up by some clever baiter as a joke character whose name is meant to sound like “wanking†(although opinions on the proper pronunciation differ). What is known is that someone once made a fake Hong Kong passport and sent it to a scammer, most likely as part of a bait. What is less obvious at first glance is that the numbers 419 appear at least four times on the passport.
The result of sending an amusingly fake passport to a scammer is that it can be used and reused hundreds, maybe thousands, of times as proof that the scammer is indeed Mr. Wang Qin.
2. The Fiction.
As far as anyone knows, there is no real Wanq Qin so everything about him and his offers is fiction.
3. The Scam
One typical Wang Qin letter begins:
Compliment of the day,Let me start by introducing myself. I am Mr. Wang
Qin credit officer of the Hang Seng Bank Ltd in Hong kong. I have a
concealed business suggestion for you.
What this and most other Wang Qin letters have in common is the desire to transfer a large sum of money into your bank account. Mr. Qin will then offer to come to your country to collect the money back. For your troubles you will be paid some percentage of the total fund.
During the correspondence, you will be asked to provide Mr. Qin with your bank account information where you would like the money deposited, and your passport or some form of identification. Once it has been established that you are willing to give him this information, some problem will arise. There will be some legal snag requiring payment of a small fee, or it will be necessary for him to hire a lawyer on your behalf. He will then ask you to send him the money by Western Union.
Your first reaction may be “Why can't you take the money from the account?†He will tell you that the money is in an account that cannot be accessed. You need to pay him first and then the funds will be released.
If you do send money, there will be another problem which requires another payment through Western Union.
Then another.
And another, until you cannot afford to send any more money. When you run out of money, Wang Qin will disappear, never to be heard from again.
1. The Facts.
Wang Qin may or may not be a real person. No one is sure. However, there is a very real-looking Hong Kong passport that has been circulating for years that is sent by scammers to potential victims in an attempt to convince the victims that Wang Qin does exist and that the tale he tells is true.
Many 419 scammers demand to see your passport in order to establish confidence and familiarity. A large sum of money is supposedly involved so he will send you a passport and, the scammer hopes, you will send him yours.
There are no real facts about Wang Qin. It is almost certainly made up by some clever baiter as a joke character whose name is meant to sound like “wanking†(although opinions on the proper pronunciation differ). What is known is that someone once made a fake Hong Kong passport and sent it to a scammer, most likely as part of a bait. What is less obvious at first glance is that the numbers 419 appear at least four times on the passport.
The result of sending an amusingly fake passport to a scammer is that it can be used and reused hundreds, maybe thousands, of times as proof that the scammer is indeed Mr. Wang Qin.
2. The Fiction.
As far as anyone knows, there is no real Wanq Qin so everything about him and his offers is fiction.
3. The Scam
One typical Wang Qin letter begins:
Compliment of the day,Let me start by introducing myself. I am Mr. Wang
Qin credit officer of the Hang Seng Bank Ltd in Hong kong. I have a
concealed business suggestion for you.
What this and most other Wang Qin letters have in common is the desire to transfer a large sum of money into your bank account. Mr. Qin will then offer to come to your country to collect the money back. For your troubles you will be paid some percentage of the total fund.
During the correspondence, you will be asked to provide Mr. Qin with your bank account information where you would like the money deposited, and your passport or some form of identification. Once it has been established that you are willing to give him this information, some problem will arise. There will be some legal snag requiring payment of a small fee, or it will be necessary for him to hire a lawyer on your behalf. He will then ask you to send him the money by Western Union.
Your first reaction may be “Why can't you take the money from the account?†He will tell you that the money is in an account that cannot be accessed. You need to pay him first and then the funds will be released.
If you do send money, there will be another problem which requires another payment through Western Union.
Then another.
And another, until you cannot afford to send any more money. When you run out of money, Wang Qin will disappear, never to be heard from again.