In the past two weeks, a new variant of the advance fee scam has dropped into our spam traps: supposed UK-based artists needing help selling their works overseas.

The classic Nigerian scam involves someone claiming to be the relative of a deceased or deposed dictator, general, etc. is trying to smuggle money out of the country and needs to borrow your bank account to do it.

It’s usually a third-world country, often one with political strife, so that the average westerner won’t be too suspicious of the level of corruption implied. You never see this scam claiming to come from, say, France, or Japan, because the process would set off too many alarm bells. Someone needing to transfer that much money would either do it through normal banking channels or through organized crime—not by firing off an email to some random citizen in a foreign country.

The first-world variation, at least up until now, has been the “International Lottery” scam. In this variation you get a winning notice, but of course you need to pay them before they can send you the money, etc. This one generally claims to be based in Europe, often several countries in one message. The idea of a lottery seems much more plausible in the first world.

Someone has come up with a way to bring the 419 scam into the first world. The two samples I’ve seen so far both involve UK-based artists trying to sell their works in the US. The premise is that their customers want to pay by some method that is “difficult to cash” in the UK, so they want you, a US resident, to accept the travelers’ checks, or money orders, then wire them the amount minus a 10% commission.

Right.

I’m seriously waiting for someone to offer a commission on the Brooklyn Bridge.

The setting has changed—instead of a dictator’s widow who has hidden away ill-gotten gains in “darkest Africa,” it’s a happy Londoner living with his or her “two kids” and “the love of [their] life” and selling art on the international market. All shiny, happy and yuppie (with just a hint of bohemian). But the script is the same: Someone wants to clear huge amounts of money through your bank account.

I was going to post some quotes, but as I started looking at them, the similarities really go through the entire message.

The first missive was very long:

Greetings to you,

My name is Susan C.Baker. I am an artist, practicing with my husband Mr. Tony Baker, here in the United Kingdom. We own the SUSAN ART WORK INC., here in London, (United Kingdom). I live in London United Kingdom, with my two kids, four cats, one pet dog and the love of my life, my husband, Mr. Tony Baker. It is undeniably a full house that we keep. I have been doing my artwork since I was a small child, which makes it about 23 years of experience for me in the field. I majored in fine and creative art in high school and in the college I professionalised in the art courses in the advance levels. Most of my works are done in either pencil or art brush mixed with color pencils.

I have recently added designing and creative artwork on the computer, and I have been selling my art works for the past 3 years to my prestigious customers from all over the world. Also, I have had my work featured on trading cards, prints and magazines, I have sold in galleries and to private collectors from all over the world, but I am always facing serious difficulties when it comes to selling my art works to Americans. I have bigger customers from the Americans but most of my America customer’s mostly offer to pay me with TRAVELER’S CHECK or MONEY ORDER or CASHIER’S CHECK, which is difficult for me to redeem into its cash equivalence here in London, United Kingdom.

My main reason for sending you this email is that I am looking for a representative in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. I am looking for someone who will be working for me, and with me, as a par time worker and I will be willing to pay 10% for every transaction the person assists me in making. Following your antecedent from the Internet, I decided that you should assist me in handling this situation. I decided upon you because my confidence reposed on you as someone that is responsible and reliable. Presently, I am working on setting up a branch in the states so, for now, I need a representative in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA who will be handling the payment aspect for our company. The work you would be doing for me would not have to affect your present business or work. The work I would like you to do for me is simply to receive from me the TRAVELER’S CHECK or MONEY ORDER or CASHIER’S CHECK that my customers are paying me with. Because the cost of coming to the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA constantly to redeem this payments is becoming too expensive, time-consuming and inconvenient for me. When you receive the check payments from me or my secretary through the postal service, I would like you to cash the checks for me as soon as you receive them. So when you cash the check, I would like you to subtract your 10% and the transfer charges and send the balance to my cashier in the United Kingdom through Western Union Money Transfer.

These payments, once again, are in the forms of TRAVELER’S CHECKS or MONEY ORDERS or CASHER’S CHECK and they would come to you in your home with your name on them. If you are willing to assist as a representative, all you need to do for me is to cash the CHECK PAYMENTS, deduct your percentage and the WESTERN UNION Transfer Charges, then you should wire the balance back to my cashier.

However, the problem I have is trust. And as a result of that, I have made arrangements with the FBI in Washington and the secret service agents that if anybody representing me gets away with my money they have assured me that they will definitely get hold track the person down, and the person will go to JAIL for LOOTING my funds. You are to receive the TRAVELER’S CHECKS or MONEY ORDERS or CASHER’S CHECK PAYMENT very soon. IT WOULD BE SENT TO YOU THROUGH A TRUSTED POSTAL SERVICE AGENT. AND AS SOON AS YOU RECEIVE THEM I WOULD LIKE YOU TO IMMEDIATELY CONTACT ME, SO THAT I WOULD DIRECT YOU ON WHAT TO DO WITH IT AND HOW TO GET THE BALANCE TRANSFERRED TO MY CASHIER IN THE UNITED KINGDOM.
NOTE: All charges of the WESTERN UNION MONEY TRANSFER will be deducted from my total sum, so you are rest assured that you wouldn’t spend a CENT out of your own personal money. You just have to deduct your interest and send the balance to my cashier for accountingand bookkeeping.

If you are interested in assisting me in this venture pending when our branch would be ready in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA for us to work closely together, please kindly get back to me immediately via this my mailbox.

N: B, Please send to me the listed information below:
1. Your Name in Full
2. Your Full Contact Address(where i can send the cheque).
3. Your Occupation
4. Your Age
5. Your Marital Status
6. Your Direct Phone Number and Fax Number

I eagerly await your prompt response, so that I can send the CHECK PAYMENTS to you immediately. I appreciate your fervent dedication and your decision to assist me.

Thanks for your assistant and God bless,

Thanks for your assistance and God bless you for your anticipated dedication,
Director of SUS ART WORK INC,
Susan Baker.
London, United Kingdom.
Reply to …
<ADDRESS REMOVED>

The second one was considerably shorter, but tells much the same story. Pay close attention to the introductions. This one reads like someone took the previous letter, changed the names, and cut it down to half the length.

My name is David Arjen and I am an artist.I live in the United Kingdom,with my two kids,and the love of my life.I have been doing artwork since I was a small child. That gives me about 23 years of experience. I majored in art in high school and took a few college art courses. Most of my work is done in either pencil or airbrush mixed with color pencils. I have recently added designing and creating artwork on the computer.I have been selling my art for the last 3 years and have had my work featured on trading cards, prints and in magazines.I have sold in galleries and to private collectors from all around the world.I am always facing serious difficulties when it comes to selling my art works to people in the United States,some of my customers offers to pay with a UNITED STATES POSTAL MONEY ORDER,which is difficult for me to cash here in United kingdom.

I am looking an individual in the states who will be working for me and i am willing to pay 10% for every transaction,which would’nt affect ur present state of work,someone who will recieve payments on my behalf,from my customers in the states.These payments are in form of a money order and it will be made payable to your name, so all you need do is cash the money order deduct your percentage and wire the rest back to me via western union money transfer.

I want you to know that you will not be investing any money from you r pocket in this venture,you are to receive payments which will be sent by my customers to you via express mail.

If you are interested,endeavour to send your reply through my alternative e-mail address: <ADDRESS REMOVED>

Regards
David Arjen

I’m assuming the names are fictitious, given that the biographies are virtually identical.

145 thoughts on “New trend in 419 scams: UK Artists

  1. i was duped by this UK scam. I now have my account frozen and Bank of America says they will come after me for the balance

    is there anyone that can help me?

  2. why is your account frozen
    so you actually did get the money, and the our “fair, kind and honest”(yeah right) government wont let you have what is rightfully yours
    there is now law against being a third party in an overseas transaction

    the greedy government just wants their cut, like they dont suck enough out of us already

  3. Hello, i put an ad on craigslist.org, for a roommate, and I’ve gotten like 4 emails from “people who are interested” in the room, they all say they’re going to send me the money order, and I’m to cash it, and then Western Union them, back the balance to “their travel agent” and how can you cash a money order from the UK to US???? What’s up?

    Please write me regarding this at [ed: email address removed to save you from spam bots]

    Thanks, I haven’t done anything yet. But, according to the UPS Tracking number it’s on its way……….HMMMM?

    WRITE ME

  4. That sounds awfully suspicious to me. If they’re looking to join you, and they have the money to cover both the rent and the travel expenses, they should be able to make the travel arrangements themselves. There’s no reason you should have to send them back any money.

    And even though international money orders do exist (not sure about Western Union specifically), the portion of the money you’d send back would go through currency conversion twice. That doesn’t seem like something anyone would want to do.

    It’s entirely possible that one or more of the respondents are trying to pull the same type of scam: send you a fraudulent money order, get you to send them a real money order, then when the bank finds out that what you deposited isn’t valid, you’re out the money.

    My advice — and keep in mind, I’m not a cop, lawyer, banker or anything relevant, just an overly-suspicious sysadmin who sees a lot of crazy stuff when I clean out our spam traps — is don’t cash the money order unless you can verify it. If you do cash it, don’t send any money until it clears.

    I went looking for a page on verifying money orders, and found an article on MSN Money that includes a story about a scam very similar to what you’ve described:

    A Kentucky woman who advertised for a roommate received several fake money orders from a woman in England who said her company was relocating her to the U.S. and paying her expenses. The victim was told to take a month’s rent and the security deposit from the money orders and return the rest.

    The victim deposited the bogus money orders in her account at University of Kentucky Federal Credit Union. The credit union cashed them, but then made the victim reimburse the amount when it was determined the money orders were counterfeit. As you can imagine, the victim, who was out a considerable amount of money, was incensed that the credit union didn’t catch the fakes.

  5. received the Susan Wright scam – I have links & url’s turned on & at the bottom of this one was images of clay faces & a picture of this Susan Wright. The clay faces reported a link to another gallery – which I suspected since the Susan in the email did Graphic art not schulpture – poor thinking! Was somewhat amused.
    Recently I also got an email from a John Ayinla – art dealer – to print & mount 2 of my images & send to a gallery in Australia via FedX & let him know payment details so he or his client could send me a check. I put this on my yahoo stockphotographers groups list & have recd quite a response & also found a scam report on him. At the moment I have a photo friend in Aus. who is ckng out the address. Am not falling for this, just want to be able to report the facts when I get them. Best to everyone – keep a sharp eye on these people!

  6. I now have received 2 of these Susan Art Works emails from, yeah right, England. I understand how the scam works and am just surprised why it works. After doing lots of transactions on Ebay and using PayPal, why wouldn’t a legitimate company or person in need a funds from another country just have a paypal or similar account? When I received the first email, my first inclination was to respond with paypal information. Anyway, the scammers are not looking for help for legitimate reasons so those that get duped into accepting the funds and then forwarding funds to the criminals really boggles my mind. Why is anyone sending money to these people BEFORE any funds have cleared. I advertised a sofa for sale 2 yrs ago and got an offer to purchase but it was the same thing where I was suppose to cash check and forward money for the shipping to a pre determined company who was going to pick up and ship to customer. I got check and took to bank, they tried to verify it immediately and there was no such bank, and it was a cashiers check. End of story, I didn’t send anyone any money from this bogus check. The scammer did call me and I just called him a criminal for sending a worthless check, he hung up on me.

  7. yeah my account is frozen today cause these dumb bitches gave me a fake check. i called the bank on the check which is in the us and they said it was real and gave me a confermation number and at the bank it went through but somehow two days later it’s fraudulent. good thing i did not touch it. i did transfers for a company earlier this year that was actually real, they wire the mone themselves and let me know when it’s coming. i made a lot but it was only for a few months. there is this other place that is supposed to be sending me money that i want to know if anyone else has seen. it’s thomson-financial.net the website looks real, some lady contacted me from here and gave me an address, phone and this website. I don’t know though after this. i think i might just consider staying broke from paycheck to paycheck just like everyone else.

  8. I was hit by this same ad. Only the name was Tracey Sanderson. I cashed the money orders only to find out later they were counterfeit. I have been contacting all websites that this person has placed a job ad and warned the company that this is a scam. I also went to my local police but they are doubtful they will ever catch anyone. I am just trying to do what I can. I don’t want this to happen to anyone else.

  9. The thomson-financial website is a scam. I gave the lady my info for my bank account and then the website was mysteriously gone. Then her email address could not be found. So, I put a hold on the bank and now she keeps writing me that she wants her money and she is going to tell authorities. I told her, go ahead. Don’t fall for this scam like I did.

  10. Sorry, maybee i don’t understand the nuances of this scam, but it sounds really obvious to me that these people are not for real. my moto- trust no-one. Remember if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is.

  11. lol
    Dude guys ok i got this letter on the british loto. ok this is what it said. Con grats you won the international British Random Lotto…. blah blah blah you’ve been approved for lumpsum of $85,500 i was 1 of 17 selcted then in cluded was a check for $2,998.75 to me my address was on it and evreything it looked legit too. i called the person “agent” to activate the check or whatever oh yeah the leter also had a deadline by when i was to call to verify my info and activate the check right. well i called skeptic at fist not recalling when i entered this lotto thing and even now i dont remember? but she said go cash it you might have to wait while the check clears then withdraw it and give her a call. i deposited the check it cleared went through thats where im at now i have that check in my acc its available for withdrw it took 7 days to clear only 5 buisness days + sat and sunday didnt count. then she told me go to money gram transfer $2815 of that money to my agent who is incharged of the money or something she gave me her name address evreything this is what she gave me “send 2815 dollars to Peggy hunt 40667 second northeast st suit131 quebec canada H5M2V6 and with the rest of that money left pay the sending fees.”
    well my dumb ass went to walmart to send money but they wouldnt let me because 1 week ago they got a alert scam leter written by the president of money gram him self that there was a scam that people where sending money exactly 2815 to some place in Quebec for a lotto winnings and they where getting ripped off so they told me they have the right to deny the service and they did. then i came home looked for the address on google msn yahoo mapquest canadas directory canadas pos office where i did a search for the address over and over and over again only coming to a dead end evrey time.. The search you are looking for could not be found please cheack your address or your spelling and try again! then i did just a search for quebecs zip code the h5m2v6 and all of quebec no such code is found then i did zip code look up just to find that ALL of Quebec’s zips start out with a G not a H like she told me she called 2 today oct 20 but i misses the calls ive been doing research on this thing for like 5 hrs now they sam ething keeps showing up SCAM SCAM SCAM! PLEASE some one help mewhat d i do call her back? i still have that money in my acc sitting there. please some advise would help a number i can call or something.

  12. ok sorry just had to get the above out of my system..
    now this david arjen guy yeah i resieved the sam eemail from him looked a little too good to be true. so i dont know y i replied to him oh yeah keep in mind this was during the same time the british ramdon lotto thing went on. so i email him back i get a message this it

    David Art Gallery
    166 felthamn road,Unit 16
    Ashford/London/TW15 1YQ
    United Kingdom
    TEL:44 7783027225
    Registration number 3699677
    VAT registration number 832 6732

    I am most grateful for your mail, and I seize this opportunity to thank you for coming to my rescue and to also let you know that this transaction is a straight forward and legal transaction. I hope you were not too embarrassed by my first email to you since you do not know me.I had no option so I resorted to putting fate to test and making a random contact. I got your email address from the web email directory and decided to introduce my plight and this transaction. I am communicating with only you at this moment with regards to this transaction and I would not have any cause to do otherwise.
    I’ve had diffrent dealing with many Americans and i believe they are very honest.I look forward to a very trustworthy relationship.
    Presently i have a client who is offering to pay me some money in form of a US Postal Money order.I will like to know if you can assist in cashing the money order.
    If you are still intrested,kindly furnish me with the below listed information,so we can proceed:

    FULL NAME:
    CONTACT ADDRESS:
    CONTACT PHONE NUMBER:

    Best Regards
    David

    ok so i did then i got this:

    Thanks for the quick response.You shall be processing up to 7
    transaction on my behalf in a month.Presently i have a client who is
    offering to pay me $3400 in form of a Money order.Please i would
    like to know if you”ll be able to assist me in cashing the Money
    order.If you could,i want you to confirm the name(YOUR NAME)to whom
    the Money order will be made payable to and your physical address
    where the Money order will be mail to.I will like to know if i can
    count on you to send back the balance after deducting your percentage(10%) and any extra charges.
    May God almighty reward you.

    Best Regards
    David

    ok 5days theys went by then i got this:

    I really appreciate your effort in excecuting this task.You will be recieving the first payment on the 19th of October 2006,so please let me know if this okay with you.I will like to know if i can count on you to send back the balance after deducting your percentage and any extra charges.
    I can assure you that this transaction is 100% legal.Am a man of my words and am a good christain
    Please note:You are to deduct 10% of the total amount and the remaining balance will be send to me via western union money transfer.

    Regards
    David

    then i wrote him back saying i didnt get anything in the mail do you know when its coming in right because it sounded legit until i got this then some BIG F@^*ing RED FLAG went of in my head about both the brithish lotto and this email guys email here it is:

    im very sorry for getting back to you so late.I contacted my client and he said the payment was sent via regular mail and you should have recieved it and if not you will be recieving it very soon.
    I want you to cash the payment at your bank,deduct your percentage which is 10% of the total amount and wire the remaining balance via western union to my Sales representative in West Africa,he has been my sales rep for the past 5 years and i hope you and i will be together for longer than that,his details is as stated below:

    David Olaitan
    Lagos/Nigeria

    Western union will attract charges for sending,you can have it deducted from my balance and send the rest .It will be cheaper if you ‘ve the western union done in a store,below is a store that does it very close to your end,i was given when i visited western union outlet.

    NISHIS MARKET
    6505 E LIVINGSTON AVE
    REYNOLDSBURG, OH 43068
    Tel: (614) 759-7577

    Once the funds is sent these are the following information you will
    have to mail to me,in order to have my sales rep pickup the funds

    MTCN #[CONTROL NUMBER]
    SENDER’S FULL NAME & ADDRESS

    MY REGARDS
    DAVID ARJEN

    HHHHMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!! why would he want me to send the money to his agent? an agent in africa? what the F@!K is going on here so here is where im at now can anyone help me out what do i do? i was thinking about cashing the money order deposit it in my bank and tell him i have to wiat like 5 days to clear beacouse the the size of the money order and if my bank clears it i will send him where ever the hell he wants me to send him his money….. or may be just keep the money order drop contact with this idiot and the other dumb broad from the lotto keep that to because in a mont my lease is up and im moving anyways so is my phone plan so ill get new address and new phone # change my email and end up with like
    5 gran LOLOLOLOLOL muaahhhhh im evil… scam a scammer lol ohhh man i love my self…. but i dont no thats y im here let me know please

  13. So, lesson to be learned: Don’t cash money orders on other people’s behalf unless you are sure you knew them personally before they asked you to do the cashing. This goes octuple for anyone asking you this favor via random email.

  14. I have my Resume’ posted on Yahoo Digest. I was contacted by a Mrs. Kelly Brown of KellyBrown Ventures, UK on Oct. 8th, 2006. I needed the money so she asked if I would work for her, accept money orders for her for her art work she sells, and cash them, keep 10%, deduct the Western Union fees and send the balance to her accountant. I was to notify the accountant by e-mail when the first money orders arrived, and then follow her instructions. It sounded identical to the Susan Baker story. I received two money orders today in the total amount of $5,000. I contacted both Mrs. Kelly Brown and her accountant by their e-mail addresses, and have heard nothing back. Meanwhile, these money orders are from a man giving me an Ohio address. What should I do?

  15. If anyone one of you falls for this “cash this for me and keep 10%” crap, you deserve just what you get…you’ll end up paying your bank back for the ENTIRE amount…not just your percentage, and you could end up in jail for passing counterfeit money orders and/or checks. It takes 2-4 weeks before the bank can verify whether or not these checks are good. That’s why they say “wait a week” or “cash immediately”. But if you are getting the same kind of letter from various people and/or companies, you can BET they are scams.

    Use your brain, people. Who in their right mind is going to solicit a complete stranger via e-mail and trust them to handle thousands of dollars of their money? That’s right…no one. Would YOU e-mail a stranger in a foreign country and trust them to handle YOUR money? Of course not. So why would you think they would?

    THINK!!! These are ALL scams.

  16. I get that crap all the time, I actually won the 1 million an 10 million lottery in 4 countries. I have lots of dead relatives that want to give me their inheritance and to top it off have about a dozen business owners wanting to transfer lots of money into my account to split from their dead clients. Wow i’m richer than BillGates.

    LOL

    Laura
    Don Lapre Lover

  17. i just recieved a letter in the mail from alliance processing center from the virgin islands award winning notification final.we are pleased to inform you of the release of the results of our global draw heald in dublin ireland in witch you are one of the lucky winers. your name emerged as a winner in the month of november 2006 category. you have therfor won youself a lump sum of 50,000.00 credited to your reference number akg 286 56lw. all participants were selected through a coumputer ballot system drawn from readers digest, publishers clearing house online sweepstakes database and internet users, from australlia, new zeland,europ, north and south america, asia, as this is our international promotions program, which is conducted monthly. congratuations. to clame your prize money of 500,000.00 dollars after paying the tax and admininistrative fees.please call your agent melissa freeman at alliance processing center, an accredited agent of united kindom random lottoat this number i- 902-412-9299.an assistance check of 2,962.00 is hereby enclosed to healp you pay for your tax and administrative expenses and international clearance fees involed with your winnings . we are sendinding you this check from your winnings to assist you to pay for the international clearence feesinvolved,after whitch your money shall be relesed.please call for authorization and healp in claming your winnings upon receipt of the letter and check the number to call 1-902-412-9299. please keep this winning as confidential as possible to avoid false clames and double winners until you claim your prize money. the deadline to claim your winnings is dec 12 2006. please resoned fast so as to miss the deadline, unclamed prizes will be returned to charities and re-entrance for the next drw after this day.yours trly, sharon albright director

    now this is a new scam that is comming out i went to the my two banks and reportewd this to them and to the district attorneys office i hope none of you get hook on this one it took me sometime to find this site thanks for all the info” jim”’

  18. Ok, so I did the whole David Arjen scam and his money orders just cleared in to my account. Now I read this, WHAT do I do now?

  19. I just got the ALLIANCE PROCESSING CENTER notification & me my husband sat here for hours trying to figure out if it was legit. Well, thanks James for your insight, b/c tomorrow morning I was going to the bank!! I was wondering if you could still just cash the check instead of depositing it into the account??

  20. You usually cannot cash a check without holding it against your own assets. If the check turns out to be a fake, you will be out the money. A friend of mine also received the Alliance Processing letter which is how I ended up on this website.
    We called the number and told them that we contacted the attorney general’s office and they hung up the phone.
    If you deposit the check, they now have your banking information.
    If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

  21. we still have the check. i contacted the bank that was on the check to find out that the checks were stolen from a FedEx truck & that the account had been closed since Oct. I had even contacted the company that was on the check as well & they said they’ve had a hard time with these people. Teh security department @ the bank now has all of our info. my husband & I even duped the lady into thinking that the money was in our account & that it was on it’s way to them. The guy in security is gonna hook something up as to were a FAKE moneygram is gonna go to them to try and catch these people. it’s sites like this that keep people informed & i’m glad that i did the research b4 falling for some crap like that!!

  22. My husband received the Alliance Processing Center scam letter. We will be contacting the bank tomorrow. I’m glad that I looked it up on line though. This is a very good site for people to read.

  23. chopper chick, try to give them as much info as possible b/c they are really trying to get these people. my husband & i even went as far as trying to stay in contact with these people until our deadline…which is on the 29th. were ya’ll one of the “1” Dec winners?? That’s funny…

  24. yea, we got one of these checks in the mail today, we got excited lol and called and they said “go deposit the check and call back” but luckily something told me to check on-line first because i have gotten scammed before….thanks guys! why cant people get real jobs instead of spending time stealing from hard-workin people like us? I have a 15 month old daughter, i cant afford to give away money!!

  25. I have olso recived the letter and the check from Alliance Processing Center scam ,but I did deposit the check ,money is still on my account,last night I google them and I found this site.after reading it I went to bank and close my cheking account,and open a new one,I even contact my bank,and bank of amerika wich check they send me ,lady in customer service tald that she has no idea what to do.Any suggestions?

  26. Well, they have more than one check that they are using; they are using several small business checks. My suggestion is to just let it ride since you have alreadyclosed your account and you can’t give anymore info to the lady in customer service. Contact the company on the check to make sure that they know that they have checks floating around.

  27. I recieved a similar letter from one Henry Scott about SUS ART WORLD INC. I have a friend who honestly transfers money from point A to point B through a special bank account he set up just for that purpose. He pays taxes on his income and makes a decent living just doing that. So when I first got the offer it sounded pretty good but it differs from the job my friend has in that he only deals with certain people not total strangers. And he gets 20% of the total amount for his services. Every check he gets is a certified check from a bank and he has it verified before deposit into the account by the bank it was written on. That’s why at first glance, it sounded like a great deal even at 10%.
    I recieved the first check today written on a First Citzens Bank Cashier’s Check for the amount of $5500.00 with two signatures on it and hand written in black ink. In the morning I am taking it to my bank which just so happens to be the same bank of which the check was supposed to be drawn and alert them as to the fact that it may not be a real check and give them all the information so that they can alert the FBI for real and catch this guy while he still trusts me to send him the money. I will simply tell him that my bank requires two weeks to clear the check before letting go of the funds. That will allow him to squirm for two weeks in the hot seat as it were. Two weeks should give the FBI time enough to do their job! LOL

  28. The government can’t do anything about these scammers because they’re operating outside of the FBI’s jurisdiction…..Canadian authorities, UK authorities need to get on the ball….

  29. I also recieved the letter and check from Alliance Processing Center 5 days before christmas of course I deposited the check into my account and spent some of the money and now my account is overdrawn, what do I do?There has to be away for us to all get together and stop these scammers.

  30. So the Alliance Processing center checks do actually bounce? And how do they get your bank info if you deposited their check?

  31. I got the APC letter, but Bank of America told me that the check was being drawn on a valid acct. and that the address on the acct. was valid, so I could go ahead and deposit the check.

  32. I dont realy know what the deal is, my savings is 2000 negative and my checking is still saying i have 900 availible so I tryed to withdraw some money and it said invalid card, so i guess they froze my account. so now I think I owe this money back.I dont know what to do. Im gonna go monday to the bank and get a copy of the check and go to the police department and make a report ,start there I guess.

  33. I received a notification from Summer-Exchange.com to be a transfer manager, I accepted the offer and a few days letter I received a check, cashed it yesterday and transfered the funds to Rigal, Latvia… Now I read this web-site and I’m scared that I was scammed… Should I wait to see if the check bounces?

  34. phew, I was able to call Western Union and cancel the transfer, I should be getting the money back by tomorrow. Thank god, I’m also going to file a police report.

  35. summer-exchange.com seems like a total scam, be on the watch for e-mails from them from a “financial manager’ under the name of Ilona Matise.

  36. Ruben,
    I got the same thing from Summer Exchange Inc. My check is on its way next week. Any advice?? Should I contact people on the check?

  37. I received the same PHONY request from Ilona Matise. Her email address was ilona@summer-exchange-mail.biz.

    After initially responding that I was interested, and after reading these messages here, I sent her a very nasty email. I told her that I wanted off her mailing list immediately, and that I was not sending her any money, nor was I cashing any checks from her or her company.

    BEWARE!!!!

  38. Here’s a message sent to me by David Olaitan. This scam, he’s taking a unique route. He has since then called my business more than 30 times in the last 2 days demanding money. He is demanding that I send it to him right away! After talking to the FBI, I figured out a way to stop the calls. These people are obviously using calling cards to make their calls overseas. What I’ve done is to pick up the phone and just let that person’s minutes run out, since it doesn’t cost me when he calls. I never say a word, after 4 repetitive calls, David stops calling. It is a gratifying feeling to take the power away from these scammers. I can hear the frustration in his voice when he realizes he is talking to noone! Even though you may feel tempted, never say a word. That puts a huge smile on my face.

    —–Original Message—–
    From: david olaitan [mailto:dee_sticks@yahoo.com]
    Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2007 11:01 AM
    To: George
    Subject: RE:

    Dear George,
    I know you are in a Best Place to Help me. I will Be Gladif you can Render this Selfless Help to me. I will so Much Appreciate it. I need you to help me on How I can Come to The USA. I want to come for Sight- seeing and to meet People Like you. Here in Nigeria People Always Look at me as if am Waisting my Time Drumming that I can Never Acheive anything Good by Drumming. I taught my self How to Sight-read and I do Practice with some hand made drumset here. I don’t Have Good Drumset here but the One that I have I manage it. I wish I could Play on Zildjian Cymbals and China Cymbals One day. I do see their Picture on the Internet and I don’t really know what they sound like. There are Many things I Need to Learn. Please help me acheive my Dream. Not QuiteLong Internet Came to Where I reside In Nigeria. Thanks for your reply.

    Olaitan David Olatunji
    No 21 Unity Road
    Ilorin
    Kwara State 240001
    Nigeria.

  39. i am so glad that this website is up and running. i just had an email from Summer Exchange Inc today and i wanted to reply to the Financial Manager that I would take the job. However, i felt like i had to check out this “company” first. I was almost duped once .. i don’t want it to happen again. i guess i’m right. Summer Exchange Inc is a scam. The Financial Manager in my email, however, is not Ilona Matise. It’s Alma Deinis.

  40. I received a letter in the mail today from the Millenium Processing Center. This letter is exactly like James’ above. Word for freaking word. I really am kind of ticked right now. We were going to pay off our home. Thank you all so much for your info. I almost deposited the check without even considering the possibilites. This website definitely saved my butt. The funny thing is that I still want the $2,962 that is sitting right in front of me.

  41. […] I admit, I read it through twice and almost replied, the idea of getting up a half-hour earlier each day and getting some “fun money” is pretty seductive. Fortunately, my front-brain regained control of things and a quick Google search revealed it to be yet another variation on check fraud scams. This time preying on job-hunters for added despicability. I reported the email to Monster. Here’s the full text, hopefully this gets some pagerank and keeps the truth about these fraudsters easily accessible: Dear (Full Name)! […]

  42. Summer-Exchange seems to be pissing alot of people off, and its creator needs to get a life – not to mention a job. I thought it might help to keep everyone updated – it seems that Ilona Matise is currently using the name Ingrida Lumere. When I contacted the attorney generals office, they forwarded my call to an agent at the FBI, so perhaps next week, this pathetic soul can change their address to greedysob@summer-exchange.

    I’m a single mom who works very hard to provide for my children, and all of the above postings educated me – thanks. It is unfortunate that someone else will visit this site tomorrow

  43. WARNING

    I would like to warn you that if you get anything from David Arjen,don’t try to cash it. It is a scam. I had three money orders from him I took to my post office They told me they were no good. If you do try to cash them you will be in a lot of trouble. Don’t want anybody to get in trouble for this person who is trying to take your money.

  44. I just got an e-mail yesterday and I’m glad that this site came up when I googled it. They found my resume on monster and contacted me about making extra money a week being a transfer manager. This time the name they were using was Julija Voinovs and the email address was julija@summer-exchange-mail.biz. Here is the e-mail in it’s entirety:

    We have found your resume at https://www.monster.com/.
    And We would like to suggest a position at our company to you . The position is “Transfer Manager”.

    The task of the Transfer Manager is processing payments between our
    clients and our company via bank accounts or checks. The job is related to remote
    Internet operations.Every payment order will be accompanied with detailed instructions.
    It’s a commission based position. You will get about 8% of each processed payment.

    The general requirements are:

    The ability to create good administrative reporting;
    Any expirience in customer service sphere is approved. But it’s not necessary.
    Willingness to work from home, take responsibility set up and achieve goals;
    Honesty, responsibility and promptness in operations;
    Effective interaction with customers;
    You should be familiar with working on-line and have Internet and e-mail skills;

    Salary: $600-$1200 per week

    This job will allow to you:

    to work efficiently from home;
    to increase available personal time;
    to get financial independence for less time than it’s usually required;
    to develop high self-respect and esteem;

    The working hours are not flexible. It means that you can perform the work at anytime. Working hours you
    choose yourself. The main requirement is you should spend half an hour every day for the work.
    You just have to check your e-mail daily to see if there is any work for you.
    Current Vacancies: 4

    Ashley, If you are interested in this position, please reply to: julija@summer-exchange-mail.biz

    —–
    Julija Voinovs,
    Financial Manager,
    Summer-Exchange Inc.

    It has every apperance of being a legitamate job offer but anything that sounds too good to be true usually is too good to be true…and/or illegal.

  45. I just received the same e-mail, and they still have 4 vacancies….instead of it being from Julija, my e-mail came from a
    Ilona Matise. I did a search on “whois” and the domain name is available, it does not show that it is registered to anyone…..and then I read one of the posts on here that lists the domain under the .biz, so I did a search on all of them….they have .com, .biz, .net, and .info
    the name and address listed for the registrar are fake, but it looks like the name went up around November of 2006.

  46. I received an invitation from Ilona Matise at Summer-Exchange two days ago and replied inquiring more info. That generated a mailer daemon bounce back saying it could not be delivered. And I sent it by clicking on the link they included in the email! I am pleased at their own snafu; no telling what I could have gotten into. Yes, it was from seeing my resume on Monster.com. I googled the joint and found this site, thankfully. I’m beginning to think that ANY replies based on my Monster resume wil be fraudulent! (Oh yes: 4 vacancies, “still”!)

  47. my mother recieved an email about three weeks ago from a Nora asking that my mother receive checks from her customers here in the united states and send her company the money minus the same 10% every one on here has been talking about. We were excited when we received an email from NORA saying her company was going to send her a check fed-ex to put open her an account and to have sitting in the bank as a balance until they decide to stop the relationship. The email my mom recieved sounds like the one here the only difference is NORA’s company is willing to send some money initially for my mom to open an account just for these transactions to be processed through. Is it the same as what I have read so far????

  48. Beware of summer-exchange.com i contacted monster.com and chatted with a man who said this company has broke into there network.They have pulled legit resumes from monster and are contacting people with job offers.Dont believe that this is a real job,just another nigerian scam.

  49. Just like Ashley……….I too was pulled by Summer-Exchange from monsterjobs.com. Unfortunately, I’m in between jobs and could really use a part time home base income during my search of a full-time job. I don’t know what kind of situation I’ve gotten myself into, but I am glad I was provided this link before doing any serious damage to myself.

    The name they used for me and is currently being used is still Julija Voinovs and the email address was julija@summer-exchange-mail.com (which is slightly different from others, .com, .biz, etc…..).

    They still have 4 open positions!!!

    Now I have my doubts about any job postings and/or opportunities from MonsterJobs.com. I plan to contact the attorney general office and file a complaint with the FBI. I thought I had a temporary part-time job!

  50. Hey, thanks for posting on here because I just received a “job offer” from Alma Deinis for a “transfer manager” position at Summer-Exchange Inc. I’ll be sending her a nasty email. And yes, there are still 4 positions left haha.

  51. I’m definately glad that I found this website. PLease be very aware of “Ilona Matise” I responded to the email and thankfully I received a mailer-daemon!! Wow is all I can say. Here’s a copy of my email in its entirety…

    We have found your resume at https://www.monster.com/.
    And We would like to suggest a position at our company to you . The position is “Transfer Manager”.

    The task of the Transfer Manager is processing payments between our
    clients and our company via bank accounts or checks. The job is related to remote
    Internet operations.Every payment order will be accompanied with detailed instructions.
    It’s a commission based position. You will get about 8% of each processed payment.

    The general requirements are:

    The ability to create good administrative reporting;
    Any expirience in customer service sphere is approved. But it’s not necessary.
    Willingness to work from home, take responsibility set up and achieve goals;
    Honesty, responsibility and promptness in operations;
    Effective interaction with customers;
    You should be familiar with working on-line and have Internet and e-mail skills;

    Salary: $600-$1200 per week

    This job will allow to you:

    to work efficiently from home;
    to increase available personal time;
    to get financial independence for less time than it’s usually required;
    to develop high self-respect and esteem;

    The working hours are not flexible. It means that you can perform the work at anytime. Working hours you
    choose yourself. The main requirement is you should spend half an hour every day for the work.
    You just have to check your e-mail daily to see if there is any work for you.
    Current Vacancies: 4

    If you are interested in this position, please reply to: ilona@summer-exchange-mail.biz

    —–
    Ilona Matise,
    Financial Manager,
    Summer-Exchange Inc.

  52. i received 2 offers in the same week from two separate sources. one was an artist in the UK, and his letter sounded a lot like the one above, and the other found me on a housesitting service. she at first said she was interested in me housesitting while she was in russia, but then said she found a friend to do it, but wanted my help with her business. it all sounded too good to be true. i also in my mind have had a lot of ebay paypal transactions with sellers overseas, so the red flag went up that anyone could do something similar overseas. it’s sad that some people do fall for this stuff. luckily i mentioned it to my boyfriend and he was like, don’t do it, it’s a scam. i mean, that’s what my subconscious told, me, but also the 10% off the top sounded nice. i did have a friend get burned in the UK, as she tried to sublet her place in venice CA while she went to burningman. they sent her a check to hold the place, then 2 weeks before she left they said there was a death in the family and they needed their money back. she saw the money appear in her account and wired them back $3000. only to discover too late that the check had not really cleared, even though the funds became available to her. she has not had any luck in prosecuting overseas. so beware!!!! any wiring of money anywhere and any checks involved!!!!

  53. I have been scammed and want to know what can be done if anything. I know have no bank accout due to theves. I still have in my possession US postal money orders that are for $5,000.00 I have tried to contact the US postal service and report it and of course I have to leave a voice message. No one has ever contact me replying to my voice mails. Does our government not care that people are using them to scam people. I would think it would be easy to forward the money and have an FBI agent waiting to arrest these spammers.

  54. There are some things of which it is difficult to find a use. I have a video of two turtles fucking. it will waste about 3.5 megs for them to download and watch. They are an endangered desert tortoise here. So it wastes a little of their time. It might be edifying and good point blank advertising.

  55. We are glad to offer you for a job position at our
    company, Trade System Inc.
    We need someone to work for the company as a
    Representative/Book keeper
    in the USA.
    * The average monthly income is about 4000.00 USD.
    * No form of investments from you.
    * This job takes only 1-3 hours per day
    About the job:
    We are a manufacturing company here in the UK, we manufacture textile materials which are used in making cloths and other materials. Our major maket is in the US and the demand for out products are growing.The majority of our customers send us payments via casheirs checks or american postal money orders, and this is very inconvinient for us down here, as we have to wait for long working days before the payments are cleared down here, sometimes up to 3-4 weeks.
    Your tasks are;
    1. Receive payment from Customers
    2. Cash Payment at your Bank
    3. Deduct 10% which will be your percentage/pay on
    Payment processed
    4. Forward balance after deduction of percentage/pay
    to any of the
    offices you will be contacted to send payment to.
    (Payment is to be forwarded either by Money Gramme or
    Western Union Money Transfer).
    We have lots of customers waiting to make payments and we need people like you to work with us.
    Attached to this letter is an employment form for you to fill, fill it out and send back to me asap, after which you would be contacted by a staff of ours by phone.
    So I would be expecting to hear from you.
    Warmest Regards,
    Thomas Rikaad
    Administrative Manager,
    Trade Systems Inc.
    179 South Esk Road,
    London,UK
    E8 9HE
    TEL +44-793-232-6955
    N.B/ IF YOU DONT UNDERSTAND ANYTHING DO NOT HESITATE TO CONFIRM.

  56. Ah, I can see these people have been very busy. I have a new one to add to the group (which is not a good thing!)

    Add the name Joseph Young who reportedly represents the Kansai Crown Co. LTD, which is a huge Japanese conglomerate. Email address is Joseph Young [kansaicron@yahoo.co.uk]. Notice the email is close, but no cigar. He/They are indeed putting a new face on an old dog and pony show.

    They picked up my information off of one of the job boards too. I won’t boar you with the details of the letter except to tell you all that is pretty much along the lines of the Summer Exchange posts. I have taken this a step further in the fact that I have let them walk me through every step of the process. I was called by Joseph Young (if that’s his name) and the first phone call was clear as a bell. Oh, they have a distinctly African (Country of) accent to their English. Subsequent calls were muddy, and I commented on the 2nd to last conversation that is sounds like he was in a bar. He said he was on the street. (How appropriate)

    We bandied email back and forth, me defining the position, him doing his best to get me to forward identification, soc, etc. Finally after about a week I get an email saying I need to contact Mr. Elder Davidson to arrange for payment. I was led to believe that the payment were for textiles and would be $5000 to $7000 per occurrence. Imagine my surprise when a week later I get a check for over $55,000.00!

    My contact – the ever vigil Joseph, called to ask if I have received the funds yet? Yes I have, I tell him. He says fine… please deposit the check and let us know when it has cleared your bank. I let him know it could be two to three weeks as it is a Canadian bank, and even though the check is drafted by a company that does about $200 Million dollars a year in business – it seems odd that they would need an account representative in the US. Now I am even more curious because the entire point of “hiring me” was the amount of time it took for an out of country check to clear the British banks, the exact language in my email of which said, “sometimes it takes up to two weeks for a check to clear here.” So why is it acceptable to wait for two weeks for me and give me 10% as opposed to waiting two weeks with the money in your account and paying me nothing?

    That very night I get an urgent email from Mr. Joseph Young requesting that I send $2900 to them to cover expenses for the upgrades to their China office. It seems to poor guys were caught in between a rock and hard spot when the area manager (who is the only one that can authorize payments) is out of town on business. I email him back telling him I am a little confused – and could he please explain why a half a billion dollar a year multi-national conglomerate would need me to send $2900.00 for an office upgrade in China!

    Red flags, bells, sirens, whistle, size fifteen boot in the backside – call it what you want. I call the bank in Canada, after about three calls, they finally break down and tell me that the account, the company, and the check are all real, it’s just that the amount is incorrect and it has shown to have been previously cashed for $200.00.

    Like clock work, Mr. Young calls me. Did I get the email, can I send him the money Western Union. I say, no. I then proceed to relay the details about HIS client that sent me a $55,000 dollar forged check. He tells me, that’s impossible – he has been dealing with this person for 25 years. He also says he knows he works for the company in question. He then tells me he will meet with the management of his company first thing tomorrow morning to get this situation taken care of. I couldn’t resist mentioning that the management he referred to speaking with was supposed to be out of town on business!

    He is supposed to call me back tomorrow with a complete explanation. I actually set up the coffee maker to brew a whole pot for tomorrow. It going to be story time – and I just love stories!

    Oh, one more thing for those of you that really want to know more. I just love the service Net2Phone. The really neat thing about this service is you can track where a person is when you call someone using the service. So far my guy has been in London three times and Ghana twice. Must be nice to have money to fly all around the world. Wonder who’s money it is?

  57. I thought perhaps some of you would like an ending to my last post. It is hard to understand what motivates these people, (outside of a blatant disregard for the truth), but I read a lot of these sites to see what experiences others have had, and what methods were employed to try and deceive them. Since I do a fair amount of business on the internet, I am constantly being barraged by these types of email scams – and I am hoping that someone else can learn from my experiences too.

    The rest of the story went by rather quickly. I really did make a whole pot of coffee – just so I could really enjoy the show though. Needless to say, I did not hear from Mr. Young after our conversation that night, at least by phone. What I did get was an email speaking to the fact that he was going to get to the bottom of this, and he was also going to find out why Mr. Davidson, whom had been an associate, not a client (fraudulent slip?) of his for 25 years – would have tried to pass a $55000.00 fraudulent check off.

    He went on to say that he had been in a meeting all day with the management of his company and they would really like me to consider becoming the manager of their branch in the United States – and they have made just such a proposal to the Board of Directors. They had also turned over the information with respect to the check to their attorney’s.

    Then he wrote: “Regarding the issue i mention in my last email to you, that some of our staff are in Africa. I dont know if you can still assist us to send the money to them when our account is back all the funds will be refunded back to you as i told you before.”

    I wrote an email back saying that I would certainly expect a call from their attorney regarding the check as it is still in my possession, and I am sure the attorney will need the documentation and my notes. I also informed him that I wouldn’t be sending any money.

    As you can imagine, that didn’t elicit any response… no call – no email.

    The ending to this is, that the very next day I received an email from Donald Duke, owner of CREATIVEWORLDS ART AND CRAFT, FABRICS AND PRINTS. He has customers here and they only pay with Money Orders.

  58. i received some money orders in the mail and like a dummy i took them to the bank and i landed in jail for 2 days.
    now i owe the bank $5,000.00 or face some time in jail.
    i go to court on march 21

  59. i have had 4 men invovled in this same scam….. one guy named richard carter one guy named james rapel or something like that and one guy named diane adams in nigeria i was supposed to western union $2.100 hundred bucks to …!! the guy named james is the one who appaerently purchased 5-$500 dollar travelers checks ,,,,,and paul mcflores los angeles and claims hes from minnesota…… now i did cash 1 check and i am gonna go to my bank and have them trace these travelers checks by who had purchased them ….. they even came from a wells fargo bank it says right on them,,,, i know im stupid but i hoped i could scam these scammers i will keep u all posted …………if im not in jail that is lol……………but yeah they said i was goona be a PAYMENTS REPRESENTITIVE……And all the 10 % to keep but damn ………these f@!$%&* are good…..lol……….if anyone has any advice for me on TRAVELERS CHECKS PLEASE DO POST ME….thank u………………kim

  60. You can search on Google for money orders and fraud. They have some good sites out there for reference.

    The situation with CREATIVEWORLDS ART AND CRAFT, FABRICS AND PRINTS has finally played out.

    I all of a sudden received an email from Mr. Dukes claiming that one of his accounts had sent me a “Campus Check,” and it was being delivered by FedEx. He told me to cash it and immediately send 1/2 the funds via Western Union to some address in Ghana (which seems to be the new hot spot for 419 scams).

    I sent him an email back letting him know that FedEx does not deliver to post office boxes in the US. I heard nothing for about 3 days until I received another email claiming that FedEx had contacted him and that my shipment had been refused when they tried to deliver it. He asked me to contact FedEx to find out what had happened.

    I called FedEx. They told me that the shipment had been destroyed (a term they use when they find a fraudulent account or information.) Mr. Dukes (or who ever he/they were) had apparently opened many accounts under an old FedEx number and had shipped numerous packages to different addresses around the country. They opened the one to me and found a check that was (according to the representative) obviously fraudulent. She said it looked like it was made on a cheap DeskJet, and had no actual banking information and was even cut badly.

    I passed on this information to Mr. Duke and also let him know that FedEx had traced all the other packages he had shipped and let the shippee(s) know that this person had been caught passing fraudulent checks and they had been turned over to the FBI.

    I haven’t heard from him since. I wonder if it was something I said?

  61. I recieved a letter from tower processing center 6540 liberty square po box 25920 st thomas virgin islands 00876 – 4510 they claim I won 50,000.00 dollars. They sent me a check from Pinnacle National Bank for 2,962.00. I am supposed to cash this check and send them the money to pay the taxes on the 50,000.00 so that the money can be released to me. The check is from tennessee commercial warehouse I checked the internet this is a trucking company I notified Pinnacle National bank in tennessee and am waiting to hear back from them. The letter states that winners were selected through a computer ballot system draw from the readers digest publishers clearing house on line sweepstakes database. It then lists several countries that were included claimming they are all involved in the international promotions program. I am also instructed t contact susan at tower processing center an accredited agent of united kingdom random lotto. How dumb do people have to be to fall for this.

  62. I just received the same letter as Tony! I (stupidly) got excited for a split-second before the skeptical side of me came out. Yeah. Like I could be that lucky. It’s especially tricky because I’ve traveled to the countries they list, so I’m thinking…what did I sign up for when I was there–maybe my name did get entered into some database.
    But alas, Tony’s probably right 🙁
    Please, let us know what you find out about the bank/check, etc.

    Thanks.

  63. i got the same one i would like to know what you found out if you can do that for me thank you my email is antman5435 (at) hotmail.com [ed: changed your email’s formatting so it’s less likely to get picked up by a spammer]

  64. I have a friend that got the same letter. Another friend told her that it was surely a scam, but she has the check and it says tcw, inc. 22 Stanley Street NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE 37210 with phone number 519-991-0144 on the check and PINNACLE NATIONAL BANK. The whole thing was just like Tony’s from the same old Tower Processing Center even the check which is for $2,962.00. It was check #204348. When she called the 519-992-0144 number, it just rang and rang and nobody ever answered the telephone. No answering machine or anything. When we called the number on the Tower Processing Center form 1-902-412-9383, the lady said “hello”. She did not say anything about Tower Processing Center or tcw, inc. just “hello”, just how stupid do they think we are? Then the lady told us to go ahead and deposit the check then call us and we will tell you what you need to do next. LOL!! Let us know what you find out about the check.

  65. I received the same letter/check. The check is valid. I’m now almost $3,000 richer. However, I agree that the number and company seem bogus, as I too have tried the number, and today received a busy tone? Must be a lot of people calling in!

    But as repeated, the check CLEARED, so I’m not quite sure what kind of “scam” gives away thousands of dollars???

    Perhaps this needs real investigating…

  66. Received the Tower Processing Center letter. A couple of subtle differences….Name on the check is Fyne-Wire Specialties Inc with an address in Virginia. Found the company on the web but it has a totally different phone #. Bank was Second Bank and Trust in Virginia. Phone numbers are exactly the same. Amazingly enough the 519 number points to Windsor, Ontario and the 902 number points to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Something definitely fishy here. If you are $3000 richer then good for you. How long ago did you cash the check? Are you going to go for the $50K? It just seems that the story remains the same – only the names have been changed…..

  67. nah. I talked to my bank, and I’m going to have it stopped I guess. I mean, if it happens to go through, I’ll be richer, but I’ll also need to probably change my account info- and they’d have a sample of my signature, I suppose…

    If it doesn’t, which I’m betting it wont, then I’ll also have to pay some processing fee?? I’m going to talk to them more tomorrow – especially why I’d be charged for a bad check that I didn’t write -_- . I’m betting it will bounce, though, but I would love to deficit the scammers if I could 🙂

  68. A letter arrived via postal us mail Tower Processing Center St Thomas REF#NAB-YB45_40M Mar.8th 2007Saying I won 50,000.00 credited to the afformentioned account Acompanied by a check for 2,962.00 for assistance in paying for tax and administative expenses(International Clearance fees) After wich your money will be released.
    THE CHECK IS DRAWN ON RYERSON TOWERS Inc
    c/o ARCO WENTWORTH MANAGEMENT 3646 NOSTRAND Ave Brooklyn, NY 11229 Tel(519)-991-0144
    Please call claims agent TINA STILES at Tower Processing Center,an accredited agentof United Kingdom Random Lotto at this number 1-902-412-9650 I received this today 3/19/07 and I have to respond by 3/24/07 or miss the deadline and loose out Signed Kimberly White Prize Director Check drawn from North Fork Bank 1001 Avenue of the American, New York NY 10018-2706 I would place the routing number here also but I would not want to assist another scam to start.

  69. I recieved the Tower Processing letter also on 3/19 stating that we needed to claim our winnings by 3/24. My wife and I called the 902-412-9383# to talk to megan and SHe said Hello and nothing about TPC. She told us to deposit the check and call her back when the Check cleared and she would instruct us what to to next… Sounding TOOOOO good to be true I found myself here… What should I do next, police or post master since it came via reg u.s. mail.? I cant believe that people really just send money without researching this first. The check we recieved is a real check with the safeguard water seal on the back and when photocopied the copy gives you the VOID written across it… I dont know how they got these checks but they look very REAL.

  70. I recieved my Prize letter today 3-20-07. My first thought was the envelope was odd. I thought it was a chain letter. This particular letter was from tower, same figures as above. The obvious was how many countries and states my award had travelled; more than I have or will. The name is different from any others I,ve read here. I know one key of fraud is the short time limit to respond as one may discover all sorts of ODD things; look for them and you will see them no matter how much you want to believe your luck came at just the right time. I will copy and forward my letter and check to the Attny General. Thanks for listening and good luck, for real.

  71. Well, just out of curiosity I decided to check out the names in a letter and on a so called check before I threw it out. Like a few others on here, Mine was as follows:

    TOWER PROCESSING CENTER
    3540 LIBERTY SQUARE
    P.O. BOX 25920
    ST. THOMAS, VIRGIN ISLANDS 00876-4510

    REF#:NA8-YB45-40M
    March 8th, 2007

  72. I just recieved a letter and check from……that’s right, Tennessee Commercial Warehouse. The letter was from Tower Processing Center, where, yep, virgin Islands. lol Before I threw it out, I decided to check it out for curiosity’s sake. And this is where I landed. So, yes, people, the world is a nasty place for the honest, trusting, or gullible.

    Did you know I also won $50,000.00 and the check to cover taxes, excuse me, key word here was to HELP cover taxes etc. It was made out for exactly $2,962.00 as well. And yes, I only have until tomorrow to claim my prize. Now, I am living on disablility with my children and could really use the money if it was real, do not work, have been brought up with preachers in the family, therefore, trusting your fellow man was a belief I grew up with. BUT no matter what, I could see right off how bogus this was. First off, there are typos all over the letter. Second thing that struck me after the initial, yeah right, was there are way too many places mentioned in this transaction. If it was legit, wouldn’t there have been less than four locations alloted with this, such as, where the bank is located, the warehouse, then the lotto itself and then the processing center from another place. puleeze.

    I am glad, though that I read through all of your comments because instead of just trashing it, I know now to turn it over to the proper authorities. Thank you all for posting your experiences for the rest of us.

    By the way, the names of the people involved in my letter refer to Gary Miller 1-902-412-9544 and Kimberly White-Prize Director

    Have a wonderful day and hope my info also helps others from being scammed.

  73. I ALSO RECIEVED AWARD LETTER IN THE MAIL THE OTHER DAY AND A CHECK FOR $2,962.00. I BEEN TRYING TO CALL THE 1-902-412-9319 AND THE IT ANSWER IT SAID THIS BOX OR NUMBER IS FULL. I CAN’T BELEIVE THE SCAMS THAT ARE OUT THERE.
    NOW I CAN BELEIVE IT BECAUSE I FOUND THIS WEB SITE..
    THESE PEOPLE NEED TO GET COUGHT AND PROSECUTE THEM FOR STEALING FROM US CITIZEN,THANK GOD THEY DID’N’T GET NO MONEY OR ANY INFO ON ME.SO WATCH OUT FOR LETTERS COME FROM( TOWER PROCESSING CENTER) 6540 LIBERTY SQUARE, P.O. BOX 25920 ST THOMAS VIRGIN ISLAND. 00876-4510

  74. I WAS CURIOUS IF ANYBODY HAS GOTTEN ONE FROM A PLACE CALLED BKM SEC INC OUT OF SPAIN AND THE UK. SAME OFFER CASH THE CHECKS, SEND THEM MONEY, MAKE 10%. I KEEP ASKING THEM TAX QUESTIONS BECAUSE I USED TO WORK FOR THE I.R.S. AND THEY ARE AVOIDING ME.

  75. Wow! Since my last update – I have been contacted by no less than two additional companies. Here is the information on these. If you wonder why I keep posting, it is quite simple. Information is power. I see a number of people here that bring up a great point – that without finding this web-site and reading the comments, they may have been taken advantage of. The more scams we expose, the more innocent people we can help avoid losing their money or their time.
    TFK Security Inc. – They claim to sell security systems and software in the United States. The say they have stores in Spain and all over Europe and guarantee a salary of at least $5500.00 per month to process payments. We exchanged a couple of emails and they laid out their policies in a contract they wanted me to sign. I layed out my terms for doing business and as of March 19th, they have not responded.
    United Nations – Yep, THE UNITED NATIONS! They sent me an email saying that I had not one, but two boxes of consigned goods with my name and email address. And guess what? Each box contained $25 million dollars that they were ready to “personally deliver to me” if I would simply send a donation of any amount between $300-$1000 to a charity of my choice. I emailed them back saying that I had made a donation to the Muscular Dystrophy foundation for $500.00, (which I honestly had done) and asked them if they would like a copy of the receipt. I was told that there was a list of charities of my choice that they would accept. Of course, none of them were even remotely recognizable, and I was also told to send the funds Western Union with the name of my “representative” (Francis Tetteh) who would make sure and get the money to the “authorized” charity. I received an email back stating they were not going to beg me to accept the money. That if I did not make the donation to charity, they would turn the money over to “Unicef, Aids commission and the new Liberia government for charity purpose.” I hope they send me a tax deduction receipt.

    Oh, and by the way, the TFK Security Inc, gave me an address of:
    TFK Security , Inc.
    Plaza de las Cortes, 7
    28014 Madrid, Spain

    If you Google the address is comes up as the The Westin Palace Hotel in Madrid Spain. A five star hotel. Business must be good!

  76. Hi All! I’m sorry to hear that we all are victims of the web scams these people appear to be getting away with. I too was contacted by an Alma something with Summer-Exchange, sending me checks that ended up being counterfit. I got the checks before they were coming back bounced. Course Bank of America, my faithful bank of 16 years totally dumped on me when I told them of what was happening to me, their loyal customer. They have now sent all that money into collections and it has negatively reflected on my credit I have been trying to repair to purchase this house I am leasing.
    Well, here I am, 3 months after all that and I just now filed a police report. I need to see about clearing that crap off my credit. Who’s to say? Bank says ultimately, I’m responsible for the money, since I did cash the check. I try to tell them I don’t have the money cuz I wired it to Latvia, but they say they don’t have proof. The only smart thing I have to try to give myself credit for is keeping copies of everything; the emails, the checks, the money gram documents. That all is going into my police report.
    Good Luck to everyone.

  77. I guess I need to get in line… I’ve recently received an email from a john ayinla – ART DEALER from the UK here is the email I received:

    I am strictly an art dealer and I offer only client based approached i.e the one-on-one personal meetings, i am just trying to team up with a partner in Australia to see to push my business a liltle from there.
    I am not intrested in any thing above $1000 you can estimate the shipping cost for victoria in Australia. let me know if there is anything else you will like to know and please get back to me soonest with what the total cost will be so i can make arrangements for payment. I will give instruction to one of my clients there in the united states to make the release of fund to you, I will also be needing the address, and the name to which the payment can be issued to. Once i am in receipt of the nessesary infomation we can set up the transactions.
    I await your response soonest.

    Being a HUMAN BEING who chooses to believe that we are all on this earth to at the least be kind to each other, I find this disheartning that one could try to hurt another this way.

    Any way here is the last email I received from him:

    Hello , I am sorry to be contacting you in this manner, I contacted you recently about buying some prints from you, unfortunately my email box has been hacked and i have lost all my emails and all the vital information concerning the purchase including access to my box. i will still love to purchase this prints from you please get back to me with the necessary details so we can complete the transaction. i am sorry if i have contacted you wrongly as i can be sure of the precise details off-hand …
    WELL at this point I got suspicious and decided to perform a search on the internet to look up this John Ayinla to see what was going on… You can guess my surprise when I found this site at the top of my search! I am deeply sorry and my heart goes out to those of you that have been scammed, I wish only the best for you all.

  78. I have been scammed I’m sure from a Joe Wilson , we started out to be just chat frens on the internet, and than he wrote me a few love letters and poems, says he is in the uk on a job contract that he was a realstate manager, and that he builds compounds for other countries, we talked for awhile and than one day I got a phone call from a unity hospital in the Uk, saying he was robbed, and he needed money to pay the hospital bill, well me of course dont have that kind of money, so I didnt send any, now he is ok, so now he still needs money cause when he was robbed his creditials were all stolen and he has no id to cash a check to pay his bills. so why dont he call his family, no he contacts me says he will call his bank and have them send me a check to cash and I in return send him some money out of it. and than I can take money out of it to buy some groceries. but that he needs $150.00 to send it out, well like a dummy I sent him $150.00 which I couldnt really spare, but thought he cared, and now i’m out of that money, but I did get a check from him in the amount of $3575.00, that I dont dare cash cause i’m afraid it is fake, now what do I do. ??
    do I copy all the letters he sent me and take the check to the authories. please someone give me some advice.
    thank yu
    gail

  79. i got a check in the mail for 2,962.00 dollars i got all excited and then i called the number and it kept saying messages full and i wanted to go to the website but oddly they dont have one so i searched on google and found this website i read all the entries about the Tower Processing Center and i got mad and if u get one and look real close you can see the word VOID all over it so turn this over to proper authorities and don’t be gullible like me dang i still can’t believe it i got my blood pressure up and now it’s a goddamn scam shoot

  80. Hello,
    I AM writing to ask if you would mind sharing more about your experience regarding this bad check. I am asking because a close friend of mine has had a check come, and deposited it, it went thru, but 4 days later it was sent back as counterfeit. 2 different Bank of America clerks looked at it, besides us, and none of us saw the VOID written on it.

    I am especially curious as to how and why they sent you this check. Did you fill out any entries for a free trip or a cash prize? He did, and thought this check was part of the winnings from this.

    Have you contacted any authorities regarding this?

    I would really appreciate anything you can share, we have already spent some, and have had the bank take the money back, so we are very angry about this situation, and are not sure what to do.

    Thanks for your help.

    Sincerely, Kathy Gettel

  81. i received letter from a towers processing center saying i won 50,000.00!
    After I stopped screaming I looked it up online and was majorly pissed off. These people have to be stopped. This is a cruel thing to do to a person. I really thought my life was about to change. I am going to the police first thing Monday morning.

  82. to all of you out there I hope everyone look up info in the internet before they cash any check sent to them…..nothing is free is this life…I got nervous when I saw the check for almost 3,000 thousand dollars…but I counsulted with my husband and brother in law…and my brother suggested me to call CONSUMER AFFAIR..which I did…and of course its a fraude…

    Money is a big help for any one right now….because all of us who live check by check are in debt upto our neck just to survive in this world..and to be SCAM by low life scam succer is ASHAMED…

    not only you end up with no money you have to make this misserable low life rich and living confortably on your account..

    don’t cash it even dough it looks so tempting and help you out in that moment but then you are going to have to pay a bank with money that you dont have..or even who know jail…no,no..

    report these case to the police dont let it go by…….

    a friendly friend
    Mary Sanchez

  83. Today I received the letter from Tower Processing as many of you have. Just reading the letter you must recognize it as a scam. Nothing is free. I’m sending it to my local newspaper. If printed it may save the “feeling lucky” person a bad day.

  84. I too recieved a check yesterday for 2962.00.It is written on a Sun Trust account.I am going there today to turn it in.I will let you all know what happens.It was also from the tower processing center,from Cantech inc.A Sharon Howard signed it and Tina Stiles is the “accredited agent”.I can not believe these people get away with this.I have recently been looking up things about cancer and treatments for my Mom who had Cancer.Now I get probably 2-3 a day.I have been very busy and have not done anything.Now that she has passed I am going to do everything I can to help stop these people.They prey on people who need this money and think we are to stupid to find out before we cash them.

  85. Well, it looks like they’ve been busy since I too received the $2962.00 check and letter. Mine is from “First Century Bank” & is signed by Marietta Stockley and the remitter is Donna Marts. While I could really use the money, I am very suspicious about such things so thankfully I found websites like this one with people who are willing to share their story. I too will turn this into the police. These low life people with no morals need to be stopped. There are plenty of people out there who would cash this “check” because it looks quite real. Also, banks are constantly changing names so if it sounds somewhat like a local bank then it would be easy to assume that it’s real.

  86. Aloha:
    Mahalo for your posting, I too received the wonderful check for $2962.00 and could not get to the police station fast enough, that was of course after I did call the 306-880-5244 number listed and it was answered with a Hello, I asked for Sharon and was told to call her in 20 minutes.
    These guys are not even smart enough to sound profesional on the phone.
    Will also call Reader’s Digest and let them know that their name is being used in this scam.
    Mahalo Nui Loa
    Marie

  87. hi i received a latter Monday April 2 telling me that i have won 50,000 dollars i was so happy i started to make plans to do things . Atfer i put the check in my bank i started to think maybe they have a website i could look at to get more information but as it looks they no website . the three names i got was one of a man(Edward nelson) and two of a woman (Suzann Edwards) and Sandra Smith). i once again called back to get more information i told her that i had the money and if i could wire her the money she as (Suzann Edwards) say yes gives me an address which was fake with the name Sandra Smith
    address is (Sandra Smith 77 CresCent ave Dunn, NC 30084) ME AND MY HUSBAND LOOKED IT UP WHICH WE FOUND OUT THAT THE ADDRESS SHE GAVE US WAS NOT IN NORTH CAROLINA . IT WAS IN TUCKER,GA . WHAT ME AND MY HUSBAND AS NOTICE THAT EVERY ONE THAT AS POSTED SOMETHING ABOUT THIS HAS USE A WOMAN NAME SO WE THINK IT IS THE SAME PERSON DUMB BITCH…. MY HUSBAND AND I CALL BACK I ACT AS IF I WAS AT THE PLACE TO WIRE HER THE NAME AFTER ABOUT 10 MINS OF DRILLING HER SHE SLIP’S AND SAY HER IS SANDRA SMITH WHEN THE WHOLE TIME WHEN I WAS TALKING TO HER SHE KEPT SAYING SUZANN EDWARDS … WE DON’T KNOW WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN NOW WE HAVE PUT THE 2,962.00 DOLLAR CHECK IN OUR BACK SO I GUESS WE JUST WAIT TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS I HOPE AND PRAY TO GOD THAT THIS WOMAN GETS WHAT IS COMING FOR HER . DUMB BITCH………

  88. I LEFT OUT MORE INFORMATION THE # I GOT WAS 902-412-9405 I HAVE TO CALL LIKE A MILLION AND 1 TIMES JUST TO GET THROUGH. JUST AS THE PERSON ABOVE ME STATED THEY NOT SMART NOT AT ALL DUMB ASS PPL. SHE TALK SO RUDE AND LOUD WON’T LET YOU ASK QUESTION’S AND WHEN YOU SHE JUST KEEP SAYING JUST CALL ME WHEN YOU HAVE THE MONEY . ON THE LETTER I GOT THROUGH THE MAIL IT SAY I WAS SELECTED THROUGH A COMPUTER BALLOT SYSTEM DRAWN FROM A READER DIGEST PUBLISHER CLEARING HOUSE, ONLINE SWEEPSTAKES DATABASE AND INTERNET USER’S FROM ROUND THE WORLD ….. I FUCKING HATE PPL LIKE THIS….. AT THE BOTTOM IT SAY THAT I HAVE DEADLINE TO CLAIM MY PRIZE BY APRIL 10 IF NOT IT WILL BE GONE. FAKE ASS BITCHES I’M MAD AS HELL

  89. today as april 3rd i got a letter and a check for 2.962.00 dollars from tower processing center .i never respond to things like this because know nobody is giving away anything for nothing but i tried to call the number 1902-4129382 and tyhe respond was you cant leave any messages because the mail box is full.we all be very careful.dont respont to scams like that.we all have to work for our money .nobody is giving money way.i will send it to my local newspaper so they can warn the people.

  90. I received the letter as well on Monday. However, I was very gullable I went to the bank deposited the money and sent it off. I am very upset about this. I actually did the western union and sent the money. It was not until last night that I put everything together and thought that it might be a scam and sure enough it is. I looked up the number to see where it originated from, it was Halifax City, Nova Scotia CANADA. Even whenm I go to report it there is nothing that the police can do because it is outside of the country that this crime has originated. I hope that many people are not mislead by the damaging letter.

  91. I just received this Tower Proc. Center letter as well and check for $2962.00
    What’s to stop me from depositing it to see if it flies? How does anyone get my account information if I just try to deposit it????

  92. I just got one. I’m debating depositing the check to see what happens. The check looks real, all the marks are in the right places. If they sent me a check and I deposit it in good faith, and it turns out to be bogus, aren’t THEY liable for mail fraud, as well as bank fraud?

  93. But no one answered my question of how they can or anyone, can possibly trace my account just because I deposit the thing. The person/people writing the check don’t get that kind of info.

  94. I have also just received a letter:sayingthat i `ve been chosen from a lottery drawin` from uk, w` # so`n so for the sum of$ 50,000 and they sent me a check thru a atationary co from new york bear4ing theirt name on letterhead ,from bowne of new york (operating account ) looks legit chek even w, watermark,for $2900 .In the letter they stated that this is to cfor me to cover taxes;So i went to my bank `n yes they say the check is appropiated `n i can deposit it, but i wanted more info,so i went on line to find bowe co `n it turnsout the co is a corp who does buss with big companies but coud`nt talk to nobody on phone,nmaybe you guys can check it out! thank-you greg

  95. I WON A LOTTO!!! I too recieved the stupid “Tower Processing Center” check for $2962.00. I want to know how this scam works if they are sending fraudulant checks out and people are cashing them and keeping the money, how does the moron make money? I suppose from those few poor fools who send them them the money back for “tax and administrative” costs of dispensing the remaining $50000.00. Well, I have recieved “lump sum” payments before…and the company sending the lump sum does not need me to “cash” a check and return “money” to pay the taxes, etc…that is all just taken out of the lump sum when the whole amount is sent or distributed. In my letter, my “Prize Director” is Sharon Howard (amazing that she changes her name every couple days, isn’t it?)!:) And my “claim agent” is Bryan Anderson….of course the phone number is bogus…it answers just like yours…”this mailbox is full and there is no room for your message”…but you need to hurry up and contact them as your deadline date to claim the remainder of the funds is up in just a couple days…oh, and of course…”please keep this letter confidential to avoid false claims and double winners until you claim your prize money” …which will be NEVER…I really think this person/people is/are despicable…I am very poor and disabled and could use this money…I think they get our names from checking the internet for people who are looking for “part-time” employment at home…or from those who apply for credit cards “on-line”….or from accessing Websites that help you with “credit” problems…or from accessing websites that search for “grants”…or from resume’s posted on the web, etc. So basically, we’ve identified ourselves as “poor”, and possibly “unemployed” and hurting financially and scammers look for a “hook” and a “weakness” in their victims. They are however dumb enough to think that “poor” in the US means “STUPID”…WRONG….I think it’s the “rich” who are more “STUPID” sometimes…if you put a rich person in a poor persons shoes for one day …the rich person is usually “whining, crying and throwing fits” within an hour in many cases….the check I got with my letter looks legit and is drawn on the MID MISSOURI CREDIT UNION in St. Loius, MO….So they supposedly draw your name in a lotto in Dublin Ireland…send you a letter from St Thomas, Virgin Islands…have a check drawn on a Corporate Credit Union in St. Louis, MO…have you call a phone number in the Virgin Islands to speak with a claim agent from the United Kingdom Lotto which gets it’s “names” from Australia, New Zealand, Europe, North and South America and Asia…and they want you…the pathetic little “winner” to cash a check to “pay” the tax and administrative expenses from someone who can’t even speak professionally (drawing on you others who have gotten a hold of someone)…who gives you directions on how to send the money somewhere else to get the “balance” of your money….WHATEVER…It’s a scam to cash “STOLEN” or “FRAUDULANT” checks and the scammers get clean money from a few fools who do send them the clean money, while those few “fools” lose bank accounts, go to jail and have their reputations and credit destroyed. Now what is wrong with this picture. Why are American banks and Financial Insitutions holding the VICTIMS responsible? How stupid does that make America? Anyone can do this and make millions…and never get caught…by the time the FBI catches up to them…they are long gone…all the phone numbers are purchased by bogus people…and the PO Boxes where you send the money are rented by more “poor fools” or by e-mail or phone…and the checks are “stolen” by some “poor fools” or created by them, and then they forge the signatures or create a signature stamp and they can get that through the mail or from the internet too… and then they steal our information to victimize us… and the sad thing is, it’s the small (usually poor) American who pays for this crap…especially today, when inflation has quadrupled the prices of all goods every 2 years and no one’s income has gotten higher…actually, the small American has been asked to take “pay cuts” etc. to finance the big Airlines, Corporations, Taxes, etc…WHAT IS WRONG WITH US? We need to get active and close these LOOPHOLES in our financial systems…and stand up and say “NO”…I WILL NOT be victimized by the banks, the government or the vial criminals anymore…why don’t the “BANKS” have to take the loss? It’s their “CHECKS”???? Why does it take the FBI so long to catch the scammers? (Because not much man-power is alloted to the crimes against the “little guy”) Why are the police not even equipped to deal with any of these issues of the modern information age? (Because the financial loss is only against the poor and the little people)…So why don’t we “Little People” say NO MORE…and get together and make enough noise that the BIG SHOTS listen to us? Anyway…so much for “WINNING THE LOTTO”…Thanks for listening…I’m just so sick of being poor myself…and watching so much evil flourish everywhere…it’s EASTER…let’s think on that instead…Cathie…

  96. Those wondering how the lottery scams work should take a look at Snopes’ article on the subject.

    Short version:
    1. Scammer sends fraudulent check, requests money back for fees, taxes, or some other excuse.
    2. Victim deposits fraudulent check.
    3. Victim sends money to scammer.
    4. Check identified as fake.

    End result: No money is really transferred by the fraudulent check. But the victim is out however much he/she sent to the scammer, and the scammer is that much richer.

    As for trying to scam the scammer, by depositing the check and “keeping” the money:
    1. The scammer isn’t out anything because the check is bogus and they’re covering their tracks. You’re not taking money from the scammer, you’re taking it from the bank.
    2. You can’t gain anything in the long term, because the money isn’t real.

    Depositing checks that you know are bad, then running off with the money (cashing it, spending it, or transferring it to another account) is fraud. It’s called check kiting.

    If you honestly think the check is valid, and you don’t use the floated funds, then you’ve only wasted a bunch of time (yours, and the bank’s). But if you’ve read the other posts here, you already know that the check is probably bad.

  97. I too just got a letter from TOWER PROCESSING CENTER …..and a check for $2962. I was immediately suspicious….so I got online and lo and behold…I find this site and realize that I have gotten a fake check. My check also has VOID written in the “watermark”. I am SO glad I found this site so I avoided being a victim. I am taking this to my local police and newspaper so others can be informed of this!

  98. Just yesterday I received a letter and check from Tower Processing Center 6400 Queens Square, P.O. Box 25920 St. Thomas Virgin Islands 00754-3020. They say I won 50,000 in Dublins Global Draw. What do I do ?

  99. PLEASE REPORT THESE PEOPLE. This type of fraud goes vastly under-reported. And I spoke to the FBI and they said they can file multiple charges against these scammers – one for each report filed against them. So PLEASE file!

    For fraud committed via the internet: https://www.ic3.gov/

    To report suspected fraud: https://tips.fbi.gov/

    To report fraud that was delivered via US Post, also go to:
    https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/contactUs/filecomplaint.aspx [Editor’s note: updated link]

    To file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau: https://www.bbb.org/scamtracker/us/reportscam [Editor’s note: updated link]

    You might also want to contact the company that the check is drawn on (look up their REAL phone number on the internet, don’t use the phone number on the check). For instance, mine was drawn on Bownes of NY. So I contacted them and they’re working with the FBI on this. Because this type of thing hurts their business reputation.

  100. Just found this site and got hooked. Lots of positives. However, was concerned about the use of stereotypes and racism in the posting about some new movie that pits the SPARTANS against the PERSIANS (talk about timely racism).

    Anyway regarding the above SPAM, imagine the poor souls that aren’t hip enough to keep up with the millions of SPAMS. They’ll be suckered for sure.

    PS: Anyone deep into VR or 3d Video/Worlds? Email me. Power to the people.

  101. If you have something to say about another post, please say it in the comment thread on that post. That’s what it’s for. I don’t know what stereotypes or racism you saw, because I didn’t say anything about the Spartans or the Persians beyond the fact that they were fighting each other. In any case, respond there, not here. This thread is about advance fee fraud, not 300.

    Also, if you don’t have a website, please just leave that field blank instead of filling in a bogus link that doesn’t point anywhere.

  102. Have any of you heard of TFK Security INC. My friend just got a job accepting Cashers Checks from people who have supposedly bought security systems form them in the united states,(they are in Spain). Well any way she just got her first check of 2,400.00 dollars. They wont her to wire the money to an account in spain, but she need to put to a friend so they do not need to pay taxes. She is wating for the check to clear before she dose anything.

    What do you think?

    There is a website for TKF security inc. and they do sale web based security. But what you have shown about the contracts and everything from other companys it sound about the same.

  103. Amanda,

    See my note of March 25th regarding TFK Security Inc. As I had mentioned I sent them the signed contract with the stipulation that any fraudulent funds would be covered by TFK. I never received a response.

    I Googled the address they used for their offices in Spain:

    TFK Security , Inc.
    Plaza de las Cortes, 7
    28014 Madrid, Spain

    As I mentioned in that post, it turns out this is the address for The Westin Palace Hotel in Madrid Spain.

    My advice is do not send any funds to anyone until you are certain that check clears. Just a word to the wise; just because your bank makes the funds available for you to use through your account does not mean the check has cleared the issuing financial institution. It can take up to a month for a check to clear if the bank is out of the country and that includes Canada.

  104. I almost can’t believe what I am reading here. What is the matter with you, thinking someone is passing along big unexpected opportunities to strangers?

    Where is your bullshit detector? Haven’t you ever been lied to as a child and then learned to be careful of opportunities that materialize out of thin air?

    Do you still believe in Santa and the tooth fairy and that everything you most want will be real if you just want it badly enough?

    This is magical thinking folks, thinking for children.

    Don’t even OPEN suspicious emails. Never answer spam, ever. Don’t go to websites that promise riches for nothing. Don’t buy watches from that guy at the corner. When the politician promises all will be well if we vote for him… When the talking head says to just take his word for it since he’s thought about it, so you don’t have to… Santa is a fantasy.

    If it’s not already totally obvious – let someone reiterate to you the unpleasant fact that some folks are NOT nice at all, and will use you, and use you up, and won’t waste a nanosecond feeling bad for you. They’ll take your money and your house, and leave you in as much debt as you will give them. They will happily destroy your entire future and they will look upon you as a contemptible idiot who deserves all misery received.

    Good god, why do you even consider answering these vipers?

    C

  105. Hi-

    I just read your message about “John Ayinla” on the web. I too have received an email from him, and have been corresponding with him. He does not know that I am aware of his operation and want to do whatever I can to help stop these sort of
    scams from happening to photographers, artists, and people everywhere.

    I want to gather facts and put together some sort
    of official document to sent to this J. Ayinla along with scam offices and potentially create a dossier to bring to court. He has ‘sent me a
    check’ and is emailing me every day to ask if I have received it yet –
    and is in a ‘rush’ to get my artwork for this ‘exhibition’.

    If you can offer any details or info on this matter, please email me
    right away. drubi@hotmail.com . This guy is getting incredibly annoying and I hate to see
    other photographer’s be taken for a ride.

    Thanks,

    Danielle

  106. Well I’ve received an e-mail from a Franklin Mayers and a Robin & Roseline Hooks! Stating that they have customers in the U.S. and they want me to wire them the money and what not! One gives me 15% and the other 10%! With one the client keeps calling me via Relay Calls(computer call) asking if I’ve received the money, and how she’s worried it may have gotten lost! She sounds very concerned, what should i do?

  107. Received the scam letter from Sus Art World. The sad part about this is so many people will accept this “position” and get hung. I got sucked in last year and owe a lot of money. If people are smart in this day and age, they will realize that money can be sent anywhere using paypal, wire tranfer and such without a go between. I jumped on my scam as soon as I realized what it was and that is the only thing that kept me out of trouble. If you got/get caught make the time to do the investigations yourself and contact everyone and every agency you can. Turn their site, address and any info you have in. As stated time and again, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. If you want to work at home, investigate any company you want to work for or with. DON’T TRANFER ANY MONEY, THE OTHER END CAN DO IT THEMSELVES IF THEY ARE LEGIT.

  108. Wow, just did a Google search on myself to look for an article, and I found this! Terrible! My name is Franklin Mayers, but I life in the States, and I certainly don’t sell art, nor do I run e-scams! Be careful out there, and know that since I don’t know you, you won’t be getting crazy e-mails from me! – FM

  109. I would like to know if anyone has gotten an email from RAC MOTOR SERVICE stating that they would like for them to be their representative in the USA?

  110. If I didn’t get a “you’ve won” e-mail 3-4x a day, I might actually think I’d won something. But if I had really won all of these contests, I’d be richer than Bill Gates.

    Note: It is ILLEGAL for a contest to require you pay for shipping, mailing, handling, or for ANY reason to collect your winnings. If you hear “send us this amount to…”, turn and run the other way!

  111. I get so many e-mails asking me to cash m.o./check, etc. for companies overseas. (SCAMS, FOLKS, SCAMS! Especially when then specify in the mail “this is not a scam…like they are trying to convince me AND themselves!) I finally started writing back (I now have a form e-mail that I use) and asking why they just don’t ask their customers to wire the cash to them instead of going through the trouble of buying a money order, sending it to me, waiting for me to cash it and wire it to them. I said to give them the 10% discount (the amount I would supposedly receive) to wire it themselves. I don’t hear back from any of them after that.

  112. FIRST ALL I BEEN SCAN REALLY GOOD TO AND RIGHT NOW I HAVE A HOLD LIST OF THEM ON MY INTERNET AND I WANT KNOW HOW CAN I HELP TO GET THEAE PEOPLES BROUGHTER TO JUCTICES BECAUSE IM ABOUT TO GO TO JAIL FOR CHECKES THAT WAS NO GOOD AND SO MAD I DONT KNW TO DO AND I GOT MY FAMILIES INVOLVE IN THIS BECAUSE THEY TRUSTED ME. I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO BECAUSE I DONT HAVE KNOW MONEY AND I NEVER BEEN IN TROULBE BECAUSE LIKE THIS EXCEPT FOR TRACFFIC TICKET. DEAR REPRESENTATIVE, TOP OF THE DAY TO YOU,THIS IS UPDATE YOU ABOUT THE CONTRACT YOU HAVE GENERTED WITH THIS COMPANY AS OUR REORETATIVE IN USA. I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT THE COMPANY REALLY RELY ON YOU IN COLLECTING PAYMENT FORM OUR CLIENTSS WILLING TO MAKE PAYMENT.

  113. I am trying to get this information out to every site I can find. I hope it helps someone avoid what has happened to myself and my company.

    I am not sure where to start with this scam. First of all, let me be very clear about the company we are talking about. The company goes by a couple of different names – and there are other companies that are similar – but completely legitimate. This company calls itself Captec Software, Inc. Sometimes it will list itself at CaptecSoftware, Inc. Here is the website so there is no confusion. www .captecsoftware.net. They are located in St. Petersburg Russia.

    I was contacted by a representative of that company (Katya Smirnova) through a job board, Employment911.com. They asked me if I would like a position as a Financial Manager with their company. I have seen quite a few of the ian Scams and felt I knew what to look for. As the situation unfolded, they were supposedly looking for partners in the United States to expand their business model. According to their website, specifically the Partnership tab, they were resellers of Website Templates, hosting services, and web development tools. The American partners responsibility was to have a corporation (or to be able to open one), provide a method to accept credit card transactions (including arranging for the proper security procedures – ie a gateway to process the information and check for fraud, and a Merchant Service Provider to credit the funds to the corporate bank account) They provided all of the necessary partnership documents and would create your storefront (a website with the your logo, all the information regarding the program, the actual templates, privacy policy, terms of use, and return policies.) They also were to handle customer and technical support. The American partner was to handle accounting, finance, banking, and logistical arrangements here.

    The partnership paperwork calls for an escalating percentage of profits and Captec’s percentage (and for those wondering if it was sent my Western Union to some person in ia – that was one of the first things I had targeted on my list.) Proceeds for sales were sent via ACH to a company called Elacont Ventures Corp, which used Duetsche Bank Trust in New York City.

    The reason I am giving so much information is I researched this company every way I could. I did corporate research and I literally scoured the web. I still have not found anything outside a half dozen articles linking bank to their website. On that basis I accepted the position and the partnership agreement.

    For the first three months, we had daily contact, (via email) and supposedly we were working through some glitches (those would be the chargeback’s we were receiving.) They went into great detail to explain their CMS (Customer Management System) and how it tracked everything from the template number ordered – to the IP address it was ordered from. That was up until a little over a month ago, when all of sudden, I heard nothing. This was right after they had told me they had made some adjustments to their CMS system to better prevent unauthorized credit cards from going through the system. (Please keep in mind that we are using a major – third party gateway designed to catch any fraudulent credit cards from being used and\or accepted.) It didn’t make a bit of difference because Visa\MC do not consider a charge that passes through the AVS (Address Verification System) or the CCV number as proof of a valid charge, (even though this is what the gateway’s use to determine if the credit card holder is indeed real.)

    Long story made short, is this company is going to great lengths to appear legitimate and obviously isn’t. I want to get their name – Captec Software – and the name of their holding company – Elacont Ventures Corp – out there in the search engines so no one else will have to face this.

    If anyone has any other blogs that they know I can put this out on, or if they know of any agencies that would put this information to good use, please leave it here on the blog. I am going to do everything I can to make sure no one else ends up having to deal with these people. Oh, and one last thing… they still have not disconnected the numbers on their phone site, and I have three email addresses just in case anyone else has already run into this problem. They created an email address using my company as the site. It is WebSoft and websoftllc.com. I have absolutely no access to this email and it was created without my permission. They also had at least three associates that I was emailing and IM’ing with. The boss was supposed to be a gentleman named Polyakov Alyeksyey. The two associates I spoke with were Katya Smirnova (Katya@captecsoftware.net & smirnova_katherina@yahoo.com) and Sergey Ilchenko (ilchenko@captecsoftware.net)

  114. I am not sure who actually runs this website, but the above post has been completely altered.

    Does just anyone have access to just alter any other post they would like?

    More Info.

  115. Well, glad I found this site – I figured this offer was too good to be true, but I actually thought that it might be a tax dodge or perhaps Al Quaeda trying to launder donations for terrorist activities, LOL. Basically looks like someone is cruising Craigslist and sending this offer of a house rent-free to people looking for a place to live.

    Hi,
    I saw your posting on craigslist.My name is Gary .I am in my early age of 40s. I come
    to the states often mostly for business purposes because i deal mostly in jewelries. I
    supply watches,bracelets,wedding rings and jewelry to people and sometimes stores in the
    States and Europe .In fact that has been the family business since i was born. I bought a
    house this year in Iowa City, IA because of the location and the neighborhood.i love it
    there . It is peaceful and with a loving neighborhood.
    Unfortunately my father passed away exactly 3 months ago and as the only son in my
    family i have to go and take care of the family business back in UK and i realized that it
    will be very difficult to supply goods to my clients again in the United States while am
    away and it will definitely cost me a lot to come over to receive payments because they
    pay mostly in checks or money orders .So to run the business from there it will be
    difficult and will be impossible especially the aspect of payment and i don’t also want to
    lose my good clients there in the States.
    So what i intend doing is that i am looking for someone to stay at my house free of
    charge. I don’t want to sell the house because i just bought it and i just got all the
    rest papers this month and i also have ALL the keys now.
    I am simply looking for someone that is honest,trustworthy and clean for two reasons
    1. to maintain the house when i am away and
    2.To help me receive payments from my clients within the USA on my behalf in his/her name
    and have it cashed because they pay mostly in checks and money orders and have the funds
    wired to me here in UK through money gram transfer/western union transfer .You don’t have
    to pay me a dime for the accommodation.
    Its just for the purpose of keeping my business going on in the United States.and if
    you want to keep this assignment as a job let me know so i can allocate 10% on each
    payment that you receive if at all you don’t want to live in the house or if you are far
    from the location of the house..
    The house is a greatly furnished one with clean bathrooms,walk in closet,A gym ,and a very
    good internet connection.All rooms and living room furnished with electronics .
    If you want i can email you more pictures and if you are interested i will send the
    keys to you via courier so you can go and see the house. It is a very lovely house and
    there is no way you won’t like it.If you are interested in handling my business in the
    state and keeping the house neat,
    please send me your
    Full name,
    Contact address
    Phone number and
    Where the payment will be sent to…
    Regards.
    Gary

    I am back here in UK. If interested,All responses should be e-mailed to:
    Email: xgrobinx1@hotmail.com
    Thanks,
    Gary.

  116. I’m thinking of responding and leading him on to see if he actually has a place rented to show as part of the scam, though I don’t think it’ll get that far. Probably has a long list of excuses as to why he can’t get me the keys right away, courier delayed, etc, but in the meantime can you please forward some payments from his clients, lol.
    Just wondering, if I send the above requested info, is there anything he can do with it. It’s pretty generic and only worried about the phone number really. But I could be mistaken, since I don’t know much about this kind of activity.

  117. Hey you guys I received serveral emails…give me some info on what you think. Ill paste the emails below:


    Cheap Fabrics of Windsor UK
    Thames Court,1 Victoria Street
    Windsor,Berkshire SL4 1Yb London U.K
    www. cheapfabrics. co. uk [Edit: removed link]
    Email:franklincheapfabrice2007@gmail.com
    Tel: (44)704-0104-820
    Fax: (44)703-0403-941

    Goodday,
    Would you like to work from home and get paid weekly ,without
    affecting
    your present job? Cheap Fabric needs a book-keeper in the States to be
    part of its financial team.

    You are to work at home and get paid weekly without leaving or
    affecting
    your present job. Cheap Fabrics is primarily a textile and fabrics
    firm
    based in the United Kingdom and, we need someone to work for the
    company
    as a representative/book keeper in the States.

    We produces various clothing materials, batiks,assorted fabrics and
    traditional costumes, which, of course, we have various clients we
    make
    supplies to weekly in the States.

    Our clients make payments for our supplies every week in form of Money

    Orders/cheques,which are not readily cashable outside the United
    States.So we need someone in the States/Canada to work as our
    representative and assist us in processing the payments from our
    clients
    and he/she will get paid weekly.

    JOB DESCRIPTION
    1. Recieve payment from Clients either by check or Money Order
    2. Cash Payments at your Bank
    3. Deduct 10% which will be your commission on each payment processed.
    4. Forward balance (90%) after deduction of 10% commission to our
    company.

    Subject to your satisfaction,regarding your interest in being our
    “REPRESENTATIVE/AGENT “in the USA ,Canada region, please fill out this

    form below and send it back to:Cheap Fabrics of Windsor UK
    Thames Court,1 Victoria Street
    Windsor,Berkshire SL4 1Yb London U.K
    http://www.cheapfabrics.co.uk
    Email:franklincheapfabrice2007@gmail.com
    Tel: (44)704-0104-820
    Fax: (44)703-0403-941

    Goodday,
    Would you like to work from home and get paid weekly ,without
    affecting
    your present job? Cheap Fabric needs a book-keeper in the States to be
    part of its financial team.

    You are to work at home and get paid weekly without leaving or
    affecting
    your present job. Cheap Fabrics is primarily a textile and fabrics
    firm
    based in the United Kingdom and, we need someone to work for the
    company
    as a representative/book keeper in the States.

    We produces various clothing materials, batiks,assorted fabrics and
    traditional costumes, which, of course, we have various clients we
    make
    supplies to weekly in the States.

    Our clients make payments for our supplies every week in form of Money

    Orders/cheques,which are not readily cashable outside the United
    States.So we need someone in the States/Canada to work as our
    representative and assist us in processing the payments from our
    clients
    and he/she will get paid weekly.

    JOB DESCRIPTION
    1. Recieve payment from Clients either by check or Money Order
    2. Cash Payments at your Bank
    3. Deduct 10% which will be your commission on each payment processed.
    4. Forward balance (90%) after deduction of 10% commission to our
    company.

    Subject to your satisfaction,regarding your interest in being our
    “REPRESENTATIVE/AGENT “in the USA ,Canada region, please fill out this

    form below and send it back to:franklincheapfabrice2007@gmail.com
    *CHEAP FABRICS RECEIVING PAYMENT ACCOUNT FORM*
    Title : Ms/ Mr/ Mrs/ Dr: ..
    First Name: …………………………
    Surname:…………… ………………
    Age: …………………….
    Relevant Experience: …………..
    Residential Address:………………….
    CITY………..STATE……..ZIP CODE………
    Country:…………….. …………..
    Phone Number:………………
    Fax Number:…………………….. ….
    *Do you have an exclusive relationship with another United Kingdom
    based company? YES /NO.*

    Thank you in anticipation
    Best Regards,
    Mr Franklin.

    *CHEAP FABRICS RECEIVING PAYMENT ACCOUNT FORM*
    Title : Ms/ Mr/ Mrs/ Dr: ..
    First Name: …………………………
    Surname:…………… ………………
    Age: …………………….
    Relevant Experience: …………..
    Residential Address:………………….
    CITY………..STATE……..ZIP CODE………
    Country:…………….. …………..
    Phone Number:………………
    Fax Number:…………………….. ….
    *Do you have an exclusive relationship with another United Kingdom
    based company? YES /NO.*

    Thank you in anticipation
    Best Regards,
    Mr Franklin.

    ****email # 2

    ART LONDON LTD
    28 Old Brompton Road ,
    South Kensington ,
    London SW7 3SS,
    United Kingdom.
    Tel;447024054156

    Dear Sir/Madam

    I am Mr Jerry Miller,the Manager (International Operations) of ART
    LONDON LTD, South Kensington, UK.We are an international trading company
    dealing on the importation and exportation of Art work and paintings to
    America , Canada , Australia and some other European countries.

    We are presently having problems handling our logistics from America
    and Canada as well as trying to tackle how our payments are remitted to
    us back here in United Kingdom . hence, we need to recruit a
    Book-Keeper/Representative. I like to know if you will be interested in working
    online from home and get paid weekly without creating inconvenience to
    your present job. As a book-keeper/Representative for the company all you
    have to do are below:

    JOB DESCRIPTION
    *. Recieve Documents/Payments in form of Check, Money Order, Bank
    Draft,
    *. Deduct 10% which will be your percentage
    *. Forward balance after deduction of percentage to the company.

    BENEFITS ARE AS FOLLOWS:-
    * The average monthly income is about $3000 to $4000.
    * No form of investments from you.
    * This job takes Less than 1-2 hours per day.
    * You do not pay any form of taxes.

    Send me your full name, physical address, telephone, fax numbers and
    present Job

    Your provided information will be sent for the first internal screening
    and comparation of applicant’s information. Please if you are
    interested in this position don’t hesitate to get back to me.

    Regards
    The Manager
    Jerry Miller

    ****email no 3

    From the Desk of Rev. Julius K. Benson
    Director ATM CARD Department of
    United Bank for Africa (UBA)
    E-mails: uba_bank007@yahoo.co.uk

    Attn: Beneficiary,

    Sequel to the meeting with our newly elected president, Alhaji. Umaru
    Musa
    Yaradua, we were instructed to pay all our contractors and their next
    of kin.
    Your name appeared in our system here as one of the beneficiary

    We want to inform you that your payment verification and confirmations
    through
    ATM CARD is confirmed from our correspondent bank in UK (HSBC London
    UK).

    Therefore, we are happy to inform you that an arrangement has perfectly
    been
    concluded to effect your payment as soon as possible in our bid to be
    transparent.

    However, it is our pleasure to inform you that your ATM Card Number;
    5301 2364
    5120 6002 has been approved and upgraded in your favor.

    Meanwhile, your Secret Pin Number will be available as soon as you
    confirm to us
    the receipt of your ATM CARD.

    The ATM Card Value is $7.2 Million USD Only. You are advised that a
    maximum
    withdrawal value of US$10,000.00 is permitted daily.

    And we are duly inter-switched and you can make withdrawal in any
    location of the
    ATM Center of your choice/nearest to you any where in the world.

    We have also concluded delivery arrangement with our accredited courier
    service
    Company to oversee the delivery of the ATM Card to you without any
    further delay.

    So you are hereby advice to forward to this office your names in full
    and your
    receiving mailing address and also your private telephone number for
    easy
    communication to enable us proceed without any further delay.

    We will appreciate your urgent response to this matter.

    Thanks, your understanding.

    Yours Sincerely
    Rev. Julius K. Benson
    Director ATM CARD Department of
    United Bank for Africa (UBA)

  118. and the latest Version to hit the USA:
    We have found your resume at Monster.com and would like to suggest you a “Transfer manager”
    vacancy. We have studied your resume and are happy to inform you that your skills
    completely meet our requirements for this position.

    This is a part-time position. Your job will be to transfer money between our clients.

    Your job will consist in the following:

    Receive the check by

    Cash the check within a business day, excluding days

    8% of the amount are left for yourself as a commission. You take it immediately

    The rest of the sum is to be sent via western union to us to the address which will be

    mentioned in the e-mail. Transaction fees shall be paid out of the same sum.

    Your schedule will be flexible. You will need to spend on average 1-2 hours per day, Monday-Friday.

    This is a work-at-home position. All communication will be online.

    This job will allow you to:

    – Increase your income;

    – Efficiently work at home;

    – Get additional free time;

    General requirements:

    – Honesty, responsibility and promptness in operations;

    – Good communications skills

    – Prior customer service experience is a good benefit;

    – Internet and e-mail skills; Experience in online work;

    During the trial period you will be paid $1,500 per month. You will also be keeping 8 percent commission
    from every check received from our customer. With the current ammount of clients your average income will be about up to $2,000 USD per month. After the trial period your base salary will go up to

    $2,250 USD per month, plus 8 percent commission.After the trial period you may ask for additional hours or
    proceed full-time.

    If you are interested in this position, and would like to know more, please e-mail me

    We will contact you within 2 days

  119. Hey,

    Question for Russel from Sept 29th did it wind up being true cause I got an email from Gary that has a place in California, let me know asap,

    Thanks

  120. The email is from sinclair matthews limited who sells furniture to the Us and need someone to cash their check, you keep 10% and send 90% back in funds through western union,etc. Has anyone carried this out? I did, I just recieved their money order. I may just cash it and hold it for 30 days until it goes through or not. The money will not be sent until I know it is legitimate. the scammers can wait for their money. HA HA The money order came from a client of their in Calf. Why wouldn’t he just send him cash through western union?

  121. i get mail from iss suite 470 24-28 st leonards road windsor berkshire sl4 3bb uk.stating i have won a check for $47,500.00 all i need do is send$ 25.00 this seems like a scam the rules are so tiny and light reading you can’t read them it says from the multiplier of finical gains/has any one else heard or recieved these i have recieved many for up to $70,900.00. sincerly joyce ,chickamauga ga

    on the mail from iss suite 470 24-28 st leonard road windsor berkshire sl4 3bb uk say’s if undelivered please return to po box 5050 cz-220 00 prague 120

    the name on the letter from windsor berkshire sl4 3bb uk was mrs soan schmidt

    [Editor’s note: combined 3 comments]

  122. Hi, just found this site while looking for ISS links. Good site, good info.

    I have been “subscribing” to many of these scams for about 10 years now in an attempt to uncover and expose these operators and inform the various agencies what the scams are, where they operate from and also to try and get convictions. There are (or were) several of us doing it, it costs us but we thought it was worth it in order to save people from the misery and hassles of being scammed, hopefully we succeeded in preventing a few rip offs.

    The scams we have seen involved all the ones mentioned above as well as the usual psychic and lottery scams too, but unfortunately we seem to be losing the battle because the scams are becoming far more sophisticated and more and more in number. Many of the original group have dropped out and I will be leaving at the end of the year because it is a drain on my time and money, plus there are a growing number of sites like this one doing a good job. Despite the promise of “money back guarantees” etc I have never managed a single cent returned to me (this doesn’t worry me, I knew what I was doing) but please don’t ever spend any money sent to you until you have WRITTEN confirmation from your own bank that any cheques you deposit have been cleared, because as some of you have already found out, you become liable for the amount of money you draw. I don’t know if American banks will do it but you may be able to check whether or not the cheque is legitimate before you deposit it. As for the question of how these people can gain any knowledge of your financial details, well they probably can’t unless they have knowledge of your banks operations or maybe a person they have planted or bribed in your bank (don’t forget that all major banks operate world wide now and probably share a lot of information they shouldn’t), but if you send them a cheque, even for a small sum such as $35 as in the ISS case, they then have, courtesy of the cheque you have sent them, what a cheque from your bank looks like, your bank name and location details, your bank account number, a good idea of the cheque number range you are using, and most importantly for them, your signature, all of which can be used by them for fraudulent purposes, so please think carefully before sending them anything and check your own bank statements very carefully and notify your bank immediately if anything seems wrong or suspicious, and NEVER EVER give your credit card details for anything that seems remotely suspect.

    Anyway, there is a wealth of good advice given here already and you don’t need me to preach any more, but if you are suspicious of anything just google “scamwatch” and you will find plenty of official government and financial institution websites who list virtually all past and current scams as soon as they appear (thanks in part to people like us around the world who provide them with information) and please, if you are scammed, go to the local fraud squad or whatever they call themselves in your area because they do try to catch these criminals, but unfortunately the convictions are few and far between due to international restrictions (most if not all scammers do not operate in their own country) and the scale of co-operation needed between various enforcement agencies and the speed at which these scammers can relocate their operations.

    Good luck to you all.

  123. Vanessa and all, sorry didn’t get back sooner, been busy with my own moving plans.
    I didn’t follow through as I didn’t have the time or energy to waste on these assholes.
    BOTTOM LINE folks, if it sounds too good to be true you can bet it’s not!!! Don’t get suckered into these scams no matter how good they sound you’ll just end up very sorry in the end I’m sure. Good luck and happy holidays!

    One more thing, I’ve been thinking that there ought to be a way to screw with these mother F-ing thieves, get a little revenge as it were. What if there were a way to quickly/easily submit their email addys to some “service” that would begin spamming them with tons of junk emails? Just a thought….

    About 6 months ago I decided to go ahead and try to get one of the many “free” laptops you see advertised on many site – I set up another hotmail account to handle any spam and boy was I glad. Not only did I not get a free computer (duh ;?) but I got hundreds of spam emails every week. Wish there were a way to utilize this “service” but going about it as I did was an arduous process that required filling out several forms/questionaires, about an hour of time wasted but a lesson learned, lol.
    Tanstafl, no such thing as a free lunch ;?D

  124. You people who come here and read this stuff, and then still ask, “Is this a scam?” WELL, DUH. IF you have already cashed a check, and haven’t sent off the money, DON’T. Put it BACK IN THE BANK so that your whole world doesn’t get fucked when the counterfeit check comes back. DO IT NOW.

    Go look at this http://www.419eater.com

    Tons of good info there.

  125. Ok, yes Nova Scotia has the headquarters for the Nigerian scammers. There is a huge community of nigerian refugees. This is how the got to Nova Scotia.

    In early 1990’s Nova Scotia took the tax payers dollars and ran a program to bring in refugees from Nigeria. This program was supposidily operated couple a wife from Nigeria and the husband from Belgium.

    The government of Nova Scotia supposidily paid this couple a handsome amount in administrative fees, from what we understand over 150,000 per family plus. In addition to housing, medical, clothing, eduction, food, transportation plus. Now you answer this question – do you think that the Nigerians themselves slipped this couple a few dollars to buy sponship? Think what this cost the people of Nova Scotia.

    They all say they are doctors but can’t spell their names. Well mostly they say they are doctors, lawyers and have several degrees. Once they are in Nova Scotia they tie up our courts with Civil rights lawsuits, costing us more.

    I don’t know much I can write here but just recently they caught a banker by the name of SUNDAY EDOKPAYI who worked for one of the largest banks in Canada – CIBC – and us americans remember the Enron scandal – check the story out on the charges CIBC got for mishandling fraud.

    Now this Mr. SUNDAY EDOKPAYI stole the customers accounts information with that bank and their VISA accounts and probably all other information including thier password, emails and sold it to people in Toronto who are also known scammers.

    Now if this had happened in the US, the customers would have been informed and there would have been a long sentence for this fraudster. The Canadian system protects the banks so they will not inform customers not will the publish crucial details for the customers to defend themselves.

    From what Mr. EDOKPAYI supposidily told the neighbours he has a brother in MD and one in Switzerland. What it looks like, he is the same person with different names and different address and phone numbers. He said he had an uncle in Texas and a brother in MD and cousins. Do you believe a fraudster? Except this slipped to the community.

    In checking out Mr. Sunday Edockpayi’s credential, he graducated from bible college. When the bible college was checked out, it is registered in the US but they are all from Nigeria. No such college exists.

    Are you laughing yet – well think what you need to work for Canadian banks is graduation from fake colleges or fraudently copying Diplomas from acreddited colleges in the US.

    So let me copy and past their local papers with this story about his arrest – this arrest did not come easily, we had to beg our members of parliments to help us. Yet he will get a slap on his hand. Please dont ask about the hardships the unsuspecting victims are suffering while he can afford the best defense and life as a whole.

    HERE IS THE ARREST STORY and his picture was posted but it is pretty black and not clear.

    Former employee at CIBC charged with account tampering
    DARTMOUTH
    The Canadian Press

    A former employee at a CIBC branch in Dartmouth has been charged with tampering with customers’ accounts last year.

    Sunday Edokpayi, 48, of Dartmouth was arraigned Tuesday on 32 charges and he returns to court in September.

    Police allege that account information was passed on to people in the Toronto area, who then applied for and used CIBC Visa cards in the names of unsuspecting customers. Edokpayi faces 15 counts of trafficking in credit card data, 15 of fraudulently obtaining CIBC customer data, and single counts of conspiring with persons known to traffic in credit card data and defrauding the bank of more than $5,000.

    The offences are alleged to have occurred between Jan. 1 and April 24, 2007.

    Edokpayi is a native of Nigeria who now has Canadian citizenship.

  126. And finally, they mostly speak clear english, as if they were not brought up in Nigeria, yet they come in as refugees. Now this is what they most likely do – they hear about a polite humble accommodating people such as Nova Scotia and abuse their kindness for stupidity – so they leave England, and the US travel back to Nigeria and apply from their for refugee status – they never suffered one day of oppression

    OR Has any one thought about this scenerio they could

    get other fraudsters to do the paperwork for them and travel from Nigeria to US or Canada and exchange places and identities???

    Please add any likely stories you may think of or have heard.

  127. Here is a breakdown of the names and numbers being used in NOVA SCOTIA CANADA : link

    http://www.occ.treas.gov/ftp/alert/2007-24.html

    Correspondence accompanying the checks may contain the letterhead of “Ocean Ontario Lottery Gaming Corporation, 25 Capital Drive, Nepean, Ont. K2G OE9.” The letter alerts the recipient that he or she is the winner of an unclaimed prize sponsored by “North-American Sweepstakes Lottery.” Prior to negotiating the enclosed check, recipients are instructed to contact one of the following claim agents: Robert Bell at (902) 412-9354, Emily Lewis at (902) 412-9361, Michael Jones at (902) 412-9365, Carol Gates at (902) 412-9367, or Mark Spencer at (902) 412-8838 (all telephone numbers originate out of Nova Scotia). The letter further states that the enclosed check is to be used to pay for applicable taxes on the winnings. In addition, the writer explains that the tax amount is to be paid via Western Union or Moneygram. The correspondence is signed by Willis T. Marshall, Promotion Manager.

  128. Wow, the 419’s have been busier than ever. The newest Scam hit me this morning. It is promising you finance: Read for yourself:

    I am Mr kelly brown (CEO) Capital Investment Solution Company, We give out loans to business people/individuals, local and international loans to all over the world for just 3% interest rate.

    Brown Finance is a leading online provider of finance. If you need a consolidation loan, we have many flexible plans on our lending panel to help you release the equity in your home. We can even help with business finance!

    What does Brown Loan Finance offer?

    Loans from £1000 – £500,000 for any purpose over any term from 1 – 25 years.
    Wide range of loan products.
    Quick Service.
    Friendly and approachable staff.
    Immediate decision in principle.
    We want to help.

    What Do I Do Next?

    Read about the application procedure.
    Simply submit a fully completed and accurate application form for an immediate in principle decision.

    On approval, we will process your application to completion in the shortest possible time.

    If you are interested in getting a loan from our company, you can contact us right away by email: brownloanfinance1@googlemail.com

    Regards,
    Mr Kelly Brown
    TEL: +447031861485
    Chief Executive Officer.

    Luckily not all of our South African people are stupid! he he he!

  129. I have been flooded with these emails and almost went the distance a few years ago. The Barraster sent me documents/death cert. and all. However, I did not go through. Bells went off. I recently got one from China, Paris (a student)and one claiming to be the UN World Bank. The one today flagged me to google search the name and I got this. Glad I googled! Thanks!

  130. Dear Sir / Madam

    Please could you tell me what you know about “me2everyone.co.”

    Many thanks and kind regards – Richard

  131. How the hell do people still lose their money on these scams? With all the warnings that are given out you’d think that there couldn’t possibly be anyone left out there that would be stupid enough to fall for them. I get them all the time and I reply back with the most vulgar statements I can create. This may not be the most mature behavior, but it makes me feel better.

  132. Hi,
    I have lived in the US for over 20 years however I was born and raised in the UK.
    There are lots of things in the “Susan C.Baker” letter that tell me it was not written by someone from the UK.
    1 It uses US spellings eg “Traveler” (US) not “Traveller” (UK)
    2 High school, the term is rare in the UK and would not be used like that. IE someone might say they went to “Joe Blow High School” but they would be very unlikely to say they went to “high school” in the indefinite.
    3 Use of ‘Majored”. British universities do not use the system of majors and minors or credit hours.
    4 Use of the phrase “United Kingdom” is very rare, usually it’s called England or Scotland or Wales or NI as applicable or it’s called Britain.
    5 There are numerous grammatical errors.

    There are several statements that are BS or “bollocks” to use Britspeak
    1 Changing US $ to GB £ is incredibly easy in the UK, every (and I mean every single one) high street bank can do it. Transferring GB £ to US $, or vice versa in the US is not easy. It’s also easy to have a UK bank account in US $, I had one for years.
    2 One can’t make, ” arrangements with the FBI in Washington and the secret service agents ”
    3 ” Following your antecedent from the Internet, I decided that you should assist me in handling this situation. I decided upon you because my confidence reposed on you as someone that is responsible and reliable. ” Why then does the writer ask all the questions at the end?

    My guess would be that the author is neither British nor American and learned English from an American source rather than a British source.

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