I have been contacted by email and informed of a win on the dutch lottery?

Question

I dont recall entering the dutch lottery but I would still like to claim my prize. The company that emailed me has told me I have to pay a handling fee of £200 by credit card before they can wire the money to me, which I have just paid. My question - when the money arrives in my account (I am told it should be tomorrow) - will I be liable to pay any tax on it?

Answer 1

If you believe in Dutch, you're a klutch.  You receive an unsolicited email, which states that you have won a major prize in an international lottery. Supposedly, your email address was collected online and attached to a random number that was subsequently entered in a draw for the lottery. In order to claim your prize, you are instructed to contact the official "agent" in charge of your case. You are also advised to keep the win confidential for "security reasons". This part of the scam is basically a random phishing expedition. If you respond in any way to the email, the scammers will send further messages or even contact you by phone in an attempt to draw you deeper into the scam.

You may be asked to provide banking details, a large amount of personal information, and copies of your driver's license and passport. Ostensibly, these requests are to prove your identity and facilitate the transfer of your winnings. However, if you comply with these requests, the scammers will have enough information to steal your identity.

Sooner or later, the scammers will request some sort of advance fee supposedly to cover administration, legal or delivery costs. At its core, this scam is just a reworking of the Nigerian loan fraud, in which scammers also eventually ask for upfront fees to facilitate the "deal". Like Nigerian scams, victims who do actually pay the requested fees will probably find that they receive continuing payment demands to cover "unexpected expenses". The requests for money will go on until the victim realizes what is happening or has no further money to send.

In some cases, the scammers give victims the option of opening an account at a particular bank as an alternative to paying upfront fees. However, this "bank" which is completely bogus, will insist on an initial deposit of $3000 as a requirement for opening the account. The fake bank will have a legitimate looking website to reinforce the scam. In other cases, the victim is given the option of travelling to an overseas destination and paying a cash fee to facilitate the release of the funds. However, any "winnings" released to the victim will be counterfeit and therefore worthless.

The details of the lottery scams vary regularly with regard to the name of the lottery itself, the country of origin, the sponsoring organization, the amount of the "prize" and other particulars. The scammers try to add a patina of legitimacy to their claims by mentioning real financial institutions, government departments or well-known companies. They may also provide links to slick looking, but fraudulent websites that are designed to back up information included in the scam emails. If the scammers are successful in establishing a dialogue with a potential victim, they may provide "proof" such as a scanned image of a supposed government official's ID and even photographs of the "winnings" in cash.

Complete list of SCAM e-mail addresses.

http://www.419baiter.com/_scam_emails/sc...

Answer 2

This is a scam - contact your credit card provider immediately and tell them what you have done and ask for their help to stop or minimise your losses. There are lots of these scams around and a lot of people have lost money. They will take as much as they can get from your card and you will be liable for repaying the amount.

Answer 3

You can wave bye bye to the £200.  Contact your credit card people and tell them what has happened.

Answer 4

its rubbish, dont fall for it, its a scam

Answer 5

SCAM, SCAM-SCAM, KEEP AWAY FROM IT, they want your £200.00. forget it.

Answer 6

Lucky you. If you believe that you can knit fog ! -

Answer 7

If you havent entered anything then its a scam.

Answer 8

If your being serious then sorry but you've just lost £200 and your going to get nothing in return.

Answer 9

if its to good to be true, its to good to be true. it is a scam. delete the email.

Answer 10

I'm sorry to tell you that this is a scam. It's one of many examples of Advance Fee Fraud: named such because you will pay fees in advance to receive the prize. The prize, unfortunately, does not really exist.

What happens is that a scammer will find as many e-mail addresses on the Internet as he can and bombard them all with a "You've won!" type of e-mail. Anybody who responds will be hit up for fees. Send one fee and the scammer will soon come back with another reason for you to send even more money. Eventually, you either go broke or realize that you're being conned.

This lottery sounds too good to be true because it IS too good to be true.

It sounds like you've already sent money. Contact your local police department for information about how to file a report. You probably won't recover your funds, but if you're a victim, the local authorities should be able to put you in touch with whatever agency in your nation investigates this type of fraud.

You can also visit http://www.scamwarners.com for more information.

Answer 11

You silly Billy

You have been well & truly had.

Why does any body have to pay anyrhing toward claiming a prize?

This scam has been around for years.

Answer 12

Yes, the same thing happened to me.  I paid the £200 and my winnings of £10000 came through the following day.  Congratulations.  You are not liable for tax.

Answer 13

Come on - can't you see it's a scam! It's a way to part you with £200 and get your credit card details at the same time. Don't touch it with a barge pole!

Answer 14

Scam!They want your bank details!

Answer 15

I hope you're joking that you've just paid £200 to claim your prize!

This has scam written all over it.

You won't see any prize, and you won't see your £200 handling fee again.

You're either a joker, or very stupid.

Answer 16

I won a million euros on that! I emailed them and told them to stick it where the tulips grow. "Stick it where the tulips grow, ********" were my exact words.

Answer 17

I think you just received spam, I have received around 5000 mails in my lifetime, I won around 1 0000000000000000000000000 $

Answer 18

You just fell for a scam and have lost your £200 I'm afraid

Answer 19

Tell me you're not that stupid.  Please.

If you are, then you've just kissed goodbye to £200 and probably a lot more besides, especially if you've been daft enough to give them your bank account details.  How do you expect to win something you didn't enter?  If any part of your question is remotely true, I predict you'll be on the phone to both your bank and the police for the better part of the next week.  Rather you than me.

Answer 20

It's a scam.  They want your personal information so that they can relieve you of your money.  Ignore it.

Answer 21

This is a SCAM.  I suggest you click on the below link to report this scam and also take advice on what action you can take now that you have parted with cash/and or your personal details :

http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/if...

Answer 22

have you been smokin crack? don't u know that these international lotteries are a scam? learn the lottery. Play it in person. Don't play the dutch lottery unless you are in The Netherlands.

Answer 23

I am assuming you are taking the p*ss and that you haven't really paid them £200. If you are not joking then it is a scam and you haven't won a penny, you have however just lost £200!

Answer 24

Dont believe this ist is a scam! If you win you dont have to pay a fee!