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Fin24 received the following letter from a user who was the victim of a prizewinner scam:
I was scammed a few years ago. I responded to an email which stated that I had won £1.5m in a competition of some sort.
I had to pay £300 to a barrister in London, who was supposed to act on my behalf and to get the winnings released. I paid this money via a money order made out to the barrister.
After a while I was contacted to pay a further £1 200 to get the winnings released. This was to be used for the necessary legal fees and tax issues.
I contacted the South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) and told them about this, and to find out if there were any issues from the SA side which I needed to be aware of regarding this transaction. I was given the name and email address of a person to speak to at Sarb.
I sent an email but never got a response. I did not pay the £1 200 as requested by the barrister in London; however, I did lose the £300.
I sent a number of emails to various people at the South African Police Service and Sars. I also sent emails to radio stations and TV stations to warn people that this might be a scam. However, not a single person responded.
This was quite a few years ago. I do not have copies of any of the emails any more.
The scam still goes on and I wonder who are the people involved. There have to be people in various positions, in various institutions, in various countries, and here in SA and in London, that are involved.
Will it ever stop?
- Fin24
Have you ever been scammed? Share your experience and you could get published.
I was scammed a few years ago. I responded to an email which stated that I had won £1.5m in a competition of some sort.
I had to pay £300 to a barrister in London, who was supposed to act on my behalf and to get the winnings released. I paid this money via a money order made out to the barrister.
After a while I was contacted to pay a further £1 200 to get the winnings released. This was to be used for the necessary legal fees and tax issues.
I contacted the South African Reserve Bank (Sarb) and told them about this, and to find out if there were any issues from the SA side which I needed to be aware of regarding this transaction. I was given the name and email address of a person to speak to at Sarb.
I sent an email but never got a response. I did not pay the £1 200 as requested by the barrister in London; however, I did lose the £300.
I sent a number of emails to various people at the South African Police Service and Sars. I also sent emails to radio stations and TV stations to warn people that this might be a scam. However, not a single person responded.
This was quite a few years ago. I do not have copies of any of the emails any more.
The scam still goes on and I wonder who are the people involved. There have to be people in various positions, in various institutions, in various countries, and here in SA and in London, that are involved.
Will it ever stop?
- Fin24
Have you ever been scammed? Share your experience and you could get published.
