Followup to the Irish Lottery scammer

I mentioned a scam email from a Nigerian scammer earlier, and decided to yank their chains a bit. In the process, I discovered that these Lads from Lagos were a bit more inventive than the rest of their crowd.

So I wrote to “Mr. Stephanie Hughston” (is that anything like a Boy Named Sue?) just to see how they played their game.

To: transfer-online@ntwstbonline.co.uk
From: [redacted]
Subject: Contact Mr. Stephanie Hughston Re: Irish Prize

To whom it may concern:

I have been requested by Mr. Thomas Parker, online coordinator for the Irish Lottery, to contact you regarding the claim of my prize of €700,000, which is most wonderful. Please forward further details. I have included my data for your convenience.
Sincerely yours,
Wolfington X. Analemma
Here’s what came back:
From: NATWEST BANK ONLINE <transfer-online@ntwstbonline.co.uk>
To: [redacted]

Subject: RE: Contact Mr. Stephanie Hughston Re: Irish Prize

Attention: Wolfington X. Analemma,

 Compliment of the day to you from RBS Bank, we are here to serve you better. I am Mr. Stephanie Hughston, the Operations Executive/ Officer at NatWest Bank of London. We are in receipt of your demand draft approval from IRISH NATIONAL IRELAND/UK for the transfer of your prize amount with effective, safe and secure service. This bank has been instructed by the Irish National Lottery Anniversary Department,  to transfer the sum of €700,000.00 EUROinto an account in your name, in which your funds (BANK DRAFT) will be deposited to enhance further transfer to your local bank account into your Country.

  Meanwhile Wolfington X. Analemma You may give us a call during working hours for brief explanation via communication sequel to this funds transfer from this great Institution. Where finding Banking at its best. You may call my direct line for easy communication.   <+447010089271> 

  We are mandated by the IRISH NATIONAL IRELAND/UK to transfer the sum of 700,000.00 EURO, which was indicated by Head office (Irish National Lottery Board Ireland/UK.) to receive from this bank. Note however that payment will be transferred into a temporary online OFFSHORE Domiciliary bank account with us, which we enable you transfer the funds online into your local bank account in your Country . You will be free to ascertain a limited confirmation on this account and amount as it appears. More so in view to your e-mail to us, Irish National Lottery Board has issued out your fund particulars, origin certificate forwarded to our association head department of the NatWest Bank Plc by the Company Board for fund release which has been received by the Bank. This means that you have being officially cleared for fund release by the Verification Department at the headquarters of the NATWEST Bank Plc.

  To begin the Final step of the funds transfer process, which is the Payout of your funds as the legitimate beneficiary worth 700,000.00 EURO, with regards to this; you will have to set up an online temporary account for your winning prize online transfer to your local bank account in your Country.

ACCOUNT TRANSFER FORM
First Name________________
Last Name _______________
Residential Address_______________
Country Of Residence______________
City_____________
State________________
Zip Code________________
Valid Telephone Number________________
Office Telephone Number_______________
Date Of Birth ______________

NOTE: A SCAN COPY OF ANY OF YOUR IDENTITY CARD IS ALSO REQUIRED (PASSPORT OR DRIVER LICENSE)

   You are required to fill and send the form above to this office as soon as possible. On the above instructions, we solicit your co-operation to enable us dispense our duties and obligations swiftly. Thanking you in anticipation for your cooperation. Accept our felicitation and your immediate response is expected. We await your response. We thank you for your trust in our Banking System.

Thank you for your patronage.
Have a nice Day.

NATWEST BANK UK
London Branch Address:

45 Fulham Broadway,

London, UK,

United Kingdom

Telephone:  
+44 701 008 9271
Branch Banking Timing

Monday-Friday: 09:00 – 17:00

Saturday: 09:00 – 12:30

Sunday / Bank Holiday: No Banking
If this guy’s from London, I’m from Madagascar. The English is typical Mugu-ese, which is no surprise – and of course, the phone prefix is (44 70) which goes to somewhere else in the world. I send the requested information, along with a bogus driver’s license.
To: Mr. Wolfington X. Analemma
From: Mr Nashit Khan
Ref: Online Account Opened,Proceed with transfer online!

 
Attn: Mr. Wolfington X. Analemma
Dear Client,
Sir/Madam,


Thank you for contacting the NatWest Banking Institute London , At NatWest we seek to delight all our customers.Your questions and comments are important to us. Your mail has been received.
 

 I would like to say congratulations once again as your new account has been successfully set-up and credited. This is a notification to inform you that your account has been created/setup online from our transfer department to enable you transfer your funds to your nominated account online.


Please Note that you have a temporary Offshore Domiciliary account, the reason is because you are not our full client banking with us and because your account opening was free.


All temporary users must transfer their funds within two weeks,for this account is a temporary account. if it exceeds two weeks,your account will be inactive and can’t access statement of your account.


To Avoid this, all transfer must be made on time.

Here are the details of your Offshore Domiciliary account. You are required to Log into your internet Online Banking.

Here are the procedures to log in:


1: 
Click Here

Then click on  ” Click here to enter “

2: When the Pop up Window Display please enter your Account Number and Pin.


ACCOUNT NO:  
0777121047
PIN : 949

If this procedures are followed orderly,you won’t find it difficult to Log in. After you have successfully log into your account, you are to click of transfer and wait while a new page opens for you to input your bank account receiver details and click on transfer to proceed for your online transfer.


On the above instructions, we solicit your co-operation to enable us dispense our duties and obligations swiftly. Thanking you in anticipation for your cooperation. Accept our felicitation and your immediate response is expected. We await your response


We thank you for your trust in our Banking System. Do have a wonderful day as we look forward to providing you with all the best of our service. We await your swift response in other for we to proceed with your transactions.


Have a nice Day.

Regards,

Mr. Stephanie Hughston

NATWEST BANK UK

London Branch Address:

45 Fulham Broadway,

London, UK,

United Kingdom

Telephone:  +44 701 008 9271

Branch Banking Timing

Monday-Friday: 09:00 – 17:00

Saturday: 09:00 – 12:30

Sunday / Bank Holiday: No Banking
Just as a point of interest, notice that it’s hard to tell if the email is from Stephanie Hughston or Mr. Nashit Khan. I followed the indicated link, and got the following screen:
NatWest1
Clicking on the appropriate link I am taken to an official-looking popup:
NatWest2
which, when I have entered the “data” they provided me, sends me to another website:
ScamBank
Wow, it really looks like they’ve deposited a bunch of money into this account. Most of the Nigerian scammers don’t go to the trouble of setting up phony websites like this. At any rate, I click on the “transfer money” link and I get this:
ScamBank2
with an official-looking progress bar, but then this happens:
ScamBank3
Well, they didn’t mention anything about a “COT Code,” so I dutifully contact my “account officer:”
Greetings,
I have done as you recommended, however when I attempt to make the transfer I am presented with a screen that asks for a COT code. Please advise how to proceed.
-Wolfington X. Analemma
And back comes the “money shot:”
From: Mr. Stephanie Hughston
To: Mr. Wolfington X. AnalemmaRef: COT Code requirement by NatWest Bank.

Attn: Mr. Wolfington X. Analemma
Dear Client,
Sir
Compliment of the day to you.

Thank you for contacting the NatWest Banking Institute London , At NatWest we seek to delight all our customers.Your questions and comments are important to us. Your mail has been received, and we are pleased to inform you that we have received approval for the transfer of (€700,000.00 EURO) to your local nominated bank account. Sequel to the information of your files in our system and the immediate need of transfer of funds to your account.

The remittance department of the NatWest Banking Institute London hereby write to inform you that, Your transfer of funds would only be fully transferred to your account immediately the cost of handling charges/Transfer is been paid by you as the beneficiary of the funds as deposited with our bank. We shall provide you with the code as soon as you pay for its cost.

Sir, COT code is known as (COST OF TRANSFER ), It is a code that is given by the Head Department of NatWest bank to complete your online transfer of funds into your local bank account in United State . The Cot code charged for your online funds transfer into your local bank account is (€645 EURO).

Mr. Wolfington X. Analemma, the COT code will be release to you sooner we confirm your payment for cot code charge. Sir, I would like to speak with you upon acknowledgement of this email for Instruction on how to make payment for your cot code charges or via email for the payment instruction.

Note that your total amount has been insured to its real value as the funds have been deposited with a cover premium insurance bonded draft and as such funds cannot be deducted. This is in accordance with Article 44 Sub Section 144 of the England banking commission regulations as amended in the 1999 constitution. This is to protect clients and to avoid Misappropriation of funds.

On the above instructions, we solicit your co-operation to enable us dispense our duties and obligations swiftly. Thanking you in anticipation for your cooperation. Accept our felicitation and your immediate response is expected. We await your response.We thank you for your trust in our Banking System.

We await your swift response in other for we to proceed with your transactions.
Have a nice Day.
Regards,
Mr. Stephanie Hughston

When I asked how this “COT Code” is to be paid, this was the response:
To: Mr. Wolfington X. Analemma
From: Mr. Stephanie HughstonRef: COT Code requirement & Payment Instruction.

Attn: Mr. Wolfington X. Analemma
Dear Client,
Sir/Madam,
Compliment of the day to you.

Thank you for contacting the NatWest Banking Institute London , At NatWest we seek to delight all our customers.Your questions and comments are important to us. Your mail has been received and the content was well understood.

The remittance department of the NatWest Bank,United Kingdom hereby write to inform you that, Your transfer of funds would only be fully transferred to your account immediately the cost of handling charges/Transfer is been paid by you as the beneficiary of the funds as deposited with our bank. We shall provide you with the code as soon as you pay for its cost.

The cost of handling charges for your transfer of funds is €645 EURO . This cost of handling charges must be paid without delay to enable the speedy transfer of your funds to your Account. Find below the amount to make for the transfer of funds to your account:

Sum Total: €645 EURO

Sequel to your email, the total payment of €645 EURO should be paid via the nearest Money Gram outlet close to you. You are to pay a total €645 EURO only. This cost of handling charges/transfer must be paid without delay to enable the speedy transfer of your funds to your Account upon applying the cot code online . Find below the amount charge for cot code to enable the speedy release of funds to your account :

This payment for the COT is to be made out to the account department agent of our Money Gram receiving Unit, here in London,. She is the bank’s Account Officer by the Money Gram transfer Service from overseas customers only.
Please you are advices to make the payment to;

ACCOUNT AGENT DETAILS:
Name of Receiver: MRS. KATE JEFFERSON
Address: LONDON WC2A 2AE,
UNITED KINGDOM.

You are require to get back to us with the information below after payment.

1. Name of Sender ………
2. Address of Sender ……..
3. Total Amount Sent ……….
4. Reference Number . (REF 8digit)………….

NOTE: A SCAN COPY OF YOUR MONEY GRAM PAYMENT SLIP SHOULD BE ATTACHED VIA EMAIL TO THIS OFFICE FOR REFERENCE PURPOSE.

The Money Gram service provides a flexible means of sending funds overseas and also we make such transaction in our bank, and has been specially designed to meet your business needs in terms of cost and speedy Payments are sent using an electronic bank-to-bank transfer. which is suitable for both urgent and less time critical payments and enables the secure transfer of funds from the United Kingdom to overseas beneficiaries. When we receive the above payment information we shall immediately dispense our duties by releasing the cot code to complete your transfer into your Nominated bank as applied online for your transfer.

On the above instructions, we solicit your co-operation to enable us dispense our duties and obligations swiftly. Thanking you in anticipation for your cooperation. Accept our felicitation and your immediate response is expected. We await your response.We thank you for your trust in our Banking System.

Note: Give me a call as soon as your payment is done and provide details as requested respectively. We await your swift response in other for we to proceed with your transactions.

So now we’re back to the regular protocol. “Send us money via Western Union.” If I have not repeated this advice enough throughout this blog, here it is again: NEVER DO THIS. It’s always a scam. I told the drone I’d send him the money later that day. A couple of days go by, and I get this from him:
To: Mr. Wolfington X. Analemma
From: Mr. Stephanie HughstonRef: COT Code requirement & Payment Instruction.

Attn: Mr. Wolfington X. Analemma
Dear Client,
Sir/Madam,
Compliment of the day to you.

Thank you for contacting the NatWest Banking Institute London , At NatWest we seek to delight all our customers.Your questions and comments are important to us. Your mail has been received and the content was well understood.

Sir, what is the status of your payment as earlier promised?.

NOTE: A SCAN COPY OF YOUR MONEY GRAM PAYMENT SLIP SHOULD BE ATTACHED VIA EMAIL TO THIS OFFICE FOR REFERENCE PURPOSE.

The Money Gram service provides a flexible means of sending funds overseas and also we make such transaction in our bank, and has been specially designed to meet your business needs in terms of cost and speedy Payments are sent using an electronic bank-to-bank transfer. which is suitable for both urgent and less time critical payments and enables the secure transfer of funds from the United Kingdom to overseas beneficiaries. When we receive the above payment information we shall immediately dispense our duties by releasing the cot code to complete your transfer into your Nominated bank as applied online for your transfer.

On the above instructions, we solicit your co-operation to enable us dispense our duties and obligations swiftly. Thanking you in anticipation for your cooperation. Accept our felicitation and your immediate response is expected. We await your response.We thank you for your trust in our Banking System.

Note: Give me a call as soon as your payment is done and provide details as requested respectively. We await your swift response in other for we to proceed with your transactions.

Have a nice Day.
Regards,
Mr. Stephanie Hughston

He’s wondering where his money is. Sometimes, as you have seen before, I’ll send him a bogus MTCN and scan of a Western Union receipt just to see how many times I can get him scurrying back to Western Union to pick up non-existent funds, but this time I feel like it’s time to pull the plug.
To: NATWEST BANK ONLINE <transfer-online@ntwstbonline.co.uk>
From: [redacted]
Subject: Status of Payment

Cc:

Oh, did you actually think I was going to send you some money? I’m sorry I won’t be there to see the disappointment on your face. I’ve had fun wasting your time and getting your hopes up.You are a liar, a scammer, and a criminal. May Olumba Olumba Obu send black powder, disease and death to you and every other 419 onioburu.

Dem no born you reach, mugu – u no fit comot face, just skip along.

nigerians

gameover
And their response?
cricket… cricket… cricket…
Once again, be careful out there. This one was well-crafted enough (despite the bad English, which amazingly some people won’t pick up on) to fool vulnerable or ill-informed individuals. Protect and educate your loved ones against this kind of douchebaggery.
The Old Wolf has spoken.

Scam: You can’t win a lottery you didn’t enter

TAKE NOTE:

Lottery-Fraud-Postcard

From: IRISH LOTTERY <parkerdskirish@hotmail.com>
To: <redacted>
Subject: RE: Irish Prize

IRISH GOVERNMENT ACCREDITED LICENSED IRISH WEB LOTTERY

IS REGISTERED UNDER THE DATA PROTECTION ACT OF
(Registration Z720633X).

The Irish Lottery
47 Meadow Vale,
Sligo, Ireland
Ref: UK/9420X2/68
Batch: 074/05/ZY369
Tel (+44) 701 002 8673

CONGRATULATIONS!
We happily announce to you the draw (#1004) of the IRISH LOTTERY online Sweepstakes International program held on the 30th of March 2014. It is now available for claims and you are getting the final NOTIFICATION as regards this.

Your e-mail address attached to ticket number: 5647560050000 with Serial number 5368/02 drew the lucky numbers:02, 05, 09, 16, 18, 41, (bonus no.03), which subsequently won you the lottery in the 1st category i.e match 5 plus bonus.You have therefore been approved to claim a total sum of 700,000.00 EURO (Seven hundred thousand Euros) in cash credited to file KTU/902311308/03. This is from a total cash prize of 3,600,000 (Three million, Four hundred thousand euros) shared among the (6) lucky winners in this category i.e Match 5 plus bonus. All participants for the online version were selected randomly from World Wide Web sites through computer draw system and extracted from over 100,000 unions, associations, and corporate bodies that are listed online.Please note that your lucky winning number falls within our European booklet representative office in Europe as indicated in your play coupon. In view of this, your 700,000.00 EURO (Seven hundred thousand Euros) will be released to you by any of our payment offices in Europe.

We are once again happy with you that you have won the IRISH LOTTERY PROMOTION. Our European agent will immediately commence the process to facilitate the release of your funds.
Before we can gives you instructions on further step of your claims, you are advice to fill the claims below and get back to me for further instructions.

FULL NAME:________
SEX:________
COMPANY: IF ANY _________
FULL CONTACT ADDRESS:_________
PHONE:_________
AGE:____
CELL:____
CITY:_____
STATE:________
ZIP CODE:______
COUNTRY: ______
OCCUPATION: _____

For enquirers, more information and to file your claim, all contact should be forwarded to us via this email.

Congratulations from me and members of staff of THE IRISH LOTTERY.

Yours faithfully,
Thomas Parker (Mr)
Phone: (+44) 701 002 8673
Online coordinator for THE IRISH LOTTERY
Sweepstakes International Program.(Ireland)

 EDIT: Just continuing on with these Lads from Lagos so you can see how the scam plays out. Red flags and gross errors are marked in red.

IRISH GOVERNMENT ACCREDITED LICENSED IRISH WEB LOTTERY
IS REGISTERED UNDER THE DATA PROTECTION ACT OF
(Registration Z720633X).

The Irish Lottery
47 Meadow Vale,
Sligo, Ireland
Ref: UK/9420X2/68
Batch: 074/05/ZY369
Tel (+44) 701 002 8673

Congratulations: Wolfington X. Analemma,
Congratulation once again your winning price has just been handed over to NATWEST BANK . We wish to inform you as a winner in this year IRISH ONLINE Award. Your check (Bank Draft) has been registered and deposited as a Bank Draft with the (NATWEST BANK) London, UK.

Contact the Bank via email as given below, NATWEST, Your winning check (700,000.00 EURO) was deposited with NATWEST, Kindly contact NatWest for transfer of your winning prize (BANK DRAFT) deposited from the National Lottery Department (IRISH LOTTERY).
You are to contact Mr. Stephanie Hughston ( +447010089271 ) Email: transfer-online@ntwstbonline.co.uk that is in charge of your fund right now in NATWEST BANK OF LONDON who will give instruction to the transfer department to commence on the transfer into the bank account details that is required by the NATWEST bank.

Operations Executive Officer NatWest Bank of London.
Mr. Stephanie Hughston
transfer-online@ntwstbonline.co.uk
+447010089271

Once again congratulation from me and member staff of the IRISH SWEETSTAKE ONLINE
For any clarification, kindly call IRISH Claim office Tell: +447010028673

Yours faithfully,
Thomas Parker (Mr)
Phone: (+44) 701 002 8673
Online coordinator for THE IRISH LOTTERY
Sweepstakes International Program.(Ireland)

By Mogg’s holy grandfather, can the grammar, spelling, and overall English be any worse? Who could possibly believe that this is from any official body in Ireland or the UK? Be aware that the Irish Lottery is aware of this ongoing game by the Lads from Lagos:

Please note – There are an ever-growing number of Irish lotto e-mail scams. Although these scammers have used our name and address in their fraudulent e-mails we are NOT involved in any way with any of these scams.

Please visit http://europeanlottery.net/scam/lotto_scams.html for more information.

An Excerpt:

There are an ever-growing number of lottery scams circulating in the world wide web. Although these scammers have used the name and address of Irish and UK Subscription Services in their fraudulent e-mails, we would like to stress that ILS is NOT involved in any way with any of these scams.

Please be vigilant. These lottery scams are cleverly and convincingly written, but deceptive and completely fraudulent. Thousands of people have lost money paying “commissions” and “charges” to receive cash prizes they’ve been told (falsely) they’ve won. Take for example, the latest Irish Lottery Scam which comes with a forged ILS cheque with your name on it! The opportunists behind these scams are stealing large amounts of money from gullible people and they tarnish the integrity of legitimate marketers of Government Lotteries.

If you have any doubt at all about the legitimacy of a lottery prize “win” you’re mailed or emailed about, just email us atsales@irishlotto.net or sales@irishsubscription.net  An ILS Representative will be very glad to assist you.

The rest of the page is very informative and worth reading.

—————

Just posting this in case anyone else gets this fraudulent email and does a search on the information. Please note the following facts:

  • You can never win a lottery you did not enter
  • There are no “international tombolas,” or lotteries that choose winners from random emails
  • NEVER pay money to collect a prize of any sort.
  • Participating in overseas lotteries is illegal in many countries anyway, particularly the USA. The Irish Lottery and the Spanish Gordo are two favorite cover stories for liars, thieves, scammers, and hqiz-eaters.
  • Again we see a (+44 70) prefix. THIS IS NOT A UK NUMBER: If you call it, you’re speaking to someone in Nigeria or elsewhere in Africa, in all likelihood.

Be careful out there. The number of people out there who want your hard-earned money and who will stop at nothing to get it is rising as the Internet becomes more accessible to larger sections of third-world countries.

The Old Wolf has spoken.