Need Help from Someone in the UK

[W9XE/Project777]

I purchased some radio equipment for my sim from someone in Wales. There was 2 items for a total cost of £560. I had to use Western Union since he did not use PayPal. We agreed he would ship it FedEx and I would have them in 4 days. This was on 12/21/10. Looked like a pretty good deal but things started to go wrong. I got this from him when he went to send the packages.

Hello Larry,

Your goods has been sent to FedEx but i was told that it won't be
process for shipment now until after the holiday due to the fact that
Christmas parcels are in progress now and i will be giving the tracking
number when it is being process for shipment after the holiday. I have
been very busy today please pardon my last email and i hope the delay
won't be a problem for you.

Was a little nervous about the delay. He was going away for the Holidays and could not get them shipped before the first of the year. Finally on Jan 5th the 2 boxes were shipped and he sent me a tracking number.

Hello Larry,
I am happy to let you know that the goods has been shipped, i
contacted my cousin who happens to be around to help me out with the
shipment gave him all the details he need to send the goods. Couldn't
wait any longer because it has taken much time than expected and i had
to look for a way to get the goods to your as soon as i could. But the
goods were sent via First Flight Courier Service because he couldn't get
to FedEx early enough and i also heard was an extra charge to send. Here
is the details below:

It had the tracking number and it was showing out for international delivery. Today he and I both received this email.

Stop of Package Delivery

INLAND REVENUE AND CUSTOM OFFICE.

Westcliffe Drive Layton Square,
Blackpool, Lancashire, FY3 7BJ

Attn: LARRY VANDIVIER
Inland Revenue/Custom Office/stamp and the UK Tax Investigation Service are Authorized and Regulated by the Financial Services Authority. The Custom Office and Revenue Department/stamp agents assesses certain type of taxes. A tax is levied on lotteries, raffles, goods, parcels etc. almost everywhere, normally by the payment authority on behalf of the Government. In some cases, we receive a share of lottery taxes levied by the Government.

However, in most cases, the tax takes the form of a permit fee. It is only classified as a tax in a few Governments/Countries. Non residential tax is the sole of a packaged parcel is now on Hold because we (Tax investigation service/stamp agents) noticed you have not paid for your , parcel Tax so in this case you will have to pay a parcels Tax fee before this delivery can be initiated.

Ability of the beneficiary. Income taxes deducted from source generally include direct federal tax , communal taxes, as well as, most of the time, church tax. As in the case of income tax, cantonal tax rates vary to a fairly large extent depending on the Locality.

Governmental tax scales for withholding tax and the corresponding regulations are available at the Government tax departments. The delivery of a Parcel for Therefore, the amount for the Lottery Tax is £260 Pounds sterling and it is payable to the Accounts Department of the UK INLAND REVENUE Tax Office

Please note that a Tax receipt/stamp receipt will be issued to you along with the Tax Payment. This will ensure that your funds are not Taxed again by any Tax Authority{e.g. the IRS}.

This Parcel can only be initiated to you if only you are cleared for UK INLAND REVENUE tax, and the only way you can be cleared is when you pay the parcel Tax fee.

A copy of this message will be forwarded to your Seller and DHL Courier Company .

* You are to make the payment of the Parcel Tax fee to your Handling officer at the UK INLAND REVENUE Tax Office.

To my shock I could not believe what I was reading. I figure I may have to pay something but not near this amount. I asked him if he could retrieve the packages but he said it was out of his control and with the Government. Here is his reply.

Larry honestly speaking i didn't know about this new fees before now
though i knew about some charges which i had already taken care of.
This fee is a must paid fee for any goods sending outside UK and it took
effect on 1/1/2011 the fee is only paid once and when next you order
anything again from the UK you won't be asked to pay any custom fee
again because you have already done that before and they have the data
on the comp. The goods are with the UK custom already until the fees are
paid before they can be released and finally sent and it can't be
retrieved and also the goods becomes government's property if you fail
to pay the fees. The receipt is a prove of payment and i assume this LAW
affect all courier companies in the UK not just First Flight because it
has to do with the UK custom.

What I am trying to find out is there some truth to this? I can not believe there is a new law that if I purchase anything shipped from the UK I have to pay a 1 time tax or fee. Sounds more like a mistake in the paperwork with the shipping company http://firstflightcourierservice.totalh.com

Any information would be greatly appreciated on where to go from here.



Any information would be greatly appreciated.

[capetonian]

I really hope someone can help you. The website that you link to looks like a scam!!! The domain name is a subdomain of this domain http://totalh.com/ which is a dodgy (looks bad) site advertising free hosting and the like.

The couriers company website has contact adresses that point to addresses outside the domain (info@firstflightcs.cz.cc ) which is a bit strange.
Terms and Conditions are not clickable, sitemap is not clickable/
The website still contains standard example texts like "Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aliquam diam ipsum, nonummy ut, fermentu"
The site just does not cut it for me ... it is either a really badly put together website for a company that has no money to spend or a clever iidea of a scammers site which has still been put together in a totally unconvincing manner.

I think you're being scammed, but how? It looks like someone who has access to both of your information, like the shipping company, might have a dodgy co-worker who is running his scam on the side. As soon as he/she gets the goods in he copies the addresses, sends off his letters and delays the parcel for a while... hopefully you do pay him and he releases your parcel or eliminates the delay and sends it on.

What I would suggest you do (I'm in Holland, not the UK) is send an email to HM Customs (http://search2.hmrc.gov.uk/kbroker/hmrc/contactus/search.ladv?raction=view&fl0=__dsid%3A&ha=34&sp_scope=hmrc&sc=hmrc&nh=10&tx0=49638) and ask them if they know anything about this.... Ask your seller to do the same and be prepared to supply all the relevant info to HMC. Finally, get your seller to contact the transport company he used and inquire to the status of the package.

I really hope this all works out for you .... and I hope my post has, in some way, been helpful.

[capetonian]

... and reading that story again ........ it just does not make sense, .... the English used in the 'Tax Email' is not the Queens English and not official English (ie, government style), it just does not cut it I'm afraid..

I honestly think you are being ripped off... and the contact my be involved with Western Union, these Nigerian scammers use Western Union too ... Has your seller received the payment? I mean , . is he genuine? If he is, and if he has recieved the money .... let him get / ask for the status on the package, ... is it DHL or UPS? Phone a branch near you and explain the story.

If this is a new Nigerian money scheme then I hope someone takes these fcukers down! (excuse my French)

[capetonian]

... and it's looking gloomier and gloomier ....

I have just been googling this stuff and came across this website: http://www.data-wales.co.uk/nigerian_lottery.htm

I found this

On a general note, if you receive "lottery winner" mail and a follow up asking for payment (via Western Union) to a real or invented courier company , you will know that you have been a target of the advance fee fraud criminal!

[capetonian]

and a search on 'First Flight Courier" also comes up with a lot of bad news:
http://data-wales.co.uk.master.com/texis/master/search/?q=first+flight+courier&xsubmit=Search%3A&s=SS

... and then again ...... reading your sellers email about having the goods shipped. ... his English ain't that good either ... I seriously think you've been had

[capetonian]

Would you mind forwarding me the email that he sent you containing the tracking number and the like? I am sure that the email addresses and the like in that email are bogus too. You can send it to my username here @gmail.com .

[tomenglish2000]

I would agree with capetonian that I think you have been scammed. I am from the UK and Im pretty sure that a) if the government had encated a tax law like this it would have appeared in the UK press (as it's pretty damning for exports) and b) Tax is usually applied when importing things so for you that would be the US government on arrival (if at all any tax is due). Im also pretty sure there is no UK Tax Investigation Service and no "Lottery Tax".

Finally the address of the so called tax office, Westcliffe Drive Layton Square, Blackpool, Lancashire, FY3 7BJ seems to be a residential area. Definately not the Inland Revenue offices.

And again agreeing with capetonian, the language is certainly far from correct.

I would also never trust western union for a money transfer as it offers no protection. And I would never trust anyone who doesnt use paypal.

In the UK I would have all sorts of authorities (Office Of Fair Trading, Police, Inland Revenue Service etc) to contact but as a non-UK citizen im not sure how that would work but try contacting them anyway.

Im gonna go ahead and guess that the email he send you with a tracking number in it links to a website clone for DHL or whatever to give you the impression of the package being sent.

How does it work when transferring money on western union? Do you know his account details? That might be the only starting point for tracking this guy down.

Sorry, Tom.

[No Longer Active]

Sorry to say this, but this is a scam, if anyone ever mentions the words 'Western Union' or 'Lotteries' its a BIG no no I'm afraid. It also sounds like it is an African scammer (all of which use western union to transfer money, they also use this method to send money to their families in their native countries). Also, the use of the English language is terrible. There is no way that this guy is for real. Nothing adds up or makes sense.

Here is a link that could be of help:

http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/scamsintheUK.php

http://www.oft.gov.uk/OFTwork/ConsumerProtection/consumer_initiatives/report-a-scam/

http://antivirus.about.com/b/2008/05/12/fedex-brand-used-in-lottery-scam.htm (read bottom part of page, its of a similar example).

I really don't know what else to say, but these Nigerians make me sick! They con people because its the only industry that pays in their country, they have nothing to lose; that's why they do it. Sickening!

[W9XE/Project777]

Thanks everyone for your reply. As i read the reply I have to agree this is not looking good. I will not send any more money but will contact my CC company to see if I can get the charges removed. Not sure if the person I have been communicating with is the real ham. However in all his replies he sure sounded honest but I guess that may be just a great act. I am going to do a little more digging at the site where I purchased the radios.

Thanks guys for your help. At least here I can trust a fellow builder.

[tomenglish2000]

Hi Larry.

Could you tell of the link to the site where you bought the radios so we can avoid it please?

[No Longer Active]

It kind of sounds odd.. Possibly a Nigerian Welshman selling radios for flight sims...Odd combo without a doubt, the only true Welshman I know in the sim game is our legendary Ian P Sissons, I'd drop Ian a message and ask if he know's this guy since he's from Wales too....

Can we ask who the person is in Wales?

Thanks. Alex

[Geremy Britton]

The underlining message to all these replies is: Do not send any more money, whatever the circumstances.
Having a fair experience on knowing what to check, the possibility of the link to Wales is purely fabricated most likely.
I haven't clicked any links reading this post for my own protection however lottery win, etc is always a con. Inheritance payments, bank tranfers to you for no reason would be ringing alarm bells for me and are some of the other popular anecdotes to grab cash.

Websites such as the courier site you mentioned will be complex scam artists, who will have their IP address blocked and trailing around the world, which is untraceable. Names will never be real, bank intermediaries such as western union offer no protection and the money can be withdrawn to an external source without any control by western union.

Remember these free websites are setup with no personal information, and are produced to target the mass market in the hope at least someone will catch the trap.

Thus, regretably the chances of retrieving your initial funds are slim.

Checkpoints:
> Always carry out checks on who you are dealing with and crosscheck their location.
> Ask them why they're selling it
> ALWAYS pay by secure means such as paypal (Tell tale sign is the fact he 'doesn't have paypal' if he wanted your order so much spending 5 minutes setting up a paypal account would be a small price he had to pay. I know had you paid through paypal their fraud dept. is second to none)
> Have the item tracked and insured.

The information already given with regard to persuing the situation is perfect, so definately follow the standard channels in reporting this incident.

If I can be of any more help (as a UK resident, etc.) please feel free.

[Boeing 747 Flyer]

Hi there,

I can definitely confirm that there is absolutely no "one off fee charge" when exporting/important an item to UK.

[W9XE/Project777]

Thanks again everyone for your prompt replies.
As an update I did call my CC company and they said that the funds can not be disputed because this was a cash transaction. By taking a cash advance with my knowledge and using it through Western Union there was nothing wrong doing so. What happened to the cash from Western Union and whom received it is up to them. They recommend me going to the bank and talking with the Western Union to see if there is some protection through them. The CC company said always use a CC for a purchase. If things go bad you can get dispute the transaction. I will contact them tomorrow but I think I will end up in a loss.

If the person at www.qrz.com where i posted my original want is the same person who scammed me his reputation there is done. I emailed that person
Robin Griffiths, 71 Elder Grove Llangunnor Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, SA31 2LH Wales with his posted email address but no reply yet. I will try a time or two more to see if he responds. In case someone has stole his identity I would like to protect him. However if he is the guy who did scam me I do have a few options I can use.

[archen]

Thanks again everyone for your prompt replies.
As an update I did call my CC company and they said that the funds can not be disputed because this was a cash transaction. By taking a cash advance with my knowledge and using it through Western Union there was nothing wrong doing so. What happened to the cash from Western Union and whom received it is up to them. They recommend me going to the bank and talking with the Western Union to see if there is some protection through them. The CC company said always use a CC for a purchase. If things go bad you can get dispute the transaction. I will contact them tomorrow but I think I will end up in a loss.

If the person at www.qrz.com where i posted my original want is the same person who scammed me his reputation there is done. I emailed that person
Robin Griffiths, 71 Elder Grove Llangunnor Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, SA31 2LH Wales with his posted email address but no reply yet. I will try a time or two more to see if he responds. In case someone has stole his identity I would like to protect him. However if he is the guy who did scam me I do have a few options I can use.

Hi Larry!
I really feel sorry for you. I hope you manage to get your money back and this guy will go to prison!!

I can't help you since I have no experience in this, I just wanted to wish you good luck so good luck and keep us updated on the progress.

best regards,
Anders

[brynjames]

The telephone number for Robin Griffiths is 01267 236275 (don't dial the zero from outside the UK). Google Streetview for the address makes it look an unlikely hideaway den for a gang of international fraudsters. In addition, Robin Griffiths appears to be a respected member of the local community, town councillor etc., so the most likely thing is that he is himself a victim of identity theft. He would probably like to hear from you so he is aware of any threat to his own finances.

The Tax Office location in Blackpool doesn't seem to be a valid tax office address ( and the organisation now calls itself HM Revenue and Customs anyway). I was amused by the line that said it was regulated by the financial services authority. This authority is set up to protect us from folks offering financial services; no-one, but no-one, protects us from HM Revenue and Customs!

The other guys are right about Western Union payments being a big no-no.


--
Bryn

[RadarBob]

I pasted a section of that random cut and paste text that purports to be from HMRC into Google
Definately a link to Nigeria and Lottery/Nokia mobile phone scams there I'm afraid.


http://antifraudintl.org/showthread.php?p=96372

Bottom post looks familiar.

Sorry Larry,

Rob

[royrb]

Hi my name is Roy i also placed a wanted ad in qrz and had 3 replies all from uk i bought a ham radio from one of them and paid 300.00 by western union.he was useing a ham operators call and address,i am sure he stole his idenity but he had to have his idenification to pick up his money. 73 Roy WA5BTI

[W9XE/Project777]

Roy, Sorry to read about your loss as well. I contact my CC company but because it was a cash transaction and there part was legal I could not dispute it. I tried calling Western Union but was on hold so long I gave up. Will try again, sure nothing will come out of it but I want to know where the person picked up the cash. I want to see if it was truly in the UK. I have been working on a post for QRZ relating to the ham in question. I have sent emails to his posted address but no response. Since no reply I have to assume he may be the party who scammed me. If so other hams will soon know not to deal with him. If he then responds as a victim then I will post that as well. I want at least some satisfaction from my loss and hope others will not fall into the same scam as I did. Guy was good....

As for Western Union I intend to file a fraud report and to let them know I do not intend to use there service and to aggressively recommend to any person I know NOT to use there service since there is no protection.

[rochte]

Scammed here, too, for $300 by a fellow purporting to be ham operator M3SNV, Stephen Disley, from the Liverpool area.

He also responded to an ad that I had placed on swap.qth.com and said that he didn't have Paypal. Same shipping nonsense - gave me a "tracking number" from "First Flight Courier" and a link to the same firstflightcourier.cz.cc web site. The "tracking information" now says that the package is in Mexico and is being "withheld by customs". Ya, right.

I guess my big adventure this week will be finding out just how seriously the UK authorities take cyber crimes....

[W9XE/Project777]

WOW this scam is really getting around here in the states. I am betting it's someone who knows ham radio or is a ham radio operator. Western Union is no help. The person I attempted to talk to couldn't even get my account number correctly. I had to say for 4 one, two, three, four and the same with 5. I don't know maybe Western Union is in on these scam's. I have checked out some of the sites listed above. I have the next 2 days off because of a blizzard heading in our area so I plan on filling out a report. I will also contact Scott at QTH.com tonight to see if he is getting other scam reports. I have 3 different web hostings with him. He is good at responding. This was the first I heard from QTH.com having the issue.

[Efe Cem Elci]

Wow Larry I am really sorry to hear this, and quite a bit of dough as well! Hope you manage to get it back. In the meanwhile, this might lift your spirits (or give you a few ideas on revenge) a bit.

http://www.zug.com/pranks/powerbook/

[W9XE/Project777]

Efe

Thanks for the reply. I love the link, going to save that one. Passed it on to some friends as well. Nice to see the scammer get scammed. :D

[wannabeaflyer]

Great Read which put a smile on my face LOL :-) dont you just love it when a plan comes together..