Seeking help with 'UK Transaction tax'

[tranzitjim]

Relax, I am not asking for funds. UREGENTLY seeking advice.


I am trying to get funds from the UK to Australia, and was told of a 9.5% tax on the transaction.

I was informed that UK law requires me, to pay this tax before they would release these funds to me?


Would this be a clear indication of a scam, or is this in fact genuine UK law?

 

[Zoidberg]

The only charges that I am aware of for transferring funds are those charged by the financial institutions involved.

I've not come across any legislation in the UK which taxes a transfer.

Perhaps if you said who it is that wants to charge you the 9.5% you may get a more focussed answer, but typically the 419 scams often included the need to pay tax charges before releasing funds.

 

[tranzitjim]

The document says, 'HM Revenue & Customs'. I guess that is the UK tax office?


Would it not make more sense to deduct the 9.5% from the funds as the bank handles the money?

 

[Clip]

What document?Who did you recieve it from? How much are you wanting to transfer?

I done it when I was over your way for about £5k and didnt get charged anything.

 

[tranzitjim]

The amount is $50,000 US.

The document says, for transactions over $20,000 US.

The document came from the address, for the attorney acting on behalf of the investment house.

The investment funds have come from,
Spring Investment Company LTD

 

[Zoidberg]

The amount is $50,000 US.

The document says, for transactions over $20,000 US.

The document came from the address, for the attorney acting on behalf of the investment house.

The investment funds have come from,
Spring Investment Company LTD

Does the document have an identification number at the bottom? If so, what is it? Most, if not all, of the HMG forms I've seen have such a number. Examples are P2, P6, 11P, 312, 64-8(new), ... With that number, a bit of Googling should throw up in what circumstances the form (if it's genuine) would be used, with reference to the relevant legislation.

This page should help identify the form ... http://search2.hmrc.gov.uk/kb5/hmrc/forms/home.page

 

[ainsworth74]

I would contact HM Revenue and Customs directly as HMRC are the tax office for the UK and they would be best placed to know.

 

[Zoidberg]

I would contact HM Revenue and Customs directly as HMRC are the tax office for the UK and they would be best placed to know.

The best bit of advice so far.

'Contact us' @ http://search2.hmrc.gov.uk/kb5/hmrc/contactus/home.page

 

[tranzitjim]

I have done some googleing and other actions.

I have been to the website of your tax office with the same enquiry.

I have also came across a scam email website of which has some sad news for me.

I would love to check with Lloyds bank to see if the transaction is true, but their website did not have any email addresses.

There is a Ref number on the top of the message.


In any case, I have made up my mind. I am not paying any of this tax up front.

They had required me to pay $500 up front for a surety bond, and yes I paid it to them via Western Union. The idea is, if they are a scam, they need to be scamed by someone who is prepared to report them. That is the only way to stop the scam operators.


**** TO SUPPORT THEMSELVES *****

I have noticed some news reports about a transaction tax, supported by the European Union.


**** TO SUPPORT THE SCAM THEORY ****

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Spri...=ajax:1869190587589032146&goback=.gmp_3964599

 

[Zoidberg]

I have done some googleing and other actions.

I have been to the website of your tax office with the same enquiry.

I have also came across a scam email website of which has some sad news for me.

I would love to check with Lloyds bank to see if the transaction is true, but their website did not have any email addresses.

There is a Ref number on the top of the message.


In any case, I have made up my mind. I am not paying any of this tax up front.

They had required me to pay $500 up front for a surety bond, and yes I paid it to them via Western Union. The idea is, if they are a scam, they need to be scamed by someone who is prepared to report them. That is the only way to stop the scam operators.


**** TO SUPPORT THEMSELVES *****

I have noticed some news reports about a transaction tax, supported by the European Union.


**** TO SUPPORT THE SCAM THEORY ****

http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Spri...=ajax:1869190587589032146&goback=.gmp_3964599

Oh dear. As soon as I read 'Western Union' and 'surety bond' I thought 'scam'. I'm sorry you got caught up in this.

 

[tranzitjim]

Whom in the UK has the authority act on a complaint of scam if I report it to thee?


I would like to give them one more week to see how things play out, then I will look seriously at reporting him to the police.

 

[bb21]

The police are unlikely to be able to do anything about it in most cases, unfortunately.

Any demand for advance payment would immediately ring alarm bells in my head.

Were you expecting this money? If it is too good to be true, it probably is.

 

[maniacmartin]

This has scam written all over it. Google "419 scam" for more information.

Stop for a moment and think of a good reason why this company would want to transfer you a large and round number of dollars, and why they need a round number of dollars (and not pounds sterling) from you upfront.

There is no 'transaction tax' that I'm aware of for transferring money out of the UK. Western Union is often used for such scams as it's almost impossible to trace the money.

There is no UK registered company by the name "Spring Investment Company LTD". All companies in the UK have to register with Companies House, so if they're not in that database, they don't exist. The nearest match is "Spring Investments Limited", though I doubt they were a party to the scam.

Your $500 was probably collected from a Western Union office in Nigeria - this is the most common place such scam emails originate from. Some people do such scams as a full time job, and it can be profitable enough for them to be able to lead extravagant lifestyles.

If you post one of their emails here (with full headers) we might be able to see which country it was sent from. You could report the matter to your local police, however I doubt that you will be seeing your money again.

 

[deltic1989]

From the first post on this thread alarm bells were ringing, and as I read the further posts my suspicions seem to have been confirmed.
Any unsolicited offers of large sums of money usually turn out to be scams. Particularly when they start asking for money up front by Western Union (A scammers paradise).
The best advice that has been given so far is to contact HMRC to check on this 'transaction tax', personally I am not aware of any such thing. Also another good piece of advice was to check the companies credentials. A good place to start with this is companies house, particularly as this firm is purporting to be a Limited company (it is an offence to advertise as a limited company if you aren't one), the only way to be a limited company as far as I am aware is to register as such with companies house.
As said Western Union money transfers are largely un traceable which is why this method is preferred by scammers. A good thing to do is to ask if you can pay by credit or debit card which almost all genuine companies will agree to.
The best thing to do at this point would be to not proceed any further as this seems to be a scam. At least if you quit now you are only $500 in a hole rather than almost $5000.

 

[maniacmartin]

Whom in the UK has the authority act on a complaint of scam if I report it to thee?.

I'm willing to bet this scam wasn't even conducted from the UK.

 

[soil]

Who is 'they'? Where did you get this company's details?

 

[Monty]

This has '419' written all over it I'm afraid, go to 419eater for more information about what a 419 scam is.

 

[tranzitjim]

I do subscribe to three or more private equity match type websites. They could obtain my details via that.

I have gained this in a recent email, from the attorney??

> There are 2 ways you can make the payment
>
> 1. By Wire Transfer which takes 48-72 Hours to clear
>
> 2. By western Union Money Transfer which takes less than 20 minutes and is cheaper

In any case, I am already looking towards other possible investment sources for my proposed venture.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Here are the full headers of which come from the attorney firm.

From Allied Advocates <info@allied-advocates.org>
To <my email address>
Subject Re: URGENT: HMRC LLOYDS
Date Oct 21, 2013 15:57 PST
Folder Inbox
Size 3988
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From: Allied Advocates <info@allied-advocates.org>
To: <my email address>
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Subject: Re: URGENT: HMRC LLOYDS
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[maniacmartin]

I do subscribe to three or more private equity match type websites. They could obtain my details via that.

These scams are not usually targetted like that. They send the emails to thousands of addresses hoping someone will bite. That's why the initial emails are vague - they have no idea who they are talking to and need to lure in as many people as possible.

I have gained this in a recent email, from the attorney??

> There are 2 ways you can make the payment
>
> 1. By Wire Transfer which takes 48-72 Hours to clear
>
> 2. By western Union Money Transfer which takes less than 20 minutes and is cheaper

We don't call them attorneys in the UK. That's a term used in America and possibly other countries. Also, legal professionals in the UK do not use Western Union

Received: from 197.242.102.55 ([197.242.102.55])
X-Originating-IP: [197.242.102.55]

This IP address is Nigerian, and the IP is dynamically assigned to customers of the internet service provider (ISP)Spectranet.
One of Spectranet's addresses is:

address: 9 B Kwara Street
address: Osborne Estate
address: Lagos
address: Ikoyi
address: Nigeria
e-mail: spectranet.nigeria@gmail.com
phone: +23417601130

Allied Advocates is a fake company. It is near certain that neither HMRC, Lloyds or any other british company were involved.

I very much doubt you will have any joy in recovering your money. You have my sympathy

 

[tranzitjim]

I admit the first email was more like a bulk spam message.

Ok, from now on, I shall only deal with domestic lenders. Ones of whom I can visit in person.

I guess if the source is from Nigeria, then there is little point going to the police?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
The attorney, was claimed to be based in the USA.

How common would it be for a UK based finance firm to hire a legal representation from the US?

 

[maniacmartin]

How common would it be for a UK based finance firm to hire a legal representation from the US?

I've never heard of it before. The US and UK have very different legal systems, so I doubt a US legal professional would have that much knowledge of the laws of England & Wales. I work for a UK branch of a US company and we use local law firms

 

[Bungle73]

The amount is $50,000 US.

The document says, for transactions over $20,000 US.

The document came from the address, for the attorney acting on behalf of the investment house.

The investment funds have come from,
Spring Investment Company LTD

I'm not sure why this didn't ring alarm bells immediately. Why would a document that purports to be about transferring money from the UK to Australia be talking about US Dollars? And why would a letter that purports to be from the HMRC be talking about Dollars at all??

Unless you were expecting this money, I fail to see how you could not have realised it is a scame?

 

[tony_mac]

I don't think questioning the victim is very helpful at this stage, people who are actively (/desperately) looking for loans and investments are often targeted.

You can report it at:-
http://www.scamwatch.gov.au/

It probably won't help you, but at least there will be some record of it.

 

[soil]

Can you post your full correspondence received from them?

 

[DarloRich]

@ OP - you have made mention of an attorney - check these are legit and then contact them. It is very possible they dont know there name is being used in what appears to be a scam

You should also be wary of ending up in a money laundering scam and landing yourself with a chat with the police.

Sorry