Consumer Fraud Reporting
TNT Express
Reporting on the Latest Frauds, Scams, Fake Lotteries, Spams and Hoaxes

 

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Lottery Scams - Reply from the Scammers at:
TNT Express Courier Company
"Mr. Alex Frank", "TNT"

If you replied to the TNT Express Courier Company lottery / promo scam email you can expect to receive another email like the one below from "Mr. Alex Frank" at "TNT" telling you that that you must pay "hardcover insurance policy", "delivery fees", "taxes", etc. This scammer really takes the cake, with many different fonts, photos, graphics, even claiming that the this has been cleared with "the Metropolitan Police of London" Of course, that is all nonsense. Real lotteries are prohibited by law in most countries from charging winners these fees. Some of this is simply made up: there is no such thing as a "hardcover insurance policy" - go ahead, search on that term in Google and see if you can find a single definition. Similarly, the references to specific laws and regulations are either completely made up, or taken completely out of context. 

The simple fact you must somehow grasp is no legitimate lottery will ever email a winner, nor require a winner to pay any fees, taxes or delivery charges. There are many other signs that this is a fraud.  We have highlighted some of these in the email below, not the least of which are:

• NO LOTTERY ANYWHERE REQUIRES WINNERS TO PAY FEES, TAXES OR OTHER CHARGES TO COLLECT THEIR WINNINGS!!! Can we say it any more plainly than that?

• Pigeon English - Notice that as the scammer gets past the initial template email and must write free-form, how his grammar, spelling and basic sentence structure go straight in the toilet.  The scammers don't even know how to use spell checkers.  After all, this is a stupid, low-life criminal in the heart of Africa, who probably dropped out of school at age 5 to join a gang or militia. Obviously, real lotteries also proofread their emails and look and read more professional.

• Using free email account: The scammer is writing to you from a FREE email account (Yahoo, Hotmail, Excite, AIM, Gmail, etc.).  Don't you think a real organization would use its own email, its own domain and website?

• Keep Confidential - Real lotteries THRIVE on publicity - they don't want you to keep anything secret - the publicity causes people to buy more tickets. there is NO risk of "double claiming" because they can validate where the ticket numbers were sold. The scammer want you to keep quiet because they don't want the police or ConsumerFraudreporting to hear about them! It should read: "For our own security, you are advised to keep your winning information confidential until we have finished scamming you!"

Here is a typical scam lottery winning notification. 

• Master list of sample lottery scam emails

• How to recognize a lottery scam

• What to do if you think you have been the victim of a lottery scam

• How the lottery / sweepstakes scams work

Actual scam reply email (One example - the scammers constantly change names, dates and addresses!):

from: TNT EXPRESS COURIER [ tntexpress_courier10@yahoo.co.uk ]

  

TNT EXPRESS COURIER COMPANY.

TNT Complex

326-328 High Holborn,
Holborn, London WC1V,
United Kingdom.

Customer Care:+44-703-1947-745
                    +44-704-5719-067 

                     +44-703-1907-273
//////////////////////////////////////////////
Local Company Registries
Trade Registry: Companies House
Trade Registry Number: 1933173
VAT Number: GB 222421710
 
Dear Pat,

           Welcome to TNT Courier Service. We are a private courier delivery company that ensures safe, sound and secured delivery of your parcels, making sure you get them at when expected. Please choose a delivery option below for a safe and perfect delivery of your package. Your winning draft is being cashable in any bank all over the world. As soon as you choose a delivery option we will deliver your package to your requested location, which will commence as soon as you make your payments for delivery charges to help us settle your VAT, insurance and other charges involved. 
 
Number of Packages: 1 PKT
 
Package content: winning draft, winning certificate, laptop and other vital documents from the lottery office.
 
You are to choose 1 from the 3 delivery option that you can afford.

 

	1. Courier Express	2. Courier Regular	3. Courier Economy
DELIVERY DURATION	24 Hrs Next Day	3-4 Working days	5-6 Working days
COURIER CHARGES	£ 175	£ 120	£   105
ADMINISTRATIVE	£ 160	£ 190	£ 100
INSURANCE (CCI)	£ 245	£ 125	£ 152
VALUED ADDED TAX	£ 125	£  94	£    93
TOTAL COST (GBP)	£ 705	£ 529	£ 450
TOTAL COST (USD)	$1,444.73	$1,084.06	$ 922.167

 

You are to choose the delivery option on how you want your package to be delivered to you. For All International delivery by any Courier Company where a draft which is Higher than $50,000 (USD) is been delivered, A Mandatory Shipping Insurance and Value added Tax (VAT) is paid by the courier company to allocated Government offices here before placing such delivery on transit which was added with the Cost Of Courier, In accordance to AIR FORWARDERS ASSOCIATION AND SHIPPING TARIFFS. This Is why You are Charged for Insurance, Value added Tax Alongside with Our Administrative Charges. 

 

In line with the UK INTERNAL SECURITY POLICY for large funds transfer,your METROPOLITAN POLICE CLEARANCE has been issued by the METROPOLITAN POLICE,NEW SCOTLAND YARD certifying your funds safe for delivery.

 

Considering the value of your package and its sensitive nature,we have included the insurance charges because Of the Comprehensive Insurance Cover which we have to Undertake In Case Of Loss, Damages or theft Of Your Highly Sensitive Parcel. We assumes All responsibilities in case of any Eventualities 
 
Note that Your Parcel will be delivered to Your Country On an Airway Flight Designated to Your Countries Airport either by station or transit after your payment is made. You will be required to Sign for the parcel as soon as it is delivered to you at your door step.   
 
Please be informed that the Option above and their Outstanding Charges will be paid before We Enact On Delivery. You will be making Payment as soon as Possible via WESTERN UNION MONEY transfer in the name of our UK account officer since we do not accept Situation where you make payment after delivery as this is Against the Official Rule Guiding this Company.  
Finally, I will want you to Understand that this transaction is safe and we are optimistic of your winning prize. The reason why we could be part of this transaction is that we have been associated to this lottery company, helping winners to get their winnings delivered to them for the past Eight years and this is the reason why we have not doubted their integrity as a legitimate lottery company for once.   
 
Be rest assured of the legitimacy of this transaction as I hope to hear from you soonest so that you can make arrangement for payment with our accountant here in the United Kingdom.
 
On acknowledgement of this email, I would forward to you the payment information and details that you need to make the delivery charges fees with. Note that the delivery charge is not deductable from your winning draft considering the insurance on it.

Thank your for your patronage and anticipated co-operation.

 

Best wishes,

Mr. Alex Frank.

 

Names of Scam / Fake / Fraud Lottery 

Click here for the huge list of the names of the currently identified lottery scams companies

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Copyright CFR 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009  - Definition of scam, fraud, etc. -  Legal disclaimer / corrections / complaints  -  Privacy Policy
Names used by scammers in the examples on this page and others often belong to real people and businesses who often have no knowledge of nor connection to the scammer's use of their name and information.  Sample scam emails and other documents are copies of the scam to help potential victims recognize and avoid it.  You should presume that any names used and presented here in a scam are either fictitious or used without their legitimate owner's permission.
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