Dear Miss young
I received a lottery prize of 2 million euros from loterie Nationale Inc, Netherland. Now the winning prize is deposited in linsco bank. I have to pay 3% tax to release the money from bank, but I have no ability to pay the 3% tax. so, tell me how can i get the wining prize from bank. Regards.
Toshi

I sent him some advice, but the chances of getting his 8,350 EUROS back are very small. He allowed me to publish his story to warn others.

This is his story:

From: karren broekman <nationalloteri@mighty.co.za>
Sent: March 20, 2005
Subject: STRICT COMPLIANCE WITH THE GIVEN INSTRUCTIONS

FROM: LOTERIE NATIONALE.

RE: PRIZE AWARDS WINNING NOTIFICATION CATEGORY ?B?
We are pleased to inform you of the result of the just concluded annual final draws of the Loterie Nationale promotion programme.

The online cyber lotto draws was conducted from an exclusive list of 55,000 e-mail addresses of individual and corporate bodies picked by an advanced automated random computer selection from the web. No tickets were sold. After this automated computer ballot, your e-mail address emerged as one of five winners in the category "B" with the followings:

Ref Number:LNPB/006-53412
Batch Number:LNPB BNV/08679
Ticket Number:5590214/SA
Serial Number:BBLN/0003241

You, as well as other winners are to receive a cash prize of 2,000,000.00.(TWO MILLION, EUROS ONLY) each from the total payout.

Your prize awards has been insured with your e-mail address and will be transferred to you upon meeting our requirements, statutory obligations, verifications, validations and satisfactory report.

To begin the claims processing of your prize winnings you are advised to contact our licensed and accredited claims agent for category "B" winners with the informations below:

Mr.GEORGE WAGNER.
GLOBAL CONSULT,
TEL:0031 617 648 283.
Email:georgewagner@excite.it

NOTE: All winnings must be claimed not later than 14 days. After this date all unclaimed funds would be included in the next stake. Remember to quote your reference information in all correspondence.

You are to keep all winning information away from the general public especially your reference and ticket numbers. (This is important as a case of double claims will not be entertained).
Anybody under the age of 18 and members of the affiliate agencies are automatically not allowed to participate in this program.

Thank you and congratulations!!!

Yours faithfully,
MELANIE KAREL

From: wagner george <georgewagner@fsmail.net>
Sent: March 21, 2005
Subject: REF:CLAIM PROCESS.

Dear Sir/Madam,

We wish to congratulate you and formally inform you that you have won the sum of 2,000,000.00 Euros(Two Million Euros) in the last email-lottery draw, sponsored by Association Of Software Manufacturers. We have confirmed the above winning.

You should note that your email address in addition to millions of companies and individuals email addresses were extracted with a software and the addresses were scrutinized through a computer ballot system and upon completion of the process,five email addresses were eventually selected and they were shared into 3 categories respectively of which your email address fell in the B category of 2.000,000.00.Euros

The said sum is now deposited in our suspense account in your favour waiting for the immediate remittance into your nominated bank account. Be informed that your winning prize has a hardcover insurance policy that makes it impossible to make any deduction of any kind, until the sum is finally credited into your designated account.

This firm on behalf of the lottery promotion board will issue an Irrevocable Guarantee of Payment Bond (IGPB) in your favour, thereby securing the above prize money.A copy of the IGPB will be forwarded to our paying bank for immediate action.

However, the lottery promotion board has been notified of this development and the status of your claim.You are expected to fill in the information below.Once again Congratulations.

FAMILY NAME
GIVEN NAMES
RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS
DATE AND PLACE OF BIRTH
TELEPHONE NO
FAX NO
BATCH NO
TICKET NO
SERIAL NO
REFERENCE NO
NEXT OF KIN(OPTIONAL)
MARITAL STATUS(OPTIONAL)

We appreciate your prompt response to meet up with the deadline.

Thanks,
George Wagner.
Telephone:+ 31-655 920 128.

Everything seems organized, so I send him my personal information.

Later the same day:

From: wagner george <georgewagner@fsmail.net>
Sent: March 21, 2005
REF: LEGALISATION OF DOCUMENTS.

Dear Sir/Madam,

We acknowledge the receipt of your completed form. However, after thorough verification and scrutiny of your information you have been found qualified to receive payment of the prize award of 2,000,000.00 (Two million Euros). We wish to congratulate you formally on your success in our award program.

We shall proceed to conclude the payment process of your Lottery prize by opening for you a claim file. Moreover, as an international winner, you are required to legalize all your winning documents in order to instruct the paying bank to credit your account with the sum of 2,000,000.00.

Therefore, we advise that you contact our accredited attorney to act on your behalf in handling the Legal details OR come to the Netherlands for the following procedures:

(1) LEGALIZATION OF YOUR DOCUMENTS.
(2) ENDORSEMENT AND STAMP DUTY.
(3) SWEARING AFFIDAVIT

To this end, the endorsement date has been scheduled for Friday the 25th of March, 2005.

Below are the contact details of the lawyer that would represent you in the process of your claim:

Mr.Barend R Wolter
Vanderploeg Adocaten En Notarissen
Prins Hendrik Straat 58-60
Email:vanderploegadv@fsmail.net
TEL: +0031 629 163 548.

Ensure you forward the file reference number to allow for a proper identification of your file. Please endeavor to also furnish the lawyer with the endorsement date.

Note that you shall be responsible for the legal charges for this endorsement. After the endorsement of your winning documents and all requirements of lottery authorities here in the Netherlands fulfilled, your file will be passed across to the paying Bank and you shall be contacted to begin the process of your funds transfer.

Note that your winning prize has been insured to its real value to ensure that no forms of deductions are made until the sum is finally credited into your designated account. An Irrevocable Guarantee of Payment Bond (IGPB) has been issued in your favor by the gaming authority, a copy of which has been forwarded to the paying bank for immediate action.

Rights of winners to this claim can be denied if the release document is not duly signed in accordance with the provision of the Gaming regulatory Authority.

Once again, congratulations and we look forward to hearing from you soon.

Yours faithfully,
Mr. George Wagner.
Tel: +31 655 920 128

It is becoming a bit complicated, but I have never won such a big prize before, so I assume that the procedure is ok.

I contact the lawyer, and I send him 850 Euros by Western Union.

Then I receive this email from their bank:

From: linsco finance <info@linsco-finance.com>
Sent: March 23, 2005
Subject: BANK DEPOSIT IN YOUR FAVOUR!

ATTENTION: MR TOSHI

BANK DEPOSIT IN YOUR FAVOUR

This is to inform you that we have received a payment advice for the sum of Two Million Euros (?2,000,000.00) from The Lottery Payment Office to be credited to your account.

Since you do not have an Operational account with our bank, your funds have been lodged in a suspense account pending on your activation of an Operational account with us.

Please fill out the offshore account opening forms attached and send to us by fax with a copy of your valid identification document (International Passport or Drivers License).

Please notify us also if you wish to make transfers to other accounts and provide your transfer instruction(s).

Please note the type of account we have in our bank, initial deposit and the maximum transfer possible in one month.

1. Regular Account: The initial deposit is ?1,500 .00 (One Thousand Five Hundred Euros) and the maximum transfer possible in one month is Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars.

2. Daily Account: The initial deposit is ?2,500 .00 (Two Thousand Five Hundred Euros) and the maximum transfer possible in one month is One Million United States Dollars.

3. Premium Account: The initial deposit is ?3,500 .00 (Three Thousand Five Hundred Euros) and the maximum transfer possible in one month is One Million Five Hundred Thousand United States Dollars.

4. Platinum Account: The initial deposit is ?4,500 .00 (Four Thousand Five Hundred Euros) and the maximum transfer possible in one month is Five Million United States Dollars.

Should you have any question, do not hesitate to contact us.

Thank you for banking with us.

Best Regards,
Marie Warwick
For: Wayne Smith
Operation Manager
Tel: +31 617 584 627
Fax: +31 847 504 474
Email: info@linsco-finance.com

The bank gives me a difficult choice. Should I choose an account, that will take me several month to transfer my price, or a Platinum Account, to transfer it all immediately?

I don't have enough money for the deposit, so I have to borrow it. That should not be a problem, since I can pay it back as soon as my prize is transferred to my own bank account. I choose the Daily account, borrow the money, and transfer the 2,500 Euros via Western Union as instructed by Linsco Finance.

The story continues, and I paid another 5,000 euros for indemnity bond. In total I pay them 8350 euros.

Then they ask me to pay 3% tax, and I have to give up.

850 + 2,500 + 5,000