ASIC said the scam offers users a commission to receive money into their bank accounts and transfer it out again, advertising itself as a legitimate money making opportunity.
Director of consumer communication for ASIC, Dr Michael Dunn, says the scam is similar to the Nigerian letter scam that asks the recipient to take delivery of a sum of money for a commission ranging between 7 to 15 percent.
"The promoters have sometimes dressed up their Web sites with logos from reputable banks (without the banks' permission) to make the dodgy offer appear more credible," he said.
Dr Dunn says the scammers use inventive excuses to trick the recipient into believing the scam is real, however he describes the tall-tales as a little "too good to be true".
"Unless there's something shady, why would someone pay extra fees for transferring money through your account to someone else?" he said.
In an example of one such e-mail received by ASIC, Dr Dunn says the e-mail that claimed to be from Germany said the transfer scheme was designed to "get around a supposed '25 percent tax' on money transfers between Australia and German companies".
According to Dr Dunn, ASIC followed up on the claims and found that no such tax exists, saying the story is most likely a foil to get to consumers' bank account details.
"ASIC suspects the offer of commission is just a bait to lure unsuspecting people into giving their banking details and other identification, as a first step to extracting money for various fees, in a similar way to the better-known 'Nigerian letters' and fake lottery scams," he said.
Dr Dunn advises computer users to delete the e-mail if they should receive it, asking consumers not to "encourage scammers by replying".
I dind't know where else to send this, but have received a SCAm relevant to South Australia. It read:
"South Australia Lotteries,
23 Rundle Mall, Adelaide,
South Australia.
(South Australia Lottories is an affiliate of Overseas Subscriber
Agents).
Arena Complex 14 Donegall Square West, United Kingdom.
From: Ariel Bertis
e-mail : arielsbertis@universia.edu.ve
(Lottery Coordinator)
Sir/adam,
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
We are pleased to inform you of the result of the South Australia
Lotteries Winners International programs held on the 8th, August, 2005.
Your e-mail address attached to ticket #: 00903228100 with prize #
778009/2 drew ?1,000,000.00 which was first in the 2nd class of the
draws.
you are to receive ?1,000,000.00 (One Million Euros). Because of mix up
in cash pay-outs, we ask that you keep your winning information
confidential until your money (?1,000,000.00) has been fully remitted
to you by our accredited pay-point bank. This measure must be adhere
to avoid loss of your cash prize - winners of our cash prizes are
advised to adhere to these instructions to forestall the abuse of this
program by other participants.
It's important to note that this draws were conducted formally, and
winners are selected through an internet ballot system from 60,000
individual and companies e-mail addresses - the draws are conducted
around the world through our internet based ballot system. The
promotion is sponsored and promoted by South Australia lotteries.
We congratulate you once again. We hope you will use part of it in our
next draws; the jackpot winning is ?85million.
Remember, all winning must be claimed not later than 20 days.
After this date all unclaimed cash prize will be forfeited and included
in the next sweepstake.
Please, in order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications remember
to quote personal and winning numbers in all correspondence with us.
Congratulations once again from all members of South Australia
Lotteries. Thank you for being part of our promotional program.
For immediate release of your cash prize to you, please kindly contact
our Paying Bank ( Deutsche Bank, Amsterdam.)
Send them the following:
(i). Your names, (ii) Contact telephone and fax numbers (iii) Contact
Address (iv) your winning numbers (v) Quote amount won.
Contact the paying bank with the following:
Contact person: Mr. Tom Morris,
Deutsche Bank, Amsterdam, Netherlands.
E-mail:custservices@netscape.net
Tel: 31 621-916-606
Fax: 31-847-504-579
Congratulations once again.
Yours in service,
Ariel Bertis
(Lottery director)"