The bombing of the World Trade Centre on September 11 2001 is being used in an elaborate scam to con vulnerable people in Courier Country.
An official-looking letter claiming to be from the United Nations was sent to 74-year-old Dundee man John Hall, and now he wants to warn others.
The ‘United Nations’ letter followed on from a letter from ‘Fifa’ in which Mr Hall was told he had won a tax-free £900,000 in the International Fifa World Cup Online Lottery.
However he later received a letter from the ‘United Nations Fund Monitoring Department’ telling him his payment was under ‘investigation.’
In official sounding jargon, the letter attempts to use the infamous terrorist attack on America to baffle potential victims into sending money.
It states: “The said fund after due investigation was contrary to Article 102 Section 36 sub section IV of the 1996 Bank and other Financial Institution Degree.
“This is in line with the Bi-lateral Agreement reached between the UN, that of the United States and European Union after the September 11th, 2001 bombing of the World Trade Centre and London Bombing.
“The Agreement further states that any amount exceeding £300,000 must be cleared by the above-named Agency prior to transfer therefore funds not cleared by this Agency will be confiscated and sent to the World Bank Headquarters for further clarification.”
Mr Hall was even sent a picture of a cheque for £900,000 in an attempt to persuade him into sending £3,000 as a ‘clearance charge’ to release the funds.
He said: “I’ve been sent scam letters before but this one was a wee bit different. I’m too long in the tooth for this but I am concerned other people might fall for it.
“I also know a retired guy who has fallen for scams before, so I wanted to warn people.
“It’s how official these documents look and it’s all written in gobbledygook to confuse people,” he said.
“I knew it was a scam but I went along with it. I wanted to get as much information as possible to pass on to the authorities.
“Hopefully I can save someone else.”
Mr Hall contacted the police and Trading Standards to report the scam, passing on the scammers’ bank details to help the investigation.
Dundee City Council environment convener Councillor Craig Melville said: “We have passed the details of this to the UK National Scams Team so that they can investigate.
“Dundee City Council’s trading standards section warns people to be wary of any letters like this.
“Anyone who needs advice on nuisance calls or junk mail should call trading standards on 436260.”