A very strange bank account--is it real?

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419Eater is my life Joined: 04 Jul 2009 Posts: 277

A lad has given me bank account information for me to send him money. However, the information was very strange. Here is what they sent me, with some things leeted to avoid Google searches. I turned two zeros in both the ABA number and the account number to letter o's, and leeted the two names involved, just in case. I've kept the Swift Code, since it has about 20,000 Google results.

Quote:

BANK NAME: ---------------BANK OF NEW YORK
BANK ADDRESS: -----------11 WALL STREET
SWIFT CODE: ---------------------- IRVTUS3N.
ABA NO: -------------------------------0210oo018
ACCOUNT NO: --------------------------- 89oo273844
ACCOUNT NAME: ----------------------- TR4VELEX H.KLTD
BY ORDER: -------------------------------K4WA WATCH MAN.LTD.

For one thing, the bank address is wrong. The Bank of New York is on 1 Wall Street, not 11 Wall street. Of course, I won't inform the lad of this.

What's with the company names? Why is Tr4velex the account name? Wouldn't it be harder to have a bank account used for fraud if it has the name of a company you don't actually own? I don't know how these things work.

Furthermore, what does "by order" even mean, and why would they have a watch manufacturing company listed?

Is it a real bank account? If it probably is, I'll report it. What should I say to the lad? Should I ask him why those companies are mentioned (perhaps as a delay tactic), or just act like it's perfectly normal?

EDIT: I just re-read the email and realized it's weirder than I thought. The lad says it's someone's name! The lad says this:

Quote:

the stated account listed below that belongs to the director of the diplomatic financial Enclave where the fund is and by name Mr. TR4V ELEX H.K

Posted: Sun Apr 25, 2010 1:18 am

Having done some Googling on the Routing Number & Swift Code they both belong to Bank of New York Mellon.

Googling the Account Nmber brings up this page which was in chinese.

It would appear it is a scammers bank account so I'd get it reported and claim yourself a piggy!

Posted: Sun Apr 25, 2010 1:29 am

Likely the Travelex 'name' with the watch 'by order' is a part of the laundering. Travelex do money exchange, travellers cheques, and pre-loaded credit cards and stuff like that - I'll bet the account is genuinely theirs, then they in turn apply the credit to a prepaid cashcard which will be used to empty the card wherever the scammer is. Mr Trav Elex or whatever is the scammer trying to be duplicitous. I would alert Travelex that the 'by order' reference given is being used fraudulently (or via Alan!) As Travelex are a biiiig company and that'll be their common receiving account, so will never be closed.

419Eater is my life Joined: 04 Jul 2009 Posts: 277

I am now about to send an email to several contact addresses of Travelex, most of which probably aren't interested in this sort of thing. I'm providing a couple of messages from the lad, with headers. In my initial message, I'm editing out all the instances of the lad's email address. I'm saying that I'll provide it if I'm requested to (presumably by someone who's actually doing something about it). This is to make sure nobody tips off the lad, just in case. Is this a good idea?

Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 2:28 pm

Please report this along with all supporting documentation to Alan. I have come across this account several times in my baits. The more evidence that Alan amasses against this one and others the more ammunition he has to convince authorities that they ought to be closed. Congrats on the oinker! Very Happy

419Eater is my life Joined: 04 Jul 2009 Posts: 277

I've already reported it to Alan. I'm also reporting it to Travelex themselves today. Does anyone know how the lad might intend to retrieve the money using this account? Does it have to do with the watch manufacturing company?

Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 6:29 pm

It could be that the lad has someone on the inside at Travelex accounting department who is willing to launder the funds for him. In my opinion, I would not take it up with Travelex directly but leave it to Alan and his mysterious cohorts to take it further.

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