Forum: money.stackexchange.com
Tags: <taxes><united-kingdom><scams>
Title: Someone asking money for help to pay taxes of kin claiming fund in UK
Question: Please help me. I'm in contact with someone who is an American soldier. He said that UK HM Revenue & Customs asked him to pay a large amount to recover the funds of his dead father. The total amount is £1,900,000 and the total tax is £109,500.Is it true that the UK is asking him to pay the taxes to recover the fund?

Answers:
sents: text: This is a scam.
text: Do not give them any money.
text: A quick search on this site will yield many examples of this scam.
answer_details: author: money.stackexchange.com/users/42276/acpilot
score: 14
sents: text: How can I say this more clearly?
text: SCAM, SCAM, SCAM !
text: This is another one of the oldest scams out there, where you've won a prize or an inheritance
text: has come in, and all you have to do is pay the taxes on it to claim it.
text: Don't be a sucker !
text: Ask yourself why the government couldn't (and wouldn't) just take the taxes due out of the funds they have and give the rest to the person they belong to?
text: Wouldn't that be the smartest and easiest thing to do?
text: As an example, let's say that you have $1,000 that belongs to me, and I owe you $100.
text: Would you tell me to pay you the $100
text: and then you'll give me the $1,000 or
text: would you take the $100 I owe you out of the $1,000 and give me the remaining $900?
text: The fact this is someone you know from the internet and they want your "help" to claim their money should tell you how much of a scam this is.
text: Stop talking to this person, and don't tell them anything personal about you .
text: They are scam artists, and whatever you tell them could be used to steal your identity or take your money.
text: Be careful, my friend!
answer_details: author: money.stackexchange.com/users/44016/Daniel Anderson
score: 10
sents: text: Think about it...
text: If the government has the money why would the government need more money to cover the tax on the money that the government already has?
text: Couldn't the government just withhold 109,500 from the 1,900,000 it's holding already?
answer_details: author: money.stackexchange.com/users/22881/quid
score: 7
sents: text: This is a scam.
text: There is no soldier, no money ...
text: This is a story to gain sympathy and make one part with Bank account and other details so that the scammer can make away with your money.
answer_details: author: money.stackexchange.com/users/1113/Dheer
score: 6
sents: text: There is no doubt that this is a scam (you ask a British solicitor for help with this sort of problem, not an American friend) but it's not as obvious as some answers seem to assume.
text: Inheritance taxes always have to be paid before legacies can be received, and the funds are part of the estate not "in the hands of the government".
text: There are certainly ways round the problem (which vary by country), but if the facts were as the asker sets out, this would be a reasonable request.
text: You can bet they aren't and it isn't.
answer_details: author: money.stackexchange.com/users/51784/TimLymington
score: 1

Summary of the answers:
This is a scam. A quick search will yield many examples. 
This is a well-known scam. A quick search online will yield many examples of this scam. It is one version of the oldest scams out there, where they state have won a prize or an inheritance. This is a story to gain sympathy and encourage you part with bank account and other details so that the scammer can steal your money.