Royal Bank of Scotland Money Transfer -- Is this Legitimate?

Several people have been asking me about Royal Bank of Scotland money transfer. 

They said they have received emails from Royal Bank of Scotland telling them they are recipients or beneficiaries of big amounts of money, and that all they have to do is to pay a fee before they can actually get the money. The name of the fee varies: transaction fee, foreign exchange fee, courier fee, ATM card delivery fee, or insurance cost. The fee ranges from 4,000 pesos to 15,000 pesos, or more

If you have received similar emails, do not respond to them. Ignore them. They are FRAUDULENT. They're a SCAM. 

Most probably, these emails are not even from abroad, but from within the Philippines.

Why are these a SCAM? Because of one or more of the following reasons:

1.  You are being asked to send money before you can receive the remittance. 

     If it's a TRUE remittance, you DO NOT pay anything to receive it. In a legitimate remittance, it is the SENDER who pays for the remittance fee. And the remittance fee must be paid by the Sender before the remittance can be sent. If the foreign remittance is sent to you through your bank account, and the bank charges an incoming remittance fee, it is deducted by the bank from the remittance. The bank does not ask you money for the incoming remittance fee.

2.  If you don't know the person sending you money, it's possible you are being recruited to become a Money Mule. 

Gagamitin ang bank account mo para sa pag-transfer ng mga ninakaw na pera. Remember, being a Money Mule is a crime. Parang Drug Mule.

  

Huwag mong isipin na hindi mate-trace ang money transfer sa iyo. Lahat na ngayon ay puedeng ma-trace. At hindi mo puedeng sabihin na hindi mo alam na ginagamit pala ang bank account mo sa FRAUD.

Is There a Royal Bank of Scotland in the Philippines?

No, there's no Royal Bank of Scotland in the Philippines. 

There was, however, a Royal Bank of Scotland business in the Philippines from 2008 to 2010. In 2008, the Royal Bank of Scotland Group tried to explore operating in the Philippines by buying ABN Amro Bank. But in 2010, it decided to sell its operations to Robinsons Bank Corp.

BSP records show that Royal Bank of Scotland (Philippines) had 3.57 billion pesos in total assets as of December 31, 2009. It ranked No. 35 by total assets among 38 commercial/universal banks in the Philippines.

ABN Amro Bank Inc. (A Commercial Bank) had 6.78 billion pesos in total assets as of December 31, 2008, ranking No. 33 among 38 commercial/universal banks in the Philippines.

Is There a Real Royal Bank of Scotland?

Yes. Its operations are in the UK. It's main office is on 36 St. Andrew Square, Edinburgh, EH2 2YB, UK. It's in Scotland, one of the 4 constituent countries of the UK. The other three are England, Wales and Northern Ireland.