What does inheritance fraud offer?
Someone very rich has died and you are in line to
receive a huge inheritance.
How does inheritance fraud work?
You receive an email or letter from an
overseas lawyer or some other legal official. You are told
that a person sharing your family name has died and left behind a
vast amount of money.
The lawyer is administering the inheritance and has been unable
to identify any of the dead person’s relatives. As a result,
the money will go to the government. The lawyer suggests that
because you share the same family name as the deceased, he could
pay the inheritance to you. You could then split the money
between you, rather than handing it over to the
government.
The fraudsters will emphasise the need
for secrecy and warn you not to tell anyone else about the
deal. To hurry you into making a hasty decision, they will also
stress the need to act quickly.
There is no inheritance and the person
contacting you is not a lawyer or legal official.
If you respond to the fraudsters, they will ask you to
pay various fees - for example: taxes, legal
fees, banking fees etc. - so that they can release your
non-existent inheritance.
Each time you make a payment, the fraudsters will come
up with a reason why the inheritance can’t be paid out
unless you make another payment. If you ask, they
will also give you reasons why the fees cannot be taken from your
inheritance and have to be paid up-front.
If you become reluctant to pay a fee or suggest you can’t afford
it, the fraudsters will put pressure on you by
reminding you how close you are to receiving a sum of money much
greater than the fees you have already handed over and of how much
you have already paid out.
The fraudsters may also ask for your bank
details so that they can pay the inheritance directly into
your bank account. But if you hand over your bank details, the
fraudsters can use them to empty your account.
How do I recognise an inheritance fraud?
- The amount of money involved and the
percentage offered to you will be extremely
large
- Letters/documents provided by the fraudsters
are generally badly written. Look out for
spelling mistakes and poor grammar
- Be aware if you are asked to contact a webmail
address such as @Yahoo or @Hotmail. As a rule, legitimate law firms
do not use them
- A legitimate law firm is highly unlikely to
pay out an inheritance to someone who is not entitled to it. Any
offer of a payout indicates that someone is up to no good
- Fraudsters often claim that the person who has died was the
victim of a well-publicised
incident, such as a plane crash. To add
credibility, they may even use the identity of someone who really
did die in the incident.
What should I do?
- End all further contact with
the fraudsters
- Do not send any more money
- If you have already given the fraudsters your bank account
details, alert your bank immediately. If you
haven’t yet given the fraudsters your bank account details,
don’t
- If you receive any threats from the fraudsters once you have
stopped co-operating with them, alert the police
immediately
- Be aware that you are now likely to be a
target for other frauds. Fraudsters often share details about
people they have successfully targeted or approached, using
different identities to commit further frauds
- People who have already fallen victim to fraudsters are
particularly vulnerable to the fraud
recovery fraud. This is when fraudsters contact people
who have already lost money through fraud and claim to be law
enforcement officers or lawyers.
They advise the victim that they can help them recover their lost
money - but request a fee.