Emails you may receive telling you have inherited money
and which requests personal details
are clearly posing a threat to your personal identity, and may later ask for money
to be sent to cover expenses, even a small amount.
How Inheritance Scams Work
Another name for these "estate locators" is "research
specialists". However, they didn't target you by completing any research.
Instead you received this contact as part of a mass mailing sent across the
world to people who share the same last name as yours. Each one of these folks
is told there is cash from inheritances that have been located in their names.
The research specialists make money by asserting they've put together an estate
report that includes information on where the inheritances are located and how
they can be claimed. For a relatively small fee you can receive this report.
They may also propose to administer your inheritance claim for you, for another
"small fee".
Everyone with the same last name across our nation
received the exact same information regarding these estates. So the chance that
any one of these folks who received the letter is the actual heir is slim to
none. The con artists perpetrating this type of inheritance scam purposefully
choose smaller inheritances on the off chance that someone receiving their
correspondence turns out to be an actual heir with rights to claim the
inheritance assets. Once the funds are claimed, they will probably be less than
the fee that was paid to the people promoting this scam.
Often spelling and grammar is poor and their contact email is
usually to a (free) account of dubious name.
Sometimes the content is brief, other times long with
unnecessary details with poor command of the use of language, usually English.
Sometimes the link is genuine to a story backing up some
of the email content, other times it calls a DIFFERENT web URL which is
also fake. We have REMOVED the web links in the emails below.
Genuine and professional probate researchers and Heir
Hunters do NOT make contact by email, they usually make contact by
telephone, letter or in person. They usually have some form of identification
and will quite happily allow you to take advice before agreeing to discussions
on the subject of a possible inheritance.
Never reply to any such emails. After reading the
more common scam emails please report and
forward any
new scam emails to
us here
Please do NOT forward identical or similar ones to ours.
These scams below were sent to us by visitors to the HHA web site
by people concerned (rightly so) about their content.
### Scam 1 ###
Pretending to be from the BBC and uses an authentic web link.
Hello There,
I am writing you from Heir Hunters Company in the United kingdom , Heir
Hunters probate detectives looking for distant relatives of people who have died
without making a will, here is our website page on BBC TWO News,
We came across your email while searching and we will be glad if you can get
back to us with your full name, date of birth, address and your direct number if
it corresponds with the one on our data base in order to enable us carry out
necessary process and to get your claim across to you without any delay.
Pretending to be a lawyer and clearly inserts the name of the
deceased <>, and suggests you are related and due big money. Lots of unnecessary
information with bad spelling and grammar.
Subject: Dear < your name >l
Dear < your name >,
From time immemorial, those who have been inspired to bring change have all
employed one thing in common, innovation, creative tools, and most importantly
through good thinking. I have no doubt in my mind that there will be a complete
life turn around, by the end of this deal and I have decided to contact you
having in mind that friendship starts from a point in time as friends today were
once strangers.
I am Barr. Benjamin Allan a legal practitioner, I am the personal attorney to
M. S. < your family name here >, a consultant, who used to work as a contractor
to Ecowas in Lome Togo.On the 26th December 2003, our deceased customer, his
wife and their only daugther were involved in a plane crash in a village called
Adjarra near Porto Novou after take off from Cotonou in Benin Republic where
they went for a Concert . It was unfortunate that our deceased customeer and his
family all lost their lives in that crash.For more on the plane crash log on to
;
http://www.facebook.com/l/28462;news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/
africa/3348109.stm
Since then I have made several inquiries to the embassy to locate any of my
clients relatives, this has proved unsuccessful.After these several unsuccessful
attempts, I decided to track his last name over the Internet, to locate any of
his remote relatives hence I contacted you. I have contacted you to assist in
repatriating the fund valued at US$10.5 million left behind by my client before
it gets confiscated or declared unserviceable by the Finance Firm where this
huge amount was deposited.
The said Finance Company has issued me a notice to provide the next of kin or
have his account confiscated within the next twenty-one working days.
Since I have been unsuccessful in locating the relatives for over 2years now,
I seek your consent to present you as the next of kin to the deceased since you
have the same last name, so that the proceeds of this account can be paid to
you.Therefore, on receipt of your positive response, we shall then discuss the
sharing ratio and modalities for transfer.I have all necessary information and
legal documents needed to back you up for the claim.
All I require from you is your honest cooperation to enable us see this
transaction through. I guarantee that this will be executed under legitimate
arrangements that will protect you from any breach of the law.Please contact me
directly on my private email adddress below
Best Regards
Benjamin Allan (Esq)
Principal Attorney,
Lome Togo.
Email; esqadvocateben01@gmail.com
Benjamin has shared a link to a news story with you. To view the news story
or to reply to the message, follow this link:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?inbox/readmessage.php&t=1045247427338&mid=12fe18bG269d944aG3b0407bG0M
Good day, my name is Yang Ming I worked as a senior Investigation Officer for
Heir Hunters International Probate and Genealogy Research. Our firm has been
conducting world-class research for over 30 years, and has dealt with over 7,000
inheritance cases. Since 1991 alone, we have enabled our clients to inherit over
¢G800 million. We assist the legal profession in tracing and locating missing or
unknown beneficiaries. The majority of our work arises from intestate estates
where the deceased person has died without leaving a will. In these cases we
will trace the statutory next of kin of the deceased according to the Laws of
Intestacy. Alternatively, we might work on the estate of a person who has died
leaving a valid will but the whereabouts of the Executors, Trustees or
beneficiaries may be unknown I worked as part of the team that covered the
entire Asia region. I have gone to great lengths to find your contact details
through great personal endeavours.
My job was to trace relatives of people who left no will before their death.
Before my new assignment here in Estonia I discovered that an unclaimed estate
worth ¢G25,000.000 (Twenty Five Million Pounds) belonging to a client ¡V
Deceased Eight years ago. Unfortunately, the whereabouts of my late client
Executors are unknown. If his estate is unclaimed it would automatically revert
to the government. I do sincerely sympathise his death but I think it is
unprofitable for this fund to be submitted to the government of this country or
some financial institution. My aim is to retrieve this fund and let it be
claimed by the deceased family name. For this I seek your assistance since I
have been unable to locate the relatives for almost Five years now.
I have reasoned very professionally and I can use a legal means to present a
next of kin of the deceased. This is legally possible and would be done in
accordance with the laws of the land. On this note I decided to search for a
credible person and finding that you are of the same nationality, I was urged to
contact you, that I may, with your consent, present you to the "treasury" as the
Late Edgars Martins Prynne family member so as to enable you to put up a claim
in the capacity of next of kin to the Late Edgars Martins.
I find this possible for the fuller reasons that you bear the same last name and
of same nationality with the deceased making it a lot easier for you to put up a
claim in that capacity. We can obtain all vital documents that would confer you
the legal right to make this claim. I have all the information and guidance to
enable you and I realise this opportunity. I have evaluated the risk analysis
and there is none to you, as long as you maintain confidentiality.
I guarantee that this will be executed under a legitimate arrangement that will
protect you from any breach of law. I will not fail to bring to your notice that
this proposal is hitch-free and that you should not entertain any fears as the
required arrangements have been made for the completion of this transfer. As you
should understand, I am taking a great risk contacting you and making this
proposal. Therefore, you should understand why I must say no more about this
transaction until I receive an email from you confirming receipt of this mail.
Once secured communication has been established between you and me, detailed
clarifications will be dealt with, such as what each party stand to benefit and
time scale and procedures. Time is not in our favour. Please establish secured
communication with me on [yan.mingxx@gmail.com]
I look forward to a mutual beneficial relationship with you.
Yours sincerely
Yan Ming
### Scam 4 ###
FROM: MR ABNER PETERS LOME TOGO.
Mr Frederick Codd's Estate
Dear Codd ,
I am Barrister Abner Peters, a legal practitioner practicing in the state of
Lome in Togo.I am the family attorney to (Mr F. Codd ),a national of your
country.
Mr F. Codd died with his family in an auto accident On the 10th of
november,2005.I have made several attempts to locate any of Mr F. Codd`s
relatives,all to no avail.
I have contacted you to claim the estate of Mr F. Codd valued at USD12.5
million since you share the same last name.
The bank has issued me a notice to provide the next of kin or have his funds
pushed into the government treasury as unclaimed bills.
Under a clear and legitimate agreement with you, I shall seek your consent to
be presented as the next of Kin, so that my late Clients' Fund will not be
Confiscated by the Bank and pushed into the bank treasury as unclaimed bills
rather release to you.
For the sake of Transparency on this matter, you are free to make immediate
contact for further clarification and explanation on this matter.
I will also need you to reconfirm your full name and contact telephone number to
ascertain the fact that I am dealing with the right person.
Upon receipt of your response i will give you the details of this transaction.
Get back to me for more details of this transaction on my private email ID
abnerpeters62@live.fr
Note that this claim is legitimate.
I await your prompt response.
Best Regards
Abner Peters (Esq)
### Scam 5 ### - the SMS Scam
I believe I was scammed, got a sms on my phone to send a
email to heirhunters@revenue.com Here's what I got back from the email+ claim
Our record indicates that T. Olsrud is the next of kin
to late Mr. Mark Peter Olsrud. You may or may not be related to the deceased but
having explored all possible links to the deceased to no avail, we strongly
consider the similarity to your name a possible relative to the deceased.
The amount is £4.6 Million GB Pound Sterling (Four
Million Six Hundred Thousand ) if you feel convinced you are the said next of
Kin, please complete the attached claim form and return to enable us commence
affidavit backed claim procedure in you favour.
Thanks
J Adams
Head of Operations (Claims BIS)
## The attachment is a confusing document but it is
clear some fee or information would be requested from the recipient result if a
financial loss, or potentially theft of your very identity. Ignore the email and
delete any associated attachments.
