There Is No Free Money: Inheritance Scams

Have you ever dreamed of inheriting a lot of money from a rich relative? Well, you would be the perfect mark for an Inheritance scam. 

The two types of inheritance scams show that some people who get scammed may be complicit in it. All the scammer does is manipulate you depending on how greedy you are! Inheritance scams are very similar. They may take these two scenarios:

The Charity Angle

The scammer poses as the lawyer of the deceased who knows about an inheritance.  This inheritance belonged to a rich but distant relative. One of whom you have never heard. They claim he made a will to hand over his wealth to a relative like you. Usually, the letter from the lawyer will have the usual legal jargon and a fancy logo to give it some legit feel. Don't fall for that. Conmen know how to create real-looking documents. Here is how to spot fake documents.

The inheritance will normally have one other condition: giving a large portion to charity then you get to keep the rest for yourself. 

You may be introduced to yet another banker or tax agent as part of the scam. A move that is intended to boost your confidence. Another such move is for you to provide your identification documents for “verification”. 

They then express satisfaction with you as the right candidate. Then you are asked to facilitate processing fees. The entire communication and documents showed were building to this moment. Because this is the real scam. You will lose your money and there is no recourse. 

Partner in Crime

In this second case, communications will begin with a well-written email. “A wealthy millionaire philanthropist died and his inheritance remains unclaimed because he had no children.” 

They contacted you because you have the same last name as the deceased. They can help you claim his monies. The scammer, posing as an agent, knows a clever trick to ensure it works. He has supporting documents having worked for the wealthy man. They will share with you legitimate-looking documents like the one below to support his case.

All they need is for you to come on board.

Right from the start, you know that you are planning to scam the bank with this person. You plan to present yourself as the rightful heir to claim this wealth. What you don’t know is that the real scam is on you. At the very end when you have met and planned and agreed, you will need to pay a fee to process the “legal and financial aspects” of service.

This is the real scam, an Advance Fee! Once you pay, your partner in crime will disappear without a trace! And it’s only then that you find out that there was no inheritance in the first place!

Bolder scammers will continue coming up with numerous small fees that need to be paid before the money can be released by the bank. You become their host as they suck you dry like parasites. Others still threaten you with reporting to the authorities for participating in a fraudulent deal. As you can see, all these options are bad for you.

Best not get involved from the start!

How to Protect Yourself from Inheritance Scams

• KNOW THAT NOTHING COMES FOR FREE; especially not a fat bank account! Scammers know that people are willing to do anything for easy money. And that is how they get you.
  
  
• DO NOT respond to emails claiming that you have a large inheritance waiting for you. Mark such emails as spam.