The great fantasy everyone wants to come true: You receive an email from a lawyer, barrister or bank employee stating a long-lost relative you've never heard of has died. The email goes on to say that after an exhaustive search, you are the only known living heir to your long-lost relative's fortune. Congratulations, you're a MILLIONAIRE! But first, you need to pay the international transfer fee, a bank holding fee or cover some legal expenses and the money is yours!. All you have to do is fax your identification or a bit of personal information (social security number, bank account number and bank routing number, etc.) or simply reply to the email with your information.

The Real Story Behind Inheritance Scams and Email Fraud

Inheritance scams are run by scam artists (usually located in Eastern Europe, Africa or South East Asia) who purchase or steal lists of email addresses. In today's online world it's surprisingly easy to obtain massive lists (tens of thousands) of email addresses containing recipients' full names and often mailing addresses. The email you received was most likely part of a mass emailing sent out to hundred or thousands of individual email addresses. With the help of a laptop computer and a fairly simple computer program scam artists are able to create one email template, leaving the email address and recipients' name blank. The computer program is designed to run through the massive list of email addresses, cutting and pasting each email address and matching recipient name into individual emails based on the template and sends them off to thousands of recipients email accounts. Much like a fisherman who's baited his hook and cast his fishing line, the scam artist sits back and waits to see who will bite. The beauty of this scam is that many recipients of the email are caught off guard and feel a false sense of security because the email was addressed directly to them using their proper full name.

When an unsuspecting recipient takes the bait and decides to reply to the email (and many of them do), the scam artist starts to reel in the hook using an intricate series of online or phone correspondences weaving a web of "advance fee" FRAUD. The scam artists does his best to keep the recipient on the hook by pretends to be a lawyer, barrister or bank employee (depending on the fantasy story used in the initial email) and sends official looking fake bank or government documents that corroborate the story of the long-lost rich, dead relative. While playing the role of an official, scam artists often attempt to get copies of the recipient's ID cards, bank account numbers and other information which will be used to commit identity theft by open credit cards accounts in the recipient's name and make purchases and bank withdrawals from the recipient's existing accounts.

Once a sense of trust has been established, the recipient is pressured to "advance" a small sum of money which is needed to pay "fees" or other expenses. With delicate prodding from the scam artist the recipient begins to believe that they have in fact won the family-tree jackpot and the idea of sending a few hundred (or thousand) dollars to a person they've never met in a foreign country they've never visited beings to sound like a good idea. After all, the recipient is just days or even hours away from becoming extremely rich. Soon blinded by fantasies of dream vacations and millionaire spending sprees, common sense goes out the window and the false promise that once the money's been received the fees or other expenses will quickly be paid and the millions will be immediately wired or shipped to the recipient sounds like a great deal.

Though the fees and other expenses may seem small when compared to the riches they offer make no mistake, even if you are only risking $50 or $100. Any money you send will be gone forever and if it's sent through your bank account or mailed along with any personal identification, the theft of your identity is almost guaranteed.

Scam artists often engage in multiple types of fraud at the same time and are often seen as a notification of a winning lottery ticket or internet sweepstakes. The most well know of these lottery frauds, often called "Nigerian Email Fraud (419 scam)" has devastated the lives of tens of thousands of people throughout the United States and Canada.

How Did They Find Me?

Most people who have an email address for any significant amount of time receive so-called "spam email" (more politely known as "unsolicited commercial email.") Spammers create lists of email addresses by collecting them from websites, buying them from other businesses, and even by guessing possible names on popular email hosts such as Yahoo! mail and Hotmail. It is possible to buy large email lists for relatively small amounts of money. Most people who are running these scams get spam mailing lists in this manner, or buy them from spammers.

What Harm Is There In Contacting Them, "Just In Case"?

There is no point in contacting them "just in case" - no one has ever received the promised money. You won't, either.

Also, the scammer is likely to try to obtain from you information that can be used to fake your identity and commit credit card fraud or bank fraud. Even if they only get your name and bank account number they may be able to forge a bank draft, obtain a fraudulent money transfer from your account, or get credit using your name. If you give them any information, they will try to use it to cheat you.

Third, some of these scammers will actively try to lure you to Africa with the intention of holding you for ransom.

You may have seen sites where people turned the tables on the scammers, making them do foolish things or stringing them along. But it's safer just to delete their emails and forget them.

Sample Spam Emails

The following are sample spam emails from this particular scam:

Who Are The People Named In The Emails?

In order to make these spam emails seem more real, the scammers use a wide assortment of fake names, and at times also use the names of real people.

You just received an email from somebody - perhaps a barrister, a relative of a deposed head of state, or a widow in distress - asking for your help. The email may seem almost comical, containing childish spelling and grammatical errors. The person who sent you the email claims to have an enormous amount of cash - millions of dollars - but they can't get it out of the country in which it is situated. If only you will assist them, they will give you a considerable commission amounting to millions of dollars. All they need is a good hearted person with a bank account, and...

It sounds "way too good to be true".... But it is also awfully tempting. Isn't it? What's the possible harm if you reply....

But The Letter I Received Is From A Different Country

Please do not make the mistake of assuming that the same type of offer from another country, such as South Africa, Zimbabwe, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Kenya, Senegal, Zaire, the Congo, the United Arab Emirates, or Sierra Leone, or even European nations such as England or Spain, is legitimate. There are people who operate the same type of fraud from a wide range of nations. Also, some scammers who are located in Nigeria will lie about their location.

Please remember that this type of email is always fraudulent, no matter who sends it or where they claim to be from.

I Got The Same Type Of Letter, But By Fax - Is That Different?

Prior to the rise of email, it was common for this type of scammer to approach people by fax or even by regular mail. I am sure they are working on a way to reach people by instant messenger. However they reach you, they are trying to cheat you.

Another Example of a Scam Letter

The following is a sample spam letter from this particular scam: