Fake inheritance scam strikes again
Although for many of us, fake inheritance scams are a regular occurrence, and result in nothing more than a swift departure into the “Deleted” email box, it seems that many people of retirement age are still parting with their savings, in the hope of securing a “surprise” – and non-existent inheritance.
It was recently reported in a Bedfordshire newspaper that a number of vulnerable and elderly people across the county and in Cornwall, the West Midlands, Essex and Lincolnshire were conned into paying out a total of £300,000 during a recent scam, concocted by a number of men from London and Essex.
Sending letters to individuals, notifying them of a fictional $ US 10 million held in a Hong Kong bank, several victims were interested enough to travel to London, where they were told that the money was held in a bag which had been blackened. The bag was not shown, but some of the alleged money was – blackened, of course.
Assured that the money would be valid once it had been cleaned, the victims were then asked to pay for the cleaning fluid or to have the money passed through a special “cleaning machine”. Of course, once the funds had been received, the inheritance never materialised.
Although investigations are still continuing, nine victims have so far been identified – one man even parting with £150,000.
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