Roy’s Fraud Story: You’re Not an ‘Heir’, You’re a Target!

Roy, who calls Webster, NH home, has been targeted several times for “beneficiary” scams, also known as “inheritance” scams.

Twice, Roy received a letter in the mail from an “England bank” stating they had researched his family, and he was the only heir left to receive a large inheritance. All Roy needed to do to collect 12.5 million pounds (or roughly $16 million dollars), was respond to the solicitor assigned to the case via phone or email. From there, the scam would have probably required Roy to provide a wire transfer number to his bank so he could receive his “inheritance”.

Roy thought this was very suspicious since the news of the inheritance was completely out of the blue.

He started doing some investigating on his own to get to the bottom of it. He started with examining the letter he received and noticed it wasn’t on bank letterhead—a definite red flag. During some simple online sleuthing, he looked up the bank’s website. Although the bank name was legit, nothing else was. Roy recognized it was an “inheritance” scam and threw the letter away. And just like that, he ended the scam.

Fortunately, Roy knew the red flags to look out for.

Due to Roy’s quick thinking, he was able to spot and stop a scam. After throwing the letters in the mail and disengaging from the scam, he also reported it to his local police department. Reporting is an important step because it helps local law enforcement know what types of scams are currently going on in the area. Just one person reporting a scam can be the start of information gathering that may lead to bringing down the criminals.
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IF YOU CAN SPOT A SCAM, YOU CAN STOP A SCAM
It is important to remember that legitimate financial institutions will never send you a letter asking you for your personal information. When in doubt, call the bank or company directly and don’t use the phone number or email provided to you in the correspondence, as that contact information is part of the scam.

For more information about Inheritance Scams, watch this video.

To learn more about AARP’s Fraud Watch Network, click here.