Who wouldn’t want to receive a letter in the mail from an attorney (or someone representing to be an attorney) telling you that you have just inherited some money from a distant relative? Of course you would…so would everyone else. And it’s because we would welcome such a letter that many fall prey to an “Inheritance Scam” from some unscrupulous individual.
While this does happen and is legitimate, there are many times it happens and it is not legitimate. The old term for this is that you have a “long-lost uncle” that recently passed away and left you his inheritance. When it happens for real and is legitimate, the trustee of the estate, the person administering the estate, will contact heirs and let them know of their inheritance. This always comes as a very welcome surprise for the heirs. However, this is also the subject of a very common scam that is increasing all the time as the Gazette Extra reported in, "Police warn of IRS, inheritance scams."
Sadly, this is not a sophisticated scam but it is one that works all the time. It usually consists of someone receiving a letter in the mail informing them of an inheritance, but with a catch. To make sure the person receiving the letter is the appropriate heir, the “heir” is required to provide some personal details and send cash back to help facilitate the process. This is never the process when being contacted by a legitimate trustee or a legitimate attorney.
This should send off warning signals to you if this occurs since it is not the normal procedure for administering an estate. Since people want the inheritance so badly and want to believe it is legitimate, they are often taken in by the scam. They not only lose the cash they sent but they are often then the victims of identity theft. Identity theft is clearly on the rise and is generally much more valuable than the small amount of cash one might sent. For example, someone might ask you to send only $100, a small amount to get access to tens of thousands. The number is small so it seems legitimate. But what they also want are your personal details, often times asking for your social security number and other details in the process. This is where they can make their big score by capturing your identity.
A legitimate estate attorney (or trustee) might contact you someday about an inheritance…this can happen. But be assured, the attorney will never ask you for money up front to tell you about any inheritance that you might receive. And if they do, check with the bar association and see if the attorney is legitimate and then inform them you will be happy to meet with them to discuss the inheritance in more detail before you send any money. This will usually eliminate the scam and they will go away.
If you have any questions about whether an inheritance might be legitimate (or anything else), you can contact the court directly or simply ask me and I can get some more information for you and let you know if you are the target of a scam or a nice chunk of money from your “long lost uncle.”