How Do Inheritance Scams Work?

Scammers that use the inheritance scam are often looking for more than just your money. They prey on your desire to get rich quick in order to take money as well as your personal information. Your information will then be used to access your credit or bank account in order to rob you of even more money in the future.

Inheritance scams are just another variety of email scamming. Victims receive a message that states they have either been awarded money as an inheritance of someone who has died, or alternatively that there is a way for them to be named as a relative of someone who has just died in order to fraudulently collect money.

Inheritance Scams Require Sending Money

Sometimes, the scammer will say that they want in the deal by sharing the money with the victim. It is described as a way for both people to make money as someone needs to be named as a relative of this person who has died.

Note that the victim will never know the person who supposedly died, and the person is usually not even real.

Once a response is made to one of these emails, the scammer will explain that the victim must first send money to them to initiate the deal. This may be described as a fee for being named the relative, clearing payment, or any other number of excuses.

In some cases the victim sends the money and it ends there, but not always. Sometimes they will never receive any money and then later find that their identity has been used fraudulently as well. This is why all types of personal information should be protected when you are dealing with someone you do not know over the Internet.

Never Give Out Your Personal Information

Inheritance Scams Are Far Too Real

Today, they can take your name and address or other very basic information and get access to some of your accounts. Never hand out personal information, especially bank account or credit card numbers to people you do not know.

No one from Nigeria or any other foreign country is going to automatically assign you as their heir and leave you millions of dollars. There are many variations on the email that goes around for this type of scam, but they are all very easy to spot by the unrealistic claim. A lot people out there really just ignore these emails (or they caught in the spam folder), but surprisingly people fall for them on a daily bases. They will generally have phrases that just don’t make sense (grammar.)