These emails are personalised and the writer appears articulate and plausible, in the hope that the receiver will be deceived into believing it is authentic.

Often, after receiving a positive reply, the fraudster only seeks a small amount of money in relation to administrative fees. This amount is kept at a small scale so that the receiver of the email will engage further with the fraudster. The intention is to gather more details from the receiver after they have engaged, such as bank account details, address, date of birth, allowing the fraudster to steal the receiver’s identity and potentially steal from their bank account.

• View a copy of the scam email

Precautions

• Solicitors and members of the public should be extremely vigilantwhen receiving any email that suggests the possibility of an inheritance, particularly from an unknown individual.
• Do not respond to this type of email.
• The old adage “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is” applies.