Just as surely as the sun will rise tomorrow, the promises of great riches and wealth continue to pour into people’s mail boxes and computer in-boxes.
The letters, usually from Africa or Asia, offer the recipients a portion of millions of dollars which for one reason or another is unclaimed in a bank.
Mark Poppe’s mother received a letter addressed to her husband Omer, who has been deceased for two years. The postmark is from somewhere in South Africa with no return address. The letter contains grammatical errors and the big promise of 44 per cent of $35 million if you only supply them with a few relevant details like your banking information.
Do not reply with any information. The old adage, “If its seems too good to be true, it probably is,” should be heeded when it comes to these types of letters whether they come in your e-mail or through the regular mail. They are a scam and they target older people and those who are more susceptible. Your responses will be used for identity theft, or worse draining your bank accounts.
Other scams to be aware of are the ones from some relative claiming they are stranded in another country and they have lost their wallet or some such thing, and they need short term loan from you. This is possible because someone has gotten into your email account, possibly by posing as a representative of Hotmail or Yahoo and stating your account will be closed if you don’t update/provide information. From that point on you can no longer access your email account. The scammers have gone into your emails to get names and email addresses.
Other scams include bank notifications with realistic looking logos. They also want your personal banking information. You should be aware that no bank will ask for information over the Internet or phone.
There are so many scams out there and they prey upon the needy and the trusting.
Mark Poppe said he warns people to shred their personal documents and to remove identifiers on items thrown into recycling.