Gardaí in Donegal are warning the public about a sophisticated version of a common inheritance scam.
The scam involves a person being contacted by a foreign Solicitor’s office advising them that they have been left a massive sum of money from a recently deceased relation.
This scam usually takes the form of an email but gardaí recently received a report from a man who received this scam in the form of a letter.
“The sum of money was astronomical and of course this is when alarm bells would ring for most people and they would question the validity of the letter,” said garda spokesperson, Garda Claire Rafferty.
“The worrying aspect of this particular scam is the fact that the letter was correctly addressed and the recipient was named. This may add an air of credibility to it for some people.”
“We do not want anybody to fall victim to this or any other type of scam so we ask everybody to please advise elderly or vulnerable family members and friends in relation to it.”
Garda Rafferty issued key advice on this scam: “Should anyone receive this type of letter, we advise them to bin it. Do not make contact via the email address provided on the letter or correspond with the sender in any way. As we always say, If it seems too good to be true then it usually is!
