Warning over latest scam
Scammers are targeting Shetland residents with phoney letters dangling the prospect of an inheritance from a long-lost relative whose funds have been deposited in China.
The letters say that the late relative instructed his money to be put into a “specialist bank”, in which the money sits unclaimed.
The writer urges the recipient of the letter to get in touch by email to make sure they get some money, which otherwise will fall into the hands of the government.
SIC trading standards chief David Marsh warned people not to respond. He said: “It has all the hallmarks of a scam and it’s too good to be true. It tries to get people to hand over an administration fee which they’ll never see again.”
He urged people to bin the letters and added: “More than a dozen different versions of the same letter have been reported to us between yesterday and today. Each tells an identical story, but uses a different surname for a person called Charles who is said to have died in China leaving a large unclaimed fortune. There are also several different first names used for the sender.
“We have contacted Microsoft, who have closed down the email address being used so that nobody can now reply to one of these letters if they were unfortunate enough to be taken in by the story.”
Citizens Advice say the scam has been around for some years and warn that people should not be taken in.
ARNY HANDELMAN
There are many legitimate asset locators who are in business. They find unclaimed or abandoned monies, and trace the rightful owner. They seek to reunite the rightful owner with the money they are entitled to. Unfortunately, scams as describe in this article abound. As a result, the public are wary to the point where they will not listen to the real deal. One church minister was contacted with information on about 10,000 pounds that had been left by his deceased mother in an abandoned account. It would be impossible for him to find the money. He refuses to listen, and as a result, the money will continue to rot away until it is ultimately seized by the government, ostensibly for the “public good”. In another case, a woman died leaving 50,000 pounds in an unclaimed account. Her daughter similarly refuses to take calls or texts to even listen to the information. It is very frustrating for legitimate personnel in the asset locating profession.
Elaine Young
I had one too for the late Charles Young. I wondered how many letters this person had sent and the cost of postage, but then again if only one person replies to the con/scam they probably will get their money back. I hope no one has!
Johan Adamson
I think evey house must have got one, we got charles Adamson and Charles Leslie. Jee there musta been a lot o Shetlanders in China (all called Charles)
paul barlow
poor Charles he has been really unlucky recently.