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FIU warns against ‘inheritance scam’ letter |10 July 2014

‘If it looks too good to be true, it usually is’

The Seychelles Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) would like to alert the public to an alleged ‘inheritance scam’ letter that is currently being circulated in Seychelles.

The letter is being used to convince members of the public and the business community to reveal their banking details, their communications details and ultimately to send money to a foreign account in Africa.

The FIU warns that any monies transferred in response to this letter are likely to be defrauded and lost to the sender.
A number of Seychellois have already been the recipient of such letters and we believe more people may be receiving them.
How does the scam work?

• The fraudsters get hold of the addresses of its targeted victims and send the scam letter.
• The letter looks genuine and is convincingly written and presented.
• It claims to be from the Chief Auditor or some such senior appointee in a South African bank or ministry.
• The letter asks for help in transferring a large sum of money (e.g. US $18,000,000) into the target persons’ bank account in return for a large share (25%) of the money.
• The letter stresses the urgency and confidentiality of the matter or else the money will be confiscated.
• The letter is highly personalised in tone, addressed in hand writing and posted from South Africa. The letter claims that you are the only person who has been selected.
• If you have accepted the offer you are asked to give personal information, which include your bank account details, identity number, contact details and home address.

The aim of this scam is to get the bank and phone/fax details of its victims. These are then used to make further and more pressured contact and ultimately to convince the targeted person to send money for administrative fees to cover the cost of transferring the large inheritance fund.

This is a common scam methodology with many variations in story-line, sender details and approach. The commonality is the seeking of personal and banking details as well as the transfer of monies, in return for the promise of a much larger sum of money.
 
The public and business community should exercise caution in engaging with any unsolicited correspondence by post, phone or email which offers such an opportunity.

Members of the public who have received such letters can contact the Seychelles Police or the FIU.
Remember ‘If it looks too good to be true, it usually is’.

 

 

 

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