Is there an unclaimed inheritance waiting for you?
Have you been missing something lately...like an aunt or an uncle, a second-cousin twice removed? Perhaps you didn't know that they were missing at all. Worse still, even though they've been found to have died recently you can't remember them even being born.
Don't let that stop you when that unsolicited letter from some charlatan attorney reaches your mailbox. It may be carrying the good news that an unknown relative has an unclaimed inheritance waiting for you to pick up just by filling in the form and attaching a cheque for $30. This of course is the essential admin fee for processing the necessary searches just to make sure that the dead aunt was really part of your family.
While many countries hold unclaimed assets in trust funds available to those who can present proof of their entitlement it is rare that they hold large amounts.
Unscrupulous white-collar criminals know this but when sending out their bulk mail. They'll come across an unclaimed inheritance and then mail out a letter to all families who bear the same last name. The chances of you being the actual recipient are incredibly small but if you pay the $30 you'll have peace of mind that it wasn't.
How do you cover yourself from this type of fraud? Firstly, check with other family members as to the possibility of long-lost relative. If there was an Aunt who ended up living as a hermit on some remote island then your chances have increased. Unfortunately, so has the rest of the family's.
Secondly, attorney's that preside over wills and estates do not charge the beneficiaries for their services. Their income is derived from the person creating the will.
While $30 may not seem a big deal and if you lost it for that "peace-of-mind" it may actually appear as an investment. But remember these charlatans are ripping you off and should be held accountable for their fraudulent acts.
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