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Inheritance mail scam pops up in Coquitlam

Resident gets a letter in the mail promising $3.8 million if she responds by email
Fraud
Watch out for letters in the mail that promise money in exchange for information, says the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. A Coquitlam resident received one of these letters addressed to her this week.

A Coquitlam resident is warning people to beware of an inheritance scam after receiving a solicitation in the mail this week that promised $3.8 million if she got back to the sender via email.

What was creepy about the letter was that it was addressed to her by name to her home address.

“This is scary because this is personally coming in your mail, it’s not an email one.”

But the letter, with a likely fake Canadian postmark and addressed to her last name and an initial, likely pulled from her landline phone identification, looked as phony as a $2 dollar bill.

“You just have to contact them via email, then they’re going to say in order to deposit this into your account you’re going to need to send more information,” the resident told The Tri-City News.

The envelope is marked with an address on Yonge Street in Toronto, Ont., but the letter writer states that he’s a financial consultant from the U.S.

Poor English grammar and random capitals also alerted the recipient that the letter was false.

“I am aware that this letter has come to you as a surprise. As we have not met before, or had an Business transaction in the Past. (sic) Nevertheless, I have contacted you with genuine intentions and you won’t regret receiving this letter it (sic),” the letter reads.

She has called the RCMP about the inheritance scam letter and wanted to alert Tri-City News readers because she knows of people who were nearly scammed by the CRA scam that promises a refund in exchange for credit card information.

“There are people who fall for this, I wanted people to know.”

According to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, this letter is common and is sometimes referred to as the Nigerian, 419 or West African Fraud, with people receiving solicitations from Canada, United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Hong Kong, China, Brazil, Japan, Italy, Malaysia and South Africa.

As in this case, the potential victim is advised that a distance relative has died and they are entitled to a large inheritance. However, before any funds can be released, the consumer must pay one or more fees up front.

The fraud centre reports that legitimate estates do not solicit in this manner.