I just got word from another family member of an email from 'Sir John Kempwelch,' a 'senior partner in the firm of Infinity Consultants' indicating he was being offered the chance to inherit a large amount of money, left when a person of the same last name died without any apparent heir. I think we've all received these from time-to-time, but it's always good to be a bit skeptical about offers that appear too good to be true. So, here's what I do...
A few quick searches (use the subject of the email or the part of the first sentence) turned up several pages, all with the same offer, using the exact same words, just a different name for the deceased and a different name for the 'senior partner.' Apparently, we're not the only ones getting this letter! In the past, not only have I inherited great sums of money, but I have also been 'warned' of some security breaches on my PayPal account (I didn't have one at the time), that a credit card company wanted me to verify my account information (but the email contained too many spelling errors to be legitimate), and that I could help sponsor a well-to-do foreigner that needed assistance getting into the country.
Sometimes, the only intent was to create panic and a flood of emails to everyone in my address book, who would, in turn, do the same with their address books, which mimics what a lot of viruses do.
