Have you ever heard of a sweetheart scam? With online dating become more and more popular, sites like match.com and Zoosk are becoming a hotbed for con-men (and con-women) who want your West Palm Beach inheritance! Do you know how to protect yourself or possibly your elderly parents from being conned out of an inheritance? Do you think this could not happen to you? Then you may want to hear about a recent bunch of cons happening across the pond in the United Kingdom that have decimated several inheritances.
Inheritance Scams in West Palm Beach
- There are two large types of inheritance scams that Palm Beach probate lawyers worry about.
- The first is what I like to call the long lost relative con.
- In this case you will get a correspondence via e-mail or snail mail that says a long lost relative left you a huge inheritance.
- The problem is you will have to send them money to free up the funds.
- This should smell fishy because experienced Palm Beach probate litigators know that debts owed can be set off using an inheritance, there is no need to advance funds.
- Furthermore these things are controlled by the Palm Beach probate court which does not take advances.
- If you are asked to advance funds you need to watch out this spells SCAM.
- Also look for who is sending out the notices.
- Often the scams say they are from a bank that is holding funds.
- That makes no sense to an experienced Palm Beach probate litigator.
- Banks do not probate a will, the courts do with the help of a personal representative.
- What other type of scams are out there dealing with inheritance?
- These are sometimes called sweetheart scams.
Sweetheart Scams
- Several women were scammed by a conman in England out of their entire inheritance, one even ended up in debt over his “investments.”
- If you have an elderly parent that is using online dating websites you may want to be careful.
- This is a great place to get scammed, the con-men know the person is somewhat lonely and a quick search of ages allows them to hone in on a good target.
- Do not let your West Palm Beach inheritance be next.
- Do you know how to protect you, your family and your inheritance?