Inheritance scams have not been slowed much with all the crackdown on spam unfortunately based on the number of calls my Florida law firm which helps clients with Inheritance issues has received from potential clients who think they had just inherited millions of dollars from long lost relatives in foreign countries they had never met.
It is a general rule that if something sounds too good to be true it probably is. Although I have not heard of anyone stealing money to get involved with the the scams and try to receive their "inheritance" I have had calls of people saying they wanted help to receive a few hundred million from a relative they never heard of in Nigeria and they did not know of having any family there but received an email that told them if they just wired a few thousand dollars to a P.O. box in a foreign country made out to cash they would start the process. Typically they have already sent hundreds or thousands and now wonder where there money is or ask if they should then pay a second more significant amount to pay the taxes. The scammer asks they send them a check to cover the taxes prior to receipt and of course sent directly to them and not any government.
While a inheritance is passed through the probate first to those named in a while or if none to the lineal descendants or more remote heirs if no children and it is possible to receive property one should be very suspicious based on nearly all of the above facts. If someone is legitimately an heir they will be served with formal return receipt notice and legitimate court documents. They will not have to pay anything prior to receiving the money and the correspondence should have a law firm name, address and phone number as well as a court case number which can be verified.
Sadly even with a P.O. Box, several thousand being needed prior to receipt of any proof and no other contact information a number of people have followed up then wondered why they do not receive the inheritance later. Some of the stories I have had calls from even fell for being heirs to Nigerian Kings estates.
Fortunately as the spam controls improve this should block some of these emails and in Florida some representatives are seeking to pass legislation to outlaw internet scams like this at least those which originate within the state and they would be able to enforce.
Anytime sounds too good to be true such as a lottery someone wins without entering an substantial inheritance someone is alleged to be receiving for a decedent they did not know or other situations they should be very suspicious and likely just delete as spam if found online. If it looks more legitimate the situation should still be researched prior to acting as it is likely a scam.
An article by the Grand Rapids Press can be found here. Portions of the article below mention a former school principle who is alleged to have fallen for an inheritance scam and embezzled funds to try to receive his "inheritance"
The former principal of Otsego Baptist Academy will have to wait in jail two more weeks to find out whether he will stand trial on charges he embezzled up to $80,000 from the school to invest in a Nigerian Internet scam.
Millward is charged with two felonies, embezzlement and soliciting money under false pretenses, for allegedly collecting money for the school without its knowledge, including a donation from a Kalamazoo foundation. Authorities allege Millward told victims the money was for computers for Otsego Baptist Academy, where he served as principal starting in 2003.
Investigators said the "Nigerian Scam" involved Millward allegedly wiring more than $80,00 through Western Union to a Nigerian location, where the recipients would use the money to cover legal fees to secure him a $15 million inheritance in England.
The scam has received wide media coverage since it began in the early 1980s and grew in the mid-1990s.