An heiress wants to give you money – well, a scammer, not an heiress

Here’s a classic example of a scam that cites a news story as validation that the claim is authentic, or at least credible. It’s not. Despite the scammer’s citing a famous story about an heiress bequeathing a fortune, that’s no proof that this is an heiress looking to give her millions to you. Because it ain’t.

What’s slightly unusual about this one is that there is no separate reply-to address. Usually the scammers send the email from a real person’s hijacked email address (in this case, the from address is an ordinary gmail.com account) . There is generally a separate reply-to address that’s at a questionable domain elsewhere in the world.

In this message, because there’s no separate reply-to address specified, your response goes back to the original gmail.com address. Hard to know if that address really belongs to the scammer, or if the scammer made a mistake in programming the message. The email address is a bunch of random numbers and letters. Either way… it’s a scam.

Don’t be fooled by links to legitimate news stories. They mean nothing. Delete messages like this; don’t reply or click any links.

From: Elaine Bachmann email hidden; JavaScript is required
Subject: Re: Attn Mr. Alan Zeichick
Date: October 29, 2017 at 5:27:38 AM MST

Dearest

I’m Mrs. Elaine Bachmann from Switzerland once married to Mr. Heinz Bachmann a fellow Swiss. We were married for twenty years without a child. My late husband were dealing mainly in oil in Saudi Arabia before he met his on timing death in a plane crash celebrating his business associate birth-day April 28th 2012.

After the above sad day in my life, I then suffered Oesophageal cancer disease in 2016, and now that the battle is coming to an end due to what my doctor admitted I had just few weeks to live, I’m sadden but happy for the life spent. Now that am about to end the race like this without a child and in contrast to how my family members & friends completely treated me during horrible moment in my life? I decided reaching out to a total stranger in your person to carried out humanitarian work in my memories after coming across a news of 99 years old woman whom secretly donated her fortune prior to her death, you can check below links for details.

http://www.aol.com/article/2014/10/29/standard-oil-heiress-leaves-former-school-40-million/20985809

When my husband was alive, he deposited the sum of $8 Million US Dollars (Eight Million US dollars) in a Security/Finance Company. Presently, this asset is still with the holding firm. With my health situation that i can’t do it myself, I therefore called upon you to accept this donation by using these funds assisting orphans and widows. Late Ms. Ruth Bedford’s Bequeath $40 Million donation had indeed inspired me reaching out to you as a reliable/trustworthy person i can entrust with these funds. I strongly believes God has answered my wish for the needy through you by not betraying my confidence in you. 

Please, always be prayerful all through your life by responding for more details.

Yours sister in the Lord,

Elaine Bachmann