New scam landing in mailboxes
Staff writer
Various versions of a letter purported to be from a lawyer regarding a multimillion dollar life insurance policy of a dead Canadian citizen are landing in Kansans’ mailboxes.
It’s a scam, authorities say.
Marion County undersheriff Larry Starkey said that office fielded one call about the letter, which also has popped up in Kingman, Lyon, Osage, and Wabaunsee counties.
A resident near Lincolnville received the letter, which acknowledged: “It may surprise you to receive this letter from me, since there has been no previous correspondence between us. There is an unclaimed ‘permanent life insurance policy’ held by our deceased client.”
In this version, the unclaimed policy reportedly is worth $10,550,300.
“The policy holder was one of our clients . . . a real estate developer and investor in Canada,” the letter reads. “He died in an accident on Highway 400 by Barrie, Ontario, Canada, six years ago. Since his death, no one has come forward for the claim, and all our efforts to locate his relatives have proved unsuccessful.”
The writer — identified in this version as attorney Edward Woodland — asks the recipient to “be in partnership with me for the claim of the policy benefit, in view of the fact that you share the same last name and nationality with the deceased.”
The writer adds: “I wish to point out that I want 10% of this money to be shared among charity organizations while the remaining 90% will be shared between us.”
At the end of the letter, the scam artist asks for a phone number “for faster communication.”
“I about guarantee the next thing is they’re going to want is money,” Starkey said. “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”
Starkey advises to never share personal information or send money to anyone you don’t know.