The international inheritance scheme cost more than 400 victims more than $6 million.
Photo by Melinda Gimpel on Unsplash
Yes, it’s a cliché. Older people tend to be easy scam victims. But clichés get that status because they are, at least in part, true.
That’s probably why a years-long international scam targeted elderly victims in the United States. The group sent their victims personalized letters that falsely claimed the recipient was entitled to receive a multimillion-dollar inheritance left by a family member who had died overseas years before.
Ehis Lawrence Akhimie, 41, pleaded guilty in June to federal conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud charges in connection with the transnational inheritance fraud scheme. On Sept. 11, the Nigerian national was sentenced to 97 months in prison for his role in the scam. He was the eighth defendant sentenced to prison in connection with the scheme.
Scam required payment to get fake inheritance: Court documents and testimony at Akhimie’s plea and sentencing in the Southern District of Florida revealed that he and his co-conspirators told a series of lies to victims.
One of the key lies told victims was that before they could receive their purported inheritance, they had to send money for delivery fees, taxes, and other payments to avoid questioning from government authorities.
Not surprisingly, the scam’s victims who sent money never received any purported inheritance funds.
Akhimie, however, admitted to defrauding more than 400 victims of more than $6 million.
Tax Felon Friday: While the international inheritance scheme technically did not involve taxes or IRS Criminal Investigation agents, the fact that the con artists invoked tax payment in furtherance of their scam earns it a mention on the ol’ blog’s Tax Felon Friday page.
Today’s featured inheritance scam is a good reminder for everyone, regardless of age, to beware of unsolicited offers of sudden wealth. It’s also a good reminder for folks with older relatives to make sure that they, too, stay on guard.
My aging mother had a great response for any sketchy sales calls she got. “You have to talk to my daughter,” she would tell the often-pushy pitchmen. “She takes care of all my finances.”
That wasn’t totally true, but it was a good way to shut down callers. She also held all suspect mail and email communications for me to review before, in most cases, trashing.
Unfortunately, many older people aren’t as comfortable cutting off insistent callers, be they legitimate or scam proposals. And too many don’t have trusted relatives or friends who can help them handle their money and protect against such schemes.
Elder scam resources: If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has been a victim of financial fraud, the first step is reporting it. Letting authorities know of financial fraud losses as soon as possible can increase the likelihood of recovering stolen funds.
You also can get help at the National Elder Fraud Hotline. The toll-free number is 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311).
This U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) hotline, managed by the Office for Victims of Crime, is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Eastern time. English, Spanish, and other languages are available.
The hotline is staffed by experienced professionals who provide personalized support to callers. Case managers will identify appropriate reporting agencies, provide information to callers to assist them in reporting, connect callers directly with appropriate agencies, and provide resources and referrals, on a case-by-case basis.
You also can find more information on DoJ efforts to help seniors at the department’s Elder Justice Initiative webpage, as well as at its Office for Victims of Crime page which has resources relating to elder fraud victimization. Also check out DoJ’s Consumer Protection Branch and its enforcement efforts.
Finally, elder fraud complaints may be filed with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) online or by phone toll-free at 1-877-FTC-HELP.
If you want more tax crime posts, both those in the United States and from around the world and including items published long before I gave them a special end-of-week feature, you can peruse, what else, the tax crimes category. You’ll find this post at the top of that collection right now, so just scroll down for more.
You also might find these items of interest:
- Social media tax scammers have cost duped taxpayers $162 million in IRS penalties
- Identity and tax thieves don’t discriminate by age, targeting both youngsters and the elderly
- California man pleads guilty to investment scheme, elder scam & tax evasion totaling $4.3 million
