Pennsylvania residents are being advised to stay vigilant after a scam was reported involving someone claiming to be a state employee.
Officials say scammers use a fake email to request money from elderly people as part of a fake inheritance scam.
According to the Pennsylvania Departments of Insurance, Aging, and Banking and Securities as well as the State Police, an older resident recently received an email from an account resembling an official state email address claiming to be a representative of a foreign institution saying that a wealthy distant relative left a large inheritance in the name of the receiver.
The resident was asked to pay upfront fees of hundreds of thousands of dollars over a period of about a year in order to release the inheritance and was informed that only the representative’s agency could assist.
Officials recommend that residents in this situation do not provide any personal or financial information, do not respond or send money, and alert the state Attorney General or local law enforcement.
