If you receive a letter from overseas saying you stand to inherit millions - beware...

An email written to me personally from a "Barrister Pascal Omotayo [Esq], solicitor at large" begins by saying that he is the personal attorney to a long-lost relative of mine who was a "fabrication contractor with Shell Development Company in Lome-Togo."

It goes on to say that this relative died from lung cancer, leaving no heirs since he has no children and is divorced.

Verbatim, it reads: "I am the only authorized person who can present ANYONE as the beneficiary to my late client's estate, that is why I have taken it as my responsibility to get someone to be presented as next of kin...before his deposits get confiscated."

Moreover, he writes that he has tried to go through the U.S. Embassy with no luck but, being the resourceful type that he is, checked out my surname through a "foreign mission guestbook" [whatever that is] and - ta da! - he found lucky lil ol' moi!

He goes on to say he needs me to assist him in getting this $19.2 million that we will divvy up between ourselves before it is declared "unserviceable by the finance company".

Also, he writes he has tried for two years already to find other kin of his dead filthy-rich client with no success and that time is running out!

His kicker? "I guarantee that this will be executed under legitimate arrangement".

He gives his address as: 15 Rue De France - Lome-Togo, West Africa and his email address as: pascalomotayo.indiatimes.com.

Now - how does the scam work, you ask?
Why, elementary, my dear Watson -
Step 1: Hooray! He will tell me the court has agreed to get me a good chunk of that money!
Step 2: He says he will send me a certified check and to cash it right away. It is for a great deal of Ben Franklins. I do as he says and - as promised - it does go through!
Step 3: But he needs some money, himself, he tells me for travel expenses, fees, etc., and says he needs a "modest" check from me for that - say a grand or two.
Step 4: I faithfully mail him a check.
Step 5: My bank informs me weeks later that his certified check came up as having "insufficient funds".
Step 6: I email Pascal as usual only now I find his email address no longer exists. I also find that my own check has been cashed by him.
Step 7: I've been burned, baby! How?Because certified checks are NOT the same as cash. [Some folks don't realize that, I have found.]

I just thought I'd alert readers and fellow authors about this scam [which has been going on now for at least two years.]

Remember the old saying: If it sounds to good to be true --- Oh yeah.

POST SCRIPT: I was not taken in obviously. I simply used the 'I' word to explain scenarios that have happened to some others in the past.