Chinese bank scam

POLICE are warning members of public about scam letters being sent to people across Devon and Cornwall. The letters claim to be from a Chinese-based banking employee. The sender says they have a large sum of money in their bank that belongs to someon

POLICE are warning members of public about scam letters being sent to people across Devon and Cornwall.

The letters claim to be from a Chinese-based banking employee. The sender says they have a large sum of money in their bank that belongs to someone who is now deceased, with the same last name as the recipient.

The sender tempts the recipient to enter into a fraudulent agreement by posing as the beneficiary, taking a 50% cut rather than handing the money back to the state.

Peter Kilpatrick from the police economic crime unit said: "This is a scam. Anyone receiving these letters should ignore them and not be tempted to respond. A number of letters have been sent using different Chinese names, but the content of the letter is essentially the same. A bank official wouldn't be using a free e-mail service such as yahoo, gmail or hotmail, this is the biggest give-away.