h.x.b.c Research

Nellybee

Hello
Has anyone recieved a letter from these people claiming that you maybee related to a deceased person of the same surname as yours. They claim to work for a diverse range of clients and repatriate overseas property and bank accounts there address is a po box on the isle of wight . I am almost certain its a con but also find it insensitive as my father has just passed away in the last few months and it was addressed to him :mad:

lavalamp

I haven't Nellybee, but I'd be willing to bet it's a scam of some description.

Sorry for your loss - i hope you're holding up as well as can be expected.

Grumpelstiltskin

Nellybee wrote: »

Hello
Has anyone recieved a letter from these people claiming that you maybee related to a deceased person of the same surname as yours. They claim to work for a diverse range of clients and repatriate overseas property and bank accounts there address is a po box on the isle of wight . I am almost certain its a con but also find it insensitive as my father has just passed away in the last few months and it was addressed to him :mad:

Nelly It's 99.99999% a con, pass the letter on to your local Trading Standards dept.

dzug1

There are genuine firms of this nature - though if your instinct says it's a con it probably is. Having just a PO Box address is not a good start - nor would asking for money upfront be.

Whether real or a con I'm sure that it's just a coincidence that it coincided with your father's death - nothing sinister there.

McKneff

They will take an upfront fee, telling you they will research, they may or may not do this research, they will tell you they have found that you are not related to anyone of any means and then laugh all the way to the bank with your up front fee. Along with hundreds or thousand of others

Just ignore them, they really are not worth a second look

LaCoco

My husband got one of these today as well. We thought at first it was an odd attempt to track him down, as he's been completely estranged from his family for years - name changed, everything. I'm quite relieved to see it's "just" a scam, although I'm so sorry for your loss.

Errata

Not even google has heard of them!

John_Pierpoint

Yahoo does now, this thread is the one and only entry in the list.

RichandHelen

We've had one of these too! Have you got a common surname? One of ours is 'Black' and is asking if we are related to a Mr Andrew Black who died 14/06/2005 in Queen Margaret Hospital Dunfermline. No idea if this person is real or not as we don't have an Ancestry account but the whole thing smells of scam. Even the email is just a Gmail one; doesn't even have its own domain name!

Slipshotty

It really looks like a scam to me. Just received the exact same letter in the post this morning as well. A Mr Andrew Black, date of death 14/06/2005 at Queen Margaret Hospital Dunfermline, Ky12 0Su. Ref at the top of the page is HDRPblack2350.

Katiekinsblack

My husband and son both had the exact same letter today, it is now on the fire