I have a letter today from Elom Bonneville, who purports to be a barrister in the Republic of Togo.
He points out that he has emailed me before, but I have not responded so he is emailing me again.
You can probably guess where this is going – he has US$10 million that he needs to share.
His supposed late client has the same last name as me. Apparently, there are no other Laytons in the Republic of Togo, so Elom is reaching out to me.
Unfortunately, there are people responding to such letters.
I heard recently about an 82-year-old grandmother who was conned into believing she had won a sweepstakes she had not even entered, and had to pay certain fees to get the big money.
Bottom line, she lost her life savings. With only $69 left in her bank account, she took her own life.
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And, there are many more stories just like that one.
It’s often trusting seniors who are victimized. Have you mentioned these scams to the elderly in your family?
With the command of computers we seem to have worldwide, I’m sure police are trying follow these scam letters right to the source.
Until then, forewarned is forearmed.
Bob Layton is the news manager of the Corus Edmonton group of radio stations and a commentator for Global News.
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