That law-firm letter about 'unclaimed life insurance' in your name? It's a scam

A letter turns up from a law firm you've never dealt with. It's on official-looking letterhead, addressed to you, and the news inside is remarkable: a client who happened to share your last name has died, left behind an unclaimed life insurance policy worth a small fortune, and after a diligent search you appear to be the rightful heir. Just call the number to claim it. The Federal Trade Commission put out a warning on July 21 because a lot of these letters are landing in mailboxes right now - and the inheritance doesn't exist.

The trick is old-fashioned but it works. Scammers mail the same letter to thousands of people with common surnames, betting that a handful will be curious enough to phone. Once you call, the "lawyer" gets to the real point: to release your money they need to confirm who you are, so they ask for your Social Security number, your bank details, sometimes an up-front fee or "taxes." There's no policy and no dead relative - it's a fishing trip for the pieces of your identity that let someone drain an account or open credit in your name. The FTC reckons scammers are now using AI to make the letters read cleaner and more convincing than the clumsy versions of years past.

The safe response is the dull one: don't call, don't send anything, and don't feel bad about binning it. Unclaimed money is real, but you find it through your state's official unclaimed-property website - never through a surprise letter that needs your Social Security number to "release funds." Report the letter at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and if you already called and handed over details, ring your bank and think about a credit freeze.

These schemes only pay off when they collect enough about you to reach your accounts. Tendvane's Privacy & accounts check shows which of your logins have already turned up in known data leaks, so you can lock down the ones that are genuinely exposed before anyone tries to use them.