BERRIEN COUNTY — The Berrien County Sheriff’s Office warning citizens that another scam letter is being circulated in the county.

According to Berrien County Sheriff Lt. Paul Bailey, his office was made aware by a concerned citizen who said that the scam letter is allegedly from an account manager with the TD Canada Trust Bank in Ontario, Canada.

The letter states that an individual with the same last name as the potential victim has died and the bank is looking for the next of kin.

An amount of $9.2 million is mentioned by the letter’s author, who explains that the holder of the account died in London, England in 2007 from cardiac arrest. As the account holder died without a will, the money has remained in the bank in Ontario and if not claimed, the money will be surrendered to the government.

The letter’s author claims to have been watching the account for 10 years, noting no one has come forth to claim the money.

The author claims the bank’s efforts to find relatives or next-of-kin have been unsuccessful, prompting him to write to the recipient with an offer.

The letter states:

“I would like to present you to our bank as his next of kin to claim this dormant account worth $9.2 Million USO (nine million two hundred thousand U.S. dollars). 

You will apply to the bank as an extended relative to the deceased customer while I work from the inside to make sure all needed information and evidences are provided to you to back up your claim.” 

“I assure you that this transaction would be handled under due inheritance procedures and every necessary legitimate arrangement will be put in place to make you the real beneficiary of the inheritance funds. It also requires all confidentiality at this stage and I believe that you are ready to keep this absolutely discreet until you are able to claim the funds from the bank. Once the funds are released to you, it will be shared between the two of us. 

“Please send your response to my personal email: ptimothee101@gmail.com indicating readiness to proceed with this transaction. Then I will give you more details and we shall have in-depth discussion regarding a successful completion of this transaction. 

I” await your response.  Sincerely,  Mr. Pethuel Andrew Timothee 

“Email: ptimothee101@gmail.com” 

Authorities said there are more and more scams today with society doing more business over the internet. All the scammers need is an individual’s name, address, phone and email to contact a person with false promises and scams.

Police advised residents to take the time to register their number and elderly family members who are also receiving the nuisance calls and letters but might not be able to get on-line to register at donotcall.gov.