What would you do if you received a large sum of money?

An interesting week.
I received a letter from a Barrister in Spain.  He claimed to be the Barrister for the late Raymond March who died with his family in Libya during the revolution.  This Raymond March allegedly had money placed in a vault in Spain for safe keeping and no member of the family had made a claim for it and it was about to be claimed by the Spanish Government.  This Barrister said he did a search in Germany, since his client was German, and found me.  The amount alleged to be in the vault was the sum of 10.5 Million USD.  This barrister said he would work with me to make the claim and wanted to split the amount 50/50. 
My immediate reaction was that it was a Scam, but then decided to send him an email to see where it would lead.  I wondered how long it would be before they asked me for money as is usual with a Scam.  My email to the Barrister said that things like this usually originate in Algeria, but perhaps this was legitimate, however I would need proof.
After numerous emails and documents provided to me, I felt that it could be legitimate.  Concerning my relationship to the deceased, the Barrister said that he had me listed as a distant relative.  Having done work on my genealogy, it was not too far fetched.  On one hand, carrying the same family name means that there would be a distant, perhaps very distant relationship.  And the fact that there is a name Raymond in my family, that too may not be a coincidence. 
I was excited about the thought of having money that I could share with others.  My personal needs are small.  Having money for the sake of having it makes no sense.  I opened a file on Excel and made a list of people that I would share the money with.  First on the list were family members and then came friends that I felt could use a hand up.  I kept adjusting the amounts to the recipients until the money was all used up.  I was feeling great just thinking about being in a position to help others. 
 
The process concerning the money continued until I was asked to send 4,950 Euros to pay for registration of my name as inheritor in Germany along with other justifications.  That is when I did a Google Search on the Security Company involved.  It seems that they are mentioned in a similar Scam with helping Syrians get money out of Syria.  I told my Barrister that I discovered that it was a Scam by doing a Google search.  He replied saying that one cannot believe everything they read on Google and that nothing goes smoothly in any transaction.  He made a comment about “where there’s smoke, there is fire.”  I repeated that comment to him in the case of the Google report. 
As for the 4,950 Euros the Security Company requested, I sent them an email saying that I authorize them to deduct the registration fees from my inheritance and that if they required a formal document that I was copying my Barrister on the email and he could draw up such a document.  Since they already had in their possession the fee money, there should be no reason for delay in transferring the money. 
 
I haven’t heard anything from either party since that email was sent.
 
One cannot lose something they don’t have.  My gut told me that the transaction would not happen, however the high it gave me was great.  I discussed it with my wife and she too doubted that it was for real, but had made a mental list of people, beginning with family, that she would want to share the fortune with.  As she said, “We don’t need anything for ourselves except to pay off the mortgage.  I don’t want to change our way of life.  I am happy the way things are with us.  Having a small reserve for the unexpected would be nice, but we don’t need that kind of money.”
 
Pursuant to this, I sent an email to my children asking them what they would do if they were to receive $100,000.  I wanted to know if they had any dreams or plans that some money would afford them the opportunity to achieve.  I kept the amount low on purpose since it was a hypothetical question.  I wasn’t surprised at the responses I got. 
 
PS.  The name of the Spanish Security company is:
GRUPO HALCON SEGURIDAD, S.L. – Madrid, Spain.
 
PS.  As for a few on this forum that were on my list, another dilemma arose on how to transfer the money.  It occured to me that If I asked someone for their bank account number that would most likely be declined.  If I asked for a complete mailing address, that may also be questioned. 
Although the windfall didn’t happen, it does give one an opportunity to fantasize.

Dear Abe,
I would pay off our mortgage.
Love,
Betty

A friend received a similar situation that I helped her check out and after some research, it was a scam and of course they requested just under $5000 to continue the inheritance processing.  They used legitimate names that I found - of businesses not at all related to their claims.  It did take a bit of sleuthing.

She was going to share with me for my troubles.  I said I only needed enough to pay off my mortgage and start a franchise to give me employment the rest of my days.

If I inherited 10.5 million bucks, I'd keep writing books and playing jazz music until it was all used up.

You guys are being sarcastic about the barrister letter, right? There's nothing to check out, they're always scams.

I used to reply to those for fun, and had some entertaining back-and-forths. I sent one guy all over Lagos trying to collect on a Western Union money order. But these guys have made it an art form:

http://www.419eater.com/

Oh, as for what I'd do with all that money? Don't know offhand, but am sure I'd come up with something.

One of the nice things about playing the lottery is that it gives one pause to think what one would do with the winnings.  Dreaming good thoughts is theraputic.  Having a goal is motivational.  The high I was one hasn't completely gone away.  I only hope that someday, somehow, I can fulfil that dream.  I may begin to play the lottery again.  With a lottery, it is legitimate if State run, and there is always a winner.

Al Stevens wrote:

If I inherited 10.5 million bucks, I'd keep writing books and playing jazz music until it was all used up.

Sounds good to me, Al

LC wrote:

You guys are being sarcastic about the barrister letter, right? There's nothing to check out, they're always scams.

I used to reply to those for fun, and had some entertaining back-and-forths. I sent one guy all over Lagos trying to collect on a Western Union money order. But these guys have made it an art form:

http://www.419eater.com/

Oh, as for what I'd do with all that money? Don't know offhand, but am sure I'd come up with something.

Also by replying they know they have an actual human at the other end, thus you'll likely to get more spam.

Though I do like the idea of sending someone on a wild goose chase through Lagos  

These criminals prey on the unwary and are becoming increasingly sophisticated. It is too easy to set up real email accounts in countries that are not immediately suspect as hotbeds for fraud and  use both real and imaginary people as fronts. How do you check an address is Madrid unless you live in Madrid? How do you verify that an alleged barrister is a barrister in a foreign country with whose language you are not fluent? Even if you do, how do you know the person writing is actually who they claim to be, even in a face-to-face transaction? Lone criminals and criminal enterprises both can prey on the unwary and, with little sophistication, build a facade of credibility by cloaking themselves in stolen credibility.

Someone getting such a letter naturally wants to believe in its truth. If the lie is tight enough to pass the test of plausibility and tight enough to pass casual probings of its veracity too many people will fall for it. Prosecuting these cases is difficult at best since tracing the perpetrators across sovereign borders is never easy. The best defense is vigilance and a heavy dose of skepticism when fortune seems to smile too broadly.

Good people get hurt be these schemes even when, like Abe, they are bright enough to fall for them. International cooperation to aggressively prosecute these schemers would help. Public whipping of those convicted would not hurt, either.

Also note that many people these days are tracking their family trees - on sites that are free and open to the public.  It's easy to pick a distant relative likely to leave a bit of inheritance.

Another popular one around here by phone is winning airline tickets.  That's another one that eventually turns into paying money for "taxes and fees."