A SCAM letter has been circulating in Southend, claiming to offer a $5million inheritance.

The con tells people a person with their surname has died in the US and there are no other next of kin.

It asks them to call a number or e-mail in Tokyo, Japan, to arrange for the documentation to be completed in exchange for 10 per cent of the money.

Those who call the number are hooked by the fraudsters, who try to extract cash from their unsuspecting victims.

Roger Plumstead, 60, of Retreat Road, Westcliff , received one of the scam letters through the post and was immediately suspicious.

He said: “I realised there was a problem, but I’m worried people with dementia probably wouldn’t. My mother died in May, aged 90, after suffering dementia, so I felt I had to tell other people.

“It’s quite worrying how they’ve managed to get hold of my details, and I don’t know if they realised there are Plumsteads in the US.”

Variations of these scams have been circulating for a long time, and generally ask victims to put up some cash so they can get hold of inheritance money.

They will use names, in this case saying there was a “Frank Plumstead” who had died, to make people think they could have some connection.

In this case, the letter also urged Mr Plumstead not to tell people about it, in an apparent effort to prevent elderly people asking for advice. It says: “I must solicit your confidence in this transaction; this is by virtue of its nature as being utterly confidential and top secret.”

Mick Holland, of Southend Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership, said they hadn’t had any scam letters like this crop up for a while.

He added: “There are variations of this scam. It’s always people trying to con you out of your money. The best place for the letter is to be filed under ‘S’ for shredding.”

He advised anyone who receives one of these letters to call Consumer Direct on 08454 040506.