Madera County Sheriff John Anderson is issuing a fraud alert concerning letters naming citizens inheritors of a trust account that purportedly belongs to a distant relative who recently died.

In one letter, signed by a Mr. Dando Sousa, the sender claims to represent Prime Financial Services Limited. The envelope is hand-written, and appears to have been mailed from the United Kingdom.

He claims the decedent (presumably a relative) left no will, but the financial institution in charge of the account believes the recipient is more than likely the decedent's only next of kin. In order to facilitate a "legal" transfer of funds, the recipient must first provide proof of identity.

Sheriff Anderson says this is just one of numerous fraud inheritance letters sent from overseas, and is yet another identity theft tactic.