Homeowners are being warned to be wary of scam letters claiming they have inherited a large sum of money following the death of an unknown relative.

Herts Police are investigating the scam after St Albans residents received letters over the last week.

The letter states that they are the next of kin of the bogus relative and that they must provide bank details for the money to be transferred.

PCSO Hannah Bragg from the St Albans Safer Neighbourhood Team said: “Sometimes people can be caught unawares if they receive a letter out of the blue like this. These letters claim to be from foreign banks, holding thousands or millions of pounds in the name of a relative that you have never heard off. “The aim of the scam is to make you divulge your back account details and if you respond they may well ask you to make a payment to help process the transfer of funds.

“These letters are purely scams, another method devised by fraudsters to get access to bank accounts.”

Anyone who receive a letter or similar should contact police via the non-emergency number 101.