Woman suspects phone call to be cyber scam, ends up owning ₹4 crore: Here's what happened

A woman from Canada found herself in a ‘too good to be true’ situation when she was informed about ₹4.2 crore property inherited from a distant relative she'd never heard of. When sixty-year-old Lorraine Gesell received a call informing her that she had inherited property from her distant uncle, she thought that she had been tricked by scammers, reported Daily Star.

An unexpected caller from Finders International informed Gesell that her distant relative Raymond Barry died alone at the age of 85 in 2021. Since he never married and had no child, no one was set to inherit his property worth more than £400,000 (equal to ₹4.24 crore), as per the report.

What did the caller say?

Finders International is an agency that traces next-of-kin and beneficiaries to properties. Its main task is to find the rightful heirs of a property when its actual owner is not alive.

According to Manchester Evening News, the agent informed her that she was an heir to Raymond's sizeable estate.

Who is Lorraine Gesell's distant uncle?

According to the report, Raymond used to work as a cabin crew member for an airline company. He also lived in a two-bedroom flat on St Margaret's Road, Twickenham, throughout his life.

How are the two connected?

Lorraine's late mother moved from Ellesmere Port near Liverpool to Canada in 1951. Her maternal grandfather, George Moores and Raymond's mother, Leena Moores, were siblings.

With the present details, Finders International found Lorraine Gesell as the closest relative of Raymond alive.

Too good to be true

In the era of digital and cyber fraud, it was difficult for the Canadian woman to believe that she had inherited the sizeable state in the United Kingdom from her distant relative. Her suspicion grew more as she was not aware of her relative.

“My son, in particular, was very suspicious. I mean, it does sound incredible – 'someone you never knew has died, and you're entitled to an inheritance'. It sounds like a fairy-tale [sic],” Gesell told Manchester Evening News.

How did they check the caller's authenticity?

In her interview, Gessell said that after inquiring about her relative, she found the caller to be authentic after realising that she was not asked for any money to pay for inherited property.

“However, the researchers at Finders were very good. They provided me with details about my extended family, and of course, there was never a request for money, so it made sense to me,” she said.