Bitdefender Labs spots a resurgence in Jeffrey Epstein advance fee scams

A con artist’s greatest asset is (sometimes) perfectly timing an attack to coincide with the latest headlines and breaking news bulletins.

With the release of hundreds of court documents linked to a Jeffrey Epstein-connected trial, scammers are now trying to piggyback on the world’s renewed interest in the life and dealings of the disgraced financier.

Bitdefender Antispam Lab has spotted a resurgence of Jeffrey Epstein “estate settling” emails meant to defraud unsuspecting netizens.

The email below is purely a variation of previously used scam emails in the form of classic advance fee swindles that now employ the Epstein story.

The email is supposedly from an investment manager and personal financial advisor of Jeffrey Epstein, who died by apparent suicide in his jail cell in August 2019.

The brief message says that Epstein did not leave a last will and testament before his passing and that his giant estate is “presently in a bank somewhere” half of which is waiting to be released to none other than you yourself.

“This message is regarding his estate ($35.2m) which is presently in a bank somewhere. I want to front you as the Next-of-Kin to the deceased since he died without leaving a WILL,” the message reads.

”At the successful completion of my proposal, the bank will release the funds and have it transferred into your bank account. We are going to share the ($35.2m) on 50:50% formula.”

Although the scammer does not ask recipients for any personal information (yet), users who interact with the perp should expect requests for an extensive list of info, including full names, contact info, phone numbers and financial data.

In this classic advance fee scam, the fraudster will also attempt to switch the conversation via phone or instant messaging app to further coerce victims into handing over more data and making payments to receive a ridiculously large sum of money.

To our surprise, there are no mentions of any of the hundreds of unsealed Jeffrey Epstein court documents that made headlines across the world in the past several days.

This makes us believe the scammers are simply testing the waters by recycling old ruses before they begin encompassing the latest developments of the Epstein story.

We urge netizens to remain alert for any unsolicited communications mentioning Epstein’s death, unsealed court documents, and explosive new information regarding potential lists of “clients” and “co-conspirators.”  Any email containing links that promise access to secret documents or unreleased videos involving Epstein or individuals mentioned in the legal files should not be accessed.

Got a phishing email, suspicious message, or fake ad?

Simply access Bitdefender Scamio and describe the details to our clever scam detector chatbot. You can also share with Scamio exactly what you want to check, like a screenshot, PDF, QR code, or link. Scamio lets you know in seconds if it’s a scam. So instead of interacting with the scam yourself, simply feed it to Scamio and it will advise you on your next course of action.