Hoax – Terminal cancer patients (such as “Seraphine,” “Péter Erdö,” or “Rackelle Dupond”) allegedly want to donate large amounts of euros to those who contact them by email.
Analysis
In recent days, a message has resurfaced on social media and email lists, drawing attention due to its emotional appeal. The text contains supposed accounts of people in the terminal stage of cancer who claim to have between 550,000 and 800,000 euros and wish to donate the amount to a “trustworthy and honest” person. To do so, they ask the recipient to send an email expressing interest.
The storyline is always similar: the central character, identified in some versions as “Seraphine,” in others as “Péter Erdö” or “Rackelle Dupond,” presents themselves as someone lonely, widowed, and childless who wants to do a good deed before dying. The objective, according to the text, is to transfer a large sum of money. Below are the most shared versions of the content:
Version 1: Hello, sorry for this way of contacting you, I just saw your profile and thought you were the person I needed. In short, my name is Seraphine, I am of Dutch origin and live in France. I suffer from a serious illness that condemns me to certain death, throat cancer, and I have an amount of 550,000 euros that I would like to donate to a trustworthy and honest person so that they can make good use of it. I have an oil import business in France and lost my husband 6 years ago, which affected me deeply, and I have not been able to remarry since, we had no children. I would like to donate this amount before my death because my days are numbered due to this illness for which I had no cure, only tranquilizers in France. I would like to know if you can benefit from this donation. Here is my email address: garciarubio1969@gmail.com — feeling worried.
Version 2: Hello, sorry to contact you like this, I just saw your profile and thought you could be the right person for me. In short: I am Péter Erdö, Hungarian of Portuguese origin. I suffer from a serious illness that will certainly kill me, throat cancer, and I have an amount of 650,000 euros that I would like to donate to a trustworthy and honest person for a good cause. I have an oil import business in Germany and lost my husband 6 years ago, which still hurts me, and to this day I have not been able to remarry, we had no children. I would like to donate this amount before I die because my days are numbered due to this illness. I was not cured in France, only put under anesthesia, and I would like to know if you can benefit from this donation. If you are interested in my 650,000-euro donation, contact me using my contact details below.
Version 3: Hello, sorry for this way of contacting you, I just saw your profile and thought you are the person I need. In short, my name is Rackelle Dupond, I am of Swiss origin and live in France. I suffer from a serious illness that condemns me to certain death, heart cancer, and I have an amount of 800,000€ that I would like to donate to a trustworthy and honest person to make good use of it. I own a computer import company in France and lost my husband 6 years ago, which affected me deeply, and I have not been able to remarry since, we had no children. I would like to donate this amount before my death because my days are numbered due to this illness for which I had no cure, only tranquilizers in France. I would like to know if you can benefit from this donation.
Fact-check
The message worried many people and raised three main questions: 1) Is there really a person with cancer offering a millionaire donation in euros by email? 2) What happens if someone replies to this type of message? 3) Are there similar scams that have already circulated on the internet?
Does a person with cancer donate euros to anyone who sends an email requesting information?
No. The story is completely false and is part of an old phishing scam. This practice is used to trick people, collect personal information, and in many cases, extort money. The promise of receiving a fortune from a stranger is a classic internet scam, known as the “inheritance scam” or “cancer scam,” and has circulated in different versions for years.
The very logic of the message is inconsistent: it makes no sense for someone to randomly choose strangers on the internet to donate such large sums of money. This is the first clue that it is a fraud.
What happens if you reply to the person claiming to donate euros and have cancer?
By replying, the victim enters a script of psychological manipulation. First, the scammer tries to build trust. Then, requests for personal information (documents, bank details) and even payments of supposed fees to release the donation begin to appear. In the end, the person receives nothing: they lose money and risk having their data used in identity fraud.
This pattern is typical of the “advance-fee fraud.” The victim is led to believe they must pay small amounts to unlock a large sum, but the money never arrives.
Are there similar fake news scams?
Yes. This type of scam is recurring and only changes names and amounts to keep circulating. We have already seen content such as that of a supposed Swedish millionaire named Amanda Ulrika Gustafsson (check here) or of a fake executive named David McKay from the Royal Bank of Canada (read here). All follow the same pattern: the promise of easy money, but which ends in loss and risk of data exposure.
Conclusion
The messages about terminal cancer patients wishing to donate hundreds of thousands of euros are nothing more than a classic fraud. It is a phishing scam designed to deceive victims with an emotional story and then steal their data and money. The content is therefore false and dangerous.
Scam ⚠️
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