This is a true story sent to me by a reader of my books. His family gave me permission to publish this sad tale, but requested I protect their anonymity.

Bill Hacknett (not his real name) had planned well for retirement. He was a senior executive with a major, publicly traded company. He had spent his entire working career in corporate America. When his company downsized, it was not a problem for him. Over his 30-year employment history, he had accumulated significant assets in his 401(k) plan and, in his late fifties, was ready for early retirement.

Then disaster struck.

A few days after I opened an investment account for an elderly couple, I started receiving urgent messages from the husband. I called him back as soon as I could, and he excitedly told me that he was about to receive a substantial sum of money. This seemed very strange because I had reviewed his financial situation only two days earlier, and I knew that he wasn't expecting any kind of inheritance or windfall. When I asked some further questions, the old man told me that he had just received a letter saying that he had won a South African lottery worth $2 million. All he needed to do was give the sender of the letter his ID number, address, birth date and bank information within 72 hours, and the money would be his.

This immediately aroused my suspicions, and I asked him if he had ever purchased a lottery ticket for the South African lottery. When he replied that he had not, I asked him if he thought it strange that he had won a lottery that he never even entered. My client persisted, and he asked if he could show me the letter. After reading the letter, it became even more obvious that this was some kind of scam. After doing some online searching, I even found the exact same letter that he received, with a warning that this was a famous identity theft scam. Thankfully, I convinced the man not to send in any information, averting what could have been a disaster.