An e-mail from a ‘bank executive’ offering recipients a multi-million cut from a deceased relative’s account may seem suspicious. But could it be authentic if it was written in your native language?

Not really, when considering that none of your relatives is likely to be called Terry Ryan, a fictional character who was meant to have died heroically onboard the hijacked United Airlines aircraft which crashed in Pennsylvania in 2001.

And why should Stephen Hester, who heads the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, send the e-mail himself when he probably has an army of secretaries at his disposal?

An e-mail scam is currently doing the rounds, enticing readers into providing their personal details, including their full name, age, address, and telephone number, to lay their hands on an ‘unclaimed’ multi-million bank account.

This is not unusual, but in this case it has been translated from English to Maltese using an online programme, which explains the atrocious construction and overlooked words of the e-mail.

“Our bank has waited for a relative to claim the money but this never happened,” reads the badly-translated hoax.

“We chose you because of the geographical position of your country and because of your business address,” it says.

Attempts to call a phone number listed in the e-mail to get further information elicited no replies. A search on the internet revealed it was an international call forwarding number, as indicated by the number’s prefix.

This is bound to be the first in a series of similar e-mails sent to local in-boxes, which are variations of the same hoax which have been traced to Nigeria.

Be they about inheritance, lotteries or job offers and regardless of the language used, recipients are advised to steer clear of them.

One scam-monitoring website advises: “Do not provide your passport details or bank account information. These people are out to steal your money and your identity. If you’ve already provided bank account info, call your bank as soon as possible and ask them to freeze your account so these scammers can’t create a fake passport in your name and withdraw all your money.”