We Uncovered David Oziel Law Firm Scam: Fake Inheritance Letter

The inheritance letter from David Oziel Law Firm LLP is a scam that shouldn’t be taken seriously. The letter which claims recipients has unclaimed inheritance worth million of dollars, is all a bid to get people to pay the scammers an upfront fee to cover fake legal fees or taxes.

Exposing The David Oziel Law Firm Scam Inheritance Letter

The website used by this scam is ‘davidozielllp.com’ which portrays itself as a legal firm for booking of consultations. However, lots of pointers on the website indicate it is a disguised scam.

First of all, the address ‘478 Water St, London, ON N6B 2P6 Canada‘ is actually registered on Google under another Law firm ‘Cudmore Law Office’. Which has positive reviews from clients. The fraudsters behind this scam are simply using the address of another law firm.

Secondly, the about us section claims the website has been operating for years, whereas their WHO.IS records show the website ‘davidozielllp.com’ was registered on 30th October 2023. Barely few months ago!

Thirdly, the inheritance letter itself has some grammatical errors which can’t be made by any existing reputable law firm. For example,  while the letterhead states “David Oziel Law Firm, LLP, the first line reads, “I am a partner with David and Associates, LLP”.

How The David Oziel Law Firm Inheritance Beneficiary Scam Work

When the scammer sends out the letter, they request that you call them to claim the inheritance. When you do so, you’d be required to send a small amount of money to cover an administrative fee. It’s usually $20, $40, $50 or another reasonable amount. This is where the scam comes in.

Once you send the money, the scammer will tell you to provide your personal information and bank details, so they can wire the inheritance to your bank account. If you do so, your identity, credit card info, and other details will be stolen.

On the other hand, you’ll be told to pay a series of fees, charges or taxes to help release or transfer the money out of the country to your bank. The fees may initially be for small amounts but you will be asked to make further larger payments.

How To Spot and Avoid Inheritance Scams

• The email or letter always have typos and/or grammatical errors. A real law firm maintains professionalism by avoiding these types of errors.
• The scammer uses a public domain email address. Like the David Oziel Law firm scam uses ‘[email protected]’ email addresses. If someone is contacting you from a Gmail email address, they’re likely not a lawyer.
• No information about the law firm or lawyer online. If you can’t find any information about the alleged lawyer online, they’re probably a fraudster.
• The deceased person is someone you’ve never heard of. Why would someone you’ve never heard of leave you money?
• The “lawyer” asks for your personal information. When someone is leaving their estate to beneficiaries, they should have already provided the information that is necessary to receive their inheritance when they pass away.
• Asks for money upfront. When you receive an inheritance, money is deducted from the estate to pay the legal fees. You normally don’t have to pay out-of-pocket to get your inheritance money.

Conclusion

If it sounds too good to be true, it certainly isn’t TRUE. The David Oziel Law Firm uses inheritance letter scam tactics to rip people off their money. It’s a fake non-existing law firm created by scammers whose sole aim is to steal from people. If you’ve received this scam letter,

here’s what you should do:

• Report it to the FTC – ftc.gov.
• Throw out the letter. Never respond to a scammer.
• Never call back the number.
• Don’t send money no matter how small it is.

See also; Miller Friedberg & Associates Scam, Howard Shindell Law Firm Scam