Scams

Avoiding “Scare Tactics” Employed by Estate Planning Companies

Published on: April 15, 2021 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Being deceived by anyone can be upsetting. However, when it is someone who claims to have your best interests at heart—and it impacts your financial future—it can become downright infuriating. There are ways to discern between companies who are only out for their own selfish financial gain—and will even lie to clients about what is best for them—and those that actually care about an individual’s situation and their family. When it comes to Texas estate planning, finding an estate planning attorney who will handle the matter with grace, hard work, and efficiency is critical.

Texas-based CLA Estate Services, Inc. and CLA USA Used “Scare Tactics” to Dupe Seniors Into Buying Estate Plan Products

In Seattle, a judge ruled that a company providing estate planning services must pay more than $6.1 million to people in Washington because it pressured people to buy its products by using “scare tactics.” Specifically, the company scared seniors into believing they would be left vulnerable unless they purchased the company’s Lifetime Estate Plan and set up revocable trusts, which gave the company further access to their funds over time.

Scams are Being Perpetrated on Veterans, Active Military and Their Families

Published on: January 20, 2020 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

“In 2018, 9.4% of all reports to BBB’s ScamTracker came from military personnel, veterans or their spouses, BBB of Metropolitan New York said.”

The scam victims who were military personnel, veterans or their spouses reported higher median losses than non-military consumers, the BBB said.

nj.com says in its recent article entitled “Veterans warned to beware of scams that target military families” that a common scam is “pension poaching,” which targets elderly and disabled veterans and their families.

Seniors continue to be Vulnerable to Lottery Scams

Published on: August 2, 2017 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

The sad truth is, foreign lottery scams are still around because they are successful for the scammers. Millions of Americans are targeted every year.

The first reaction from someone receiving a letter about a large award is often a wave of relief, especially if they are facing financial problems.

For an elderly couple who love their home and are having troubles with their finances, the arrival of a letter saying they’d on $4.5 million in a Spanish lottery seemed like an answer to their prayers. The story, reported by woodtv.com, “88-year-old nearly scammed by fake lottery, warns others,” starts out like so many similar scenarios. Luckily for this couple, a trusted estate planning law firm helped them steer clear.

Fake Law Firm Website Scamming Seniors in Houston

Published on: July 31, 2017 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

Here’s another reason to meet with your estate planning attorney face-to-face. An overseas-based scam is targeting the elderly with a website that uses photos and content stolen from real law firm websites.

A website purporting to be an estate planning law firm is the subject of a lawsuit from the Houston Bar Association, which is trying to get the site shut down. According to the Houston Chronicle, the fake firm, which calls itself Walsh & Padilla, is targeting elderly people and offering estate planning services.

In reality, the ABA Journal notes, in its article, “Fake law firm website uses real lawyers' pictures to fleece consumers, bar lawsuit says,” the scheme’s website appears to be operated from South Africa and uses photos of lawyers taken from real law firm websites. The scammers mail letters to elderly people telling them they’ll be getting life insurance proceeds, after they provide their bank account numbers and other financial details. One senior was scammed out of $14,000, the lawsuit says.

Scams Continue to Grow: Houston Residents Note Warnings

Published on: September 11, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

If you had an email account in the 1990s, you were personally selected to help a Nigerian prince recover his rightfully due inheritance. He may have written to you many times, pleading with you for your help and thanking you profusely in advance for your generosity and kindness. Some of us got emails from different princes or members of African royalty who had been forced to flee their countries. The English was broken, but the message was clear – we were special, we had been chosen to help, and in return, we were going to be rich beyond our wildest dreams. We were victims of an attempted scam.

The basic idea behind the scam was that an extremely wealthy person in Nigeria had his accounts frozen or could not transfer money out of the country without help. The scammer either requested that money be sent or that bank account numbers be sent to facilitate the transfer of the scammer's assets for which the person would be rewarded handsomely later.

That this was a scam seems obvious, as why would some wealthy African need the assistance of random Americans? However, everyone knows about the scam because it worked. The scammer just needs one person out of millions to take the bait. That is true with most common scams. Only one person needs to take the bait to make attempting to scam thousands worth the scammer's time.

Scams Come in All Sizes: Inheritance Tax Scam Was XL

Published on: May 6, 2015 | By McCulloch & Miller, PLLC

“I would strongly urge anyone who is offered a lot of money for an alleged short-term loan to be very wary, as it is often a scam and a sure way to lose your hard-earned savings.”

Scammed by your own friend? Hey, it can happen. And not always in the way you may think.

Normally an inheritance scammer pretends to be an attorney or estate agent. They tell a potential victim that the victim has inherited a large fortune from an estranged or long lost relative. However, before the victim can get the inheritance, the scammer claims that the victim must cough up large sums of money to pay off taxes or other debts that the estate holds.