Scammed by "Estate Legal"

[Scott Johnson]

Unless someone can prove otherwise, I’m fairly certain I was just scammed out of $3,400 by a supposed “Lead Provider.” I’m sharing my story so everyone can be aware and hopefully avoid the same experience.

I received a call from one of my ads that targets probate clients. The caller, William Silva, claimed to be a salesperson for a company called “Estate Legal.” He seemed legitimate at first, and I even had a few friends look over the materials he provided. Everything checked out.

They claimed that Estate Legal helps people through the probate process—especially those with a living will or those who’ve moved into a nursing home and need to sell their house. Supposedly, they connect sellers with brokers and homebuyers in each market. They also stated they only allow three brokers and three cash homebuyer “spots” in any given area, and they only move into areas where they can guarantee at least 600 leads per year. I was told there was already one broker signed up and no cash homebuyers yet, so it seemed like a good opportunity. After doing what I felt was enough research—even though the sales pitch was a bit pushy—I decided to move forward.

Their pamphlet outlined several guarantees and provided additional details. The only slight red flag was that they only accepted payment via Venmo or wire transfer, but that's how I accepted payment when I was selling lead bundles, so I still thought it was worth a shot. So, I wired the money. After that, they sent a few messages mentioning they were working with a couple of probates and would get back to me.

To date, I haven't received anything, and my attempts to reach them have gone unanswered. I recall looking up their LLC in Florida, even though some documents mentioned California.

If you’ve had any interactions with these people, please reply below and let us know your experience. I hope this helps keep others from falling into the same trap. Hope this helps, and God bless!