Lee Francoeur is not a lawyer in Manitoba.
Someone calling themselves Lee Francoeur has been contacting people across North America and telling them there is a dormant insurance policy or a bank account in the name of their long lost dead relative. This person says he is a lawyer at Manitoba law firm and can help the heirs get their share of the money. Lee Francoeur is not a lawyer in Manitoba and does not work for a Manitoba law firm. Sometimes, this fraudster uses a made-up law firm and sometimes, he steals the name of an existing law firm, but uses a scam email address or phone number. In some cases, he has gone so far as to set up a phony law firm website.
You can check to see if someone is a lawyer in Manitoba by looking them up in our lawyer lookup You should contact the lawyer at the email address and phone number on our website. If the lawyer you are checking out is not listed on the look-up, you can call the Law Society to confirm the lawyer’s status and contact information.
The fraud run by this so-called Lee Francoeur (and others like him) is a classic ‘inheritance scam’. If you respond, you will be asked to provide personal information like your social insurance or social security number, bank account and credit card information and copies of identity documents like your driver’s licence or birth certificate. This is all valuable information that can be used for nefarious purposes or sold to other fraudsters.
Next, the fraudster will ask you to pay fees, charges or taxes to release the inheritance money. The fraudster will get your money, but you will not get the inheritance. Be alert for this and other scams.
