Demand Letter

In addition to the now ubiquitous email scam of the Nigerian prince asking for money and the Urdu accented “Mr. Jones” calling from the IRS telling you that you owe back taxes, the demand letter (a legit legal notice document), usually considered a precursor to legal action in a dispute over payment, is often used by fake collection agency scammers to scare unaware people fearful of lawsuits out of money.

Legitimate demand letters are usually drafted by an attorney and are the last recourse after phone calls and other friendlier means have gone unheeded or been unsuccessful in pursuit of debt collection. As formal business letters requesting payment and citing what legal steps will subsequently follow if there is no satisfactory response, demand letters are ubiquitous in contract and commercial disputes, although less frequent in personal disputes.

And guess what: "You have just won a milllllllion dollars."*

*As long as you first wire $2 million to a bank in Nigeria. Then all's good.