Bruh,
Careful in Brazil. Do you speak Portuguese fluently? If "no", hire a reputable law firm to guide you.
Start with this:
"
- Ask the lawyer who you are talking for the following:
- Full legal name.
- OAB registration number.
- State where they are registered (e.g., OAB/SP, OAB/RJ, OAB/PR).
- Professional email address.
- Office address and telephone number.
- Search the official OAB database
- Use the official national OAB lawyer registry:
- Search by name or OAB number.
- Confirm that:
- The name matches.
- The registration is Regular (Regular).
- The state matches.
- The professional information is consistent.
Use ConfirmADV (recommended)
- The OAB now provides ConfirmADV, specifically to combat people impersonating lawyers.
- It verifies that the person communicating with you actually controls the email address registered with the OAB.
You can access it here:
- Call the office using a number you found yourself
- Do not call a phone number sent in a WhatsApp message or email.
- Find the office number from the OAB listing or the firm's official website.
- Ask:
- "May I speak with Dr. João Silva?"
- "Is he handling my matter?"
- "Did he send me this email?"
- Verify the email domain
- If they claim to work for a law firm, make sure the email is from that firm's domain (for example, @silvaadvogados.com.br) and not a random Gmail account.
- Many legitimate lawyers do use Gmail, but if significant money is involved, it's worth performing extra verification.
- Check whether the lawyer has an online presence
- Official law firm website.
- LinkedIn profile.
- Court decisions listing that lawyer.
- Publications or legal articles.
- None of these prove identity by themselves, but together they increase confidence."
4. Do several live video call conferences with him in his office. Record them all.
Note: I knew what to ask ChatGPT to give me this. I really don't feel like writing all this for you.
Be very very careful in Brazil, buddy! They WILL kidnap a foreigner and beat you until you give them the Bitcoins and if you don't...they sell your organs.
Brasil não é pra amadores!
Good luck!