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SCAM ALERT!!!
Post on April 3rd, 2018
This isn’t crying wolf…Check scams and fraudulent wire scams continue to target Ohio attorneys every day.
Scams often have these features. Be on the lookout for:
- Emails that purport to be from a corporation that are sent from a gmail account
- Email addresses from a foreign country
- Requests to “collect a debt” or “close a deal” often for a large amount of money
- A potential representation where before you even have a fee agreement, you receive a check (often drawn on a foreign bank) with instructions to deposit the check in your trust account, and immediately wire funds from your account (to the purported client or a third party) and pay your fee (of course)
- Situations where the potential “client” does not pay your retainer, but nevertheless pressures you to take action
- A short time table between “retention,” “payment,” and demand for remittance of funds.
- The “payment” is almost always some form of fraudulent check or wire.
DO NOT:
- Reply to the email
- Call the number in the email
- Send a fee contract
While there are variations in this scam, the maxim applies, “If it seems too good to be true, it probably IS!”
If you have any questions about any of these types of emails you receive, PLEASE contact OBLIC BEFORE you reply to the email! We have helped many attorneys avoid these scams and the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars!
Gretchen Koehler Mote, Esq.,