Seems there’s a new and not-so-little lawyer scam going on. No calling a law firm about a package found on a subway, here. This one’s more devious and it involves some big cash.
According to a report out of wbztv.comin NH, two lawyers were targets of an international internet scam recently. The scammers used internet messages, fake companies and counterfeit checks in order to retain–albeit fraudulently–the lawyers.
Here’s how it worked:
It’s sort of like a Moneygram scam, actually. The lawyers were told that the fake checks were either settlement money or retainer fees. The lawyers were then instructed deposit the “money” and to then wire some money to someone else involved with the case.
The scammers were even doing things like using faux law firm stationery to make it look like it was opposing counsel who had sent the check.
One of the lawyers targeted was fortunate enough to have raised an eyebrow—he did some snooping around and found out that the check was counterfeit. He then contacted the attorney general’s office and state banking officials.
The other lawyer was not so lucky. He went and deposited the check and wired half the amount of it, a whopping $240,000, to a fake client of the company that retained him. Guess what? The $240k was yanked from his account and now it’s bye-bye. His loss. And a big one it is.
According to wbztv.com, Assistant Attorney General Karen Gorham said no arrests are anticipated.
No surprise.
Unfortunately, with scams like these—just as withMoneygram scams—it’s very difficult to track down the perpetrator.
So lawyers beware…
wow…where did that lawyer get his education? Must have been ivy league to so blindly believe that other lawyers (or people in general)are so honest that you'd send off big bucks w/out even the smallest amount of research….like, duh, Is the check any good?
Hi Snowman, you raise an interesting point–not about the lawyer's naivete, gullability, blind faith–or, stupidity–but about ivy league schools and the perception of them being an enclave-ish environment where one is shielded from the harsh realities of human nature that exist just outside campus limits. I'd agree, except for the recent news about the research going on at Columbia–in which psychiatric patients who were part of a study there were being injected with drugs that contained potentially dangerous impurities; note, this was not apparently a one-time issue–FDA violations occurred repeatedly over a 4-year period (per the NY Times)–along w/a report of a forged document that had allegedly been altered to hide a drug impurity; so, it begs the question of whether the ivy league microcosm is really that naive (and honest) or whether they'd just like everyone to think they are… We unfortunately cannot look up the credentials of the lawyer who fell for the scam here, but suffice to say, regardless of where he got his education, he's not feeling too smart right now…