Mississippi Litigation Review & Commentary : Mississippi Personal Injury Lawyer & Attorney : Phillip W. Thomas Law Firm : MS Litigation Review & Commentary

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The ABA Journal reported on Monday that two more law firms have fallen for an e-mail collection scam targeting lawyers:

Two law firms in Honolulu were scammed out of $500,000 in an e-mail scheme that's apparently targeting the legal community.

During the past six weeks, six different law firms have been targeted, according to the FBI, which issued a warning today (PDF). Two of the six fell for the scheme and lost a total of $500,000.

The FBI reports that the scam begins with e-mail contact from a prospective client who is seeking legal representation in a civil matter, such as a divorce. The supposed client sends the law firm a cashier’s check for a retainer in an amount far exceeding the firm's rate.

When the law firm responds that the client has overpaid, the client requests and the unsuspecting firm sends a wire transfer with the refund. It's after the refund that duped firms learned that the cashier's checks are counterfeit.

As I discussed last June, the Mississippi bar warned Mississippi lawyers about these scams last year. As far as I know, no Mississippi lawyers have fallen for the scam.

But I continue to receive several e-mails every week attempting to get me to fall for the scam. I estimate that I receive about five of these e-mails a week. If they were legitimate I could make a killing by focusing my practice on collecting debts for Asian companies.

Here is the text of an email that I received three times within minutes on Saturday:

BaiLi Hose Co.,Ltd

 

No.790 NingAn Road,Hengshui,

Hebei Province Hengshui Hebei

053000 China

 

Attention: Counsel,

 

We the management of BaiLi Hose Co.,Ltd ,require your legal representation for our American Customers. BaiLi Hose Co.,Ltd, a manufacturer and supplier of chemical, we are been owed payment on a shipment that we made to a customer in America in June 2008 and now seeking advice and possible representation in litigation against the non-paying company.

 

 

We are of the opinion that the ability to consolidate payments from America will eradicate delays due to inter-continental monetary transaction between the Asia and America. We understand that a proper Attorney Client Retainer will provide the necessary authorization and we are most inclined to commence talks as soon as possible.

 

Your consideration of our request is highly anticipated and we look forward to your prompt response.

 

Sincerely,

Chen Yang,

Managing Director.

chenyang9@live.com     

I also recall receiving the version of the scam e-mail claiming to be from a person seeking to collect on alimony or child support payments in “you state.” The scammers also bait the line by filling out the contact form on my blog.

Almost none of the e-mails are personalized, and are addressed to "counsel." At the top left where the recipients address should be listed, they list a bogus sender address instead. The scammers do not even go to the trouble of listing the state that I am in. I can probably expect to receive more of these e-mails now that Sid Salter has explained what a moron I am.

While I am not surprised that there have been unsuspecting lawyers who fell for the scam, it is surprising that the scam is still working given the publicity that it’s received in the legal community.

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The Mississippi Bar sent an email to members on Friday warning about an internet scam directed at lawyers. Here is NMC's post on the scam, which includes a comment that large regional firm Bradley Arant fell for the scam to the tune of $400,000. There is also an ABA story on Bradley Arant getting victimized. Don't neglect to read the comments, which include:

What do you want to bet this firm only interviews (or interviewed, when anyone was actually hiring) law students in the top 10-15% with Law Journal experience?

Hate to sound like a bitter graduate, but although I may not be in the top 10% or have had the time to do Law Journal, I am certainly not enough of a sucker to have fallen for this trick.  Good grief.

lol i agree.  A C law school student from a 3rd tier law school wouldn’t have fallen for this scam.  It has to be a top 10 student from a top 10 law school. 

The best and brightest have no street smarts and are dumber than a box of rocks when it comes to commen sense. 

If it's any consolation, I bet the victim can spell better than the guy who wrote that last comment. The Bradley Arant incident did not involve any of the firm's Mississippi lawyers.

The scam sounded familiar, so I dug through my deleted emails and found the following email, which sounds a lot like the scam:

I  will be out of the office from April 30th through May 30th. I have asked my assistant Rachael to provide necessary information on a breach of contract case resulting to unpaid balance for goods supplied for your possible representation.

The creditor (Suneom Technology Co., Ltd., China), my client has requested for immediate action to proceed with collection of the outstanding balance valued at

$485,750.00.

You may contact Rachael on -- [redacted] for more information.

Treat with prompt attention.

Thank you.

[redacted]

Law Offices [redacted]

[redacted], White Plains, NY 10601

Toll free: [redacted]

[redacted]

****** CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE ******

This communication contains information which is legally privileged and confidential. It is for the exclusive use of the intended recipient(s).

 I redacted parts of the email because I do not want any of my lawyer readers stealing this potential lucrative client. Like many lawyers, I receive several emails a week that sound like a variety of this scam.