Fraud Alert - Bad Cheque Scam

For Immediate Release – February 17, 2014
POSSIBLE FRAUD ALERT – CAUTION

The Law Society of New Brunswick has been notified that some of its members have received an email message which is a confirmed scam. 

In this scenario, the lawyer received an email signed by Harmony Young (email address used in this instance:  yharmony27@hotmail.com) who is asking for help to collect a onetime cash settlement following a divorce.  The email includes copies of a separation agreement, decree of divorce and a passport. 

Law Pro has confirmed that nearly 100 lawyers in Canada have received this fraudulent email message. 

This is a classic bad cheque scam that presents as legal matters requiring the assistance of a lawyer. In this scam, lawyers will be duped into wiring real funds from their trust accounts after depositing a fake cheque received as payment from the debtor (who is part of the fraud).

As usual, we are advising caution when dealing with these types of situations.  If you are faced with this type of request from a client who is not able to attend your office, it may be wise to have the potential client attend the office of a lawyer that you know, or of your choosing, to confirm his or her identity.  It is also wise to confirm that the potential client has personally attended the lawyer’s office.

When you open a new client file, refer to the Law Society of New Brunswick’s Code of Professional Conduct and the Rules on Client Identification.

If you are dealing with clients you do not know well, relying on the telephone number to verify the document may not expose the scam.

Also note that you have a responsibility to guard against becoming the tool or dupe of the unscrupulous client.  Lawyers must be alert to and avoid unwittingly becoming involved with a client engaged in illegal activity.  Vigilance is required, because the means for criminal activities may be transactions for which the lawyers commonly provide services.

If you receive correspondence or calls of this nature or a variation of the situations described above, please advise the Law Society.