"AvoidAClaim" Blog

Four Ontario lawyers have notified us that they’ve been contacted by the purported Wang Mesh to act on real estate transactions that look like an attempt at a bad cheque fraud. As with scams of this type, it appears that this fraud is a set-up for a request to return real estate deal deposit monies paid with a bad cheque.

This is a similar scam to those we’ve seen recently under the names Kin Hang Cheung and Hideki Kazuhiro.

It is also the same name we’ve seen attached to a commercial debt collection scam.

For a full description of how this fraud works and a full list of names associated with it, see our Confirmed Fraud page.

Here is the email:

From: Wang Mesh
To:
Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2012 5:00 AM
Subject: Urgent

Wang Mesh
WANG STEEL MESH CO.,LTD
www.wsmc-jp.com/e

One lawyer received the following cheque and cover letter at her office:

How to handle a real or suspected fraud (more…)

Eight lawyers in Canada and the U.S. have notified us that they’ve been contacted by the purported Trina Yato with regards to a to a collaborative family law agreement dispute. This is a fraud we have seen before under several other names and similar scenarios. For details on how this fraud works and a full list of names attached to it see our Confirmed Fraud page.

Here is the initial email:

From: Trina Yato [mailto:trinayato@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, June 13, 2012 2:41 AM
To: lawyer email
Subject: Possible Litigation

Ms Trina

A lawyer who responded got this reply and supporting documentation:

Thank you for your prompt response. Am residing in South Korea for an assignment at present and my ex-spouse and Mullin Yato (ex-spouse) lives in Franklin, IN, Due to the time difference (+13hrs EST), it is a little bit difficult to determine the best time to call you. Following my previous mail, My ex-spouse and I agreed under a Collaborative Law Agreement which incorporated by reference was approved, merged into and made part of the court order for a cash settlement of $698,000.00USD, for child support, spousal support, etc, To his credit, he has paid me $260,500.00USD but still owing $437.500.00USD and the stipulated time for completion of payment has long elapsed. Therefore, breaching the court’s decree with regards to payment of divorce settlement. He is aware of my intention to seek legal actions. Attached is a copy of the Collaborative Law Agreement, Entitlement Settlement Agreement and the Court’s Decree (i.e. Divorce Decree) and I will be pleased to provide further information on this case on request. I have already advised him I am planning on retaining your firm. Kindly send me your firm’s retainer fee agreement so that we can proceed. Thank you and I await your email with the retainer agreement.

Regards,
Trina.
Address : 101-37, Sowol-ro, Hannam-Dong, Seoul, 176-187 South Korea

YATO Settlement Agreement

Yato Divorce Decree

Yato Collaborative Agreement

How to handle a real or suspected fraud (more…)

Two Ontario lawyers received an email from the purported Albert Robbie with regards to a commercial debt litigation scam. For examples of other names attached to this kind of fraud see our Confirmed Fraud Page. For an explanation of how this fraud works see our Fraud Fact Sheet.

Here is the initial email:

From: Albert Robbie [mailto:santexgroupcoltd@globomail.com]
Sent: June 27, 2012 9:25 AM
To: lawyer name
Subject: Legal Consultation

Albert Robbie

How to handle a real or suspected fraud (more…)

Lawyers in the U.S., B.C. and Ontario have just reported to us that they received the following message from the purported Daniel Liu. This scam is very similar to other breach of copyright or trademark scams we have seen over the last several months. It is a setup to dupe a lawyer into wiring good funds from a trust account after depositing a fraudulent cheque received in payment of damages.

Here is a copy of the message the lawyers received. They are personally addressed, unlike many scam emails that simply start with “dear lawyer”:

From: danieliu@chimsghk.com [mailto:danieliu@chimsghk.com]
Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2012 2:44 AM
To: lawyer name
Subject: Copyright Infringement

Daniel Liu
President/Owner
China Resources Machinery Company Ltd
26 Harbour Road
Wanchai Hong Kong

How to handle a real or suspected fraud (more…)

Two Ontario lawyers received an email from the purported Theo Trescher of Trescher Fabrication Ltd with regards to a commercial debt litigation scam. For examples of other names attached to this kind of fraud see our Confirmed Fraud Page. For an explanation of how this fraud works see our Fraud Fact Sheet.

Here is the initial email:

From: Theo Trescher
To: undisclosed-recipients:;,
Date: 11/06/2012 04:14 AM
Subject: Legal Assistance..

I am Theo Trescher, Our company (Trescher Fabrication Ltd) needs your legal Assistance on a collection case. Please Advise.

Another variation appears under the name NicK Trescher:

From: Nick Trescher [mailto:nicktrescher@live.com]
Sent: Wednesday, June 27, 2012 1:51 PM
To: lawyer email
Subject: Legal Enquiry!

Regards,
Nick Trescher

How to handle a real or suspected fraud (more…)

Three Ontario lawyers received an email from the purported Ronald Stevenson of Clarkwood Equipment Inc with regards to a commercial debt litigation scam. For examples of other names attached to this kind of fraud see our Confirmed Fraud Page. For an explanation of how this fraud works see our Fraud Fact Sheet.

Here is the initial email:

From: Ronald Stevenson [mailto:ronaldstevenson6@gmail.com]
Sent: June 20, 2012 12:17 PM
To: lawyer name
Subject: re:urgent

Sincerely,
Ronald Stevenson
Clarkwood Equipment Inc
11130 Jackson Terrace
Corpus Christi, TX 78410-2412

A lawyer who replied got this response:

Good day to you and thank you very much for your prompt response to my email. We appreciate your willingness to render services as we have requested.
We are a company based in Colorado and our principal activity is that of a civil and Industrial construction company that specializes in the manufacturing, leasing and sale of various construction materials and equipments. We also provide general construction services with clients located throughout North America, Europe and Asia.
In order for you to run a conflict check we have provided the name of our client below and hope there is no conflict of interest that prevents you from representing us:

Sincerely,
Ronald Stevenson

How to handle a real or suspected fraud (more…)

Two Ontario lawyers received an email from the purported George Burger of Alliance Machining Technologies with regards to a commercial debt litigation scam. For examples of other names attached to this kind of fraud see our Confirmed Fraud Page. For an explanation of how this fraud works see our Fraud Fact Sheet.

It appears that this scam may be using the name of a real person and business, as we’ve seen before in other fraud attempts.

Here is the initial email:

From: George Burger, Jr. Alliance Machining Technologies Inc [mailto:alliancemachiningtech@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, June 15, 2012 04:58 AM
To: Lawyer Name
Subject: My Company Need The Help Of Your Firm

Sincerely,
George Burger,Jr.
Alliance Machining Technologies Inc.
1304 W Red Baron Rd
Payson, AZ 85541-3524

A lawyer who replied got this response and attachment:

Thank you so much for your swift response. I’m sorry i cannot telephone you as i’m out of town at the moment.I only have access to email.But nevertheless,please find below contact information of our debtor owing us to enable you open up communication with them regarding this debt.

George Burger, Jr.

Another lawyer received this reply:

I thank you very much for your reply back to my email message to your firm, also my company have the Contract Agreement Letter, Invoice of the supply, Bill of Landing, and the Bill of Sale. For all that will be forwarded to you as soon as you confirm the receipt of this message for your review before talking about your fee.

George Burger, Jr.
Alliance Machining Technology Inc.
1304 W Red Baron Rd
Payson, AZ 85541-3524

Another lawyer received a different set of fake documents:

How to handle a real or suspected fraud (more…)

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Do any of these names ring a bell: Kin Hang Cheung, Haru Hayate or Hideki Kazuhiro?

OR – is someone from overseas asking you to act on a real estate matter? Is a real estate agent you know sending you new business from an offshore client?

Be wary: Real estate lawyers like you (as well as real estate agents) are being targeted all over the continent by a new fraud scam.

To date we’ve heard from lawyers in Toronto (purchase of a Niagara property), Ottawa, London, Barrie, Orillia, Port Hope, Campbellford, Napanee and Trenton who have been contacted by Cheung. The Law Society of British Columbia sent a warning to B.C. lawyers about three real estate frauds attempted by this same individual. You can see a copy of this warning on the Law Society of BC website.

Red flags to watch for:

• client is overseas, has worked with a real estate agent in your area to complete an Agreement of Purchase of Sale;
• real estate agent (often known to lawyer) refers deal to lawyer, sometimes with copies of client ID and bank statements. See this AvoidAClaim blog post for copies of various documents used on this fraud;
• payments to be made, at least in one case, through the client’s stockbroker or other third party;
• cheque for $300,000 plus arrives shortly after lawyer receives the documents from the real estate agent, cheques allegedly sent on client’s instructions;
• cheques are drawn on bank accounts of third party business entities with no apparent connection to transaction (LAWPRO has seen cheques from many entities often using the names of actual local businesses including Moloney Electric Inc., Primerica, Reach Technologies Inc., SMS Rents Division of SMS Construction and Mining Systems), Downtown Porsche and Bioniche Life Sciences;
• cheque is for much more than required for deposit, and is to be deposited into the lawyer’s trust account;
• fraudster – who apparently has signed Agreement of Purchase and Sale that is subject to inspection clause or that has another avenue to back out of the deal – asks for his deposit back, presumably by electronic transfer, less a very generous amount for lawyer’s fees and disbursements;
• if the lawyer wires funds from his or her pooled trust account, the lawyer’s account will be short and perhaps overdrawn.

Click the links to see more details on these and other real estate frauds by individuals purporting to be Haru Hayate and Hideki Kazuhiro.

Canada Day is coming: Be on guard!

All lawyers are being targeted with bad cheque frauds: We’re getting reports of frauds that appear to be personal or business collection matters, spousal support collections, business loans and IP licence disputes.

The common names we are seeing include (click on these names to be taken to the AvoidAClaim blog for more details on these frauds) Nick Ualtar , Elena Kinoshita, and Tom Prodromou. We expect to see higher than usual fraud activity as we head into the Canada Day holiday weekend.

Don’t let your guard down & be caught short

Some lawyers are being fooled by these increasingly sophisticated frauds – which often result in significant shortfalls in their trust accounts.

Forward any of the emails and supporting documents that you have received to fraudinfo@lawpro.ca.

If you suspect you are acting on a matter that might be a fraud, call LAWPRO at 1-800-410-1013 (416-598-5899). We will talk you through the common fraud scenarios we are seeing and help you spot red flags that may indicate you are being duped. This will help you ask appropriate questions of your client to determine if the matter is legitimate or not. If the matter you are acting on turns out to be a fraud and there is a potential claim, we will work with you to prevent the fraud and minimize potential claims costs.

If you have been successfully duped, please immediately notify LAWPRO as there may be a claim against you.

For more information

Get immediate updates: Subscribe to the email or RSS feed updates from LAWPRO’s AvoidAClaim blog.

Fraud Fact Sheet: More fraud prevention information and resources are available on the practicePRO Fraud page, including the Fraud Fact Sheet, a handy reference for lawyers and law firm staff that describes the common frauds and the red flags that can help identify them.

Two New York lawyers have just reported to us that they received the following message from the purported Elias Machta. This scam is very similar to other breach licence scams we have seen over the last several months. It is a setup to dupe a lawyer into wiring good funds from a trust account after depositing a fraudulent cheque received in payment of damages.

Here is a copy of the message the lawyers received:

From: Elias Machta [mailto:eliasmachta@balenoapparel.com]
Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2012 10:00 PM
To: eliasmachta@balenoapparel.com
Subject: Trademark Violation

Regards,
Elias Machta

A lawyer who replied got this response:

Thank you for your response, it is our opinion that you do a conflict check before pertinent documents relating to this claim is forwarded to your office. Should we receive an all clear, please advise on the best way to forward our evidence to your attention.

Baleno Enterprise Inc.

How to handle a real or suspected fraud (more…)