by FraudInfo

Date First Reported: October 2012

Primary Name Associated: Barclay Chalmers

Description of Potential Fraud:

fraud-warning

Two lawyers in Ontario and six in the U.S. have notified us that they have received an email from the purported Barclay Chalmers of Barr Holdings 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.

We have received confirmation from Barr Holdings’ legal advisors that these emails are not being sent from Barclay Chalmers or anyone within the Barr Group and asking anyone who receives such an email to forward it to me at [email protected].

Here is the initial email:

From: Barclay Chalmers.
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Date: 10/09/2012 11:14 AM
Subject: Breach Of Contract Barclay Chalmers ON CAN

——————————————————————————–
Attention Counsel,

Please i want you to Let us know if you handlle breach of contract and
civil law matters Please reply via Email:[email protected]

Thank you
Barclay Chalmers.

A lawyer who replied got this response and supporting documentation:

How are you today? We would like to thank you for your response to our inquiry for legal services.

However,We wish to inform you that we would be needing your firms legal help to assist us with a breach of contract matter and also retrieve funds owed to our company.We ordered goods from Arrow Electronics, Inc.and was asked to make a 50% down payment for goods to be delivered to us and that we did and up till date no goods were delivered.We asked for a refund and they made a part payment and after that no other payment was made.We seek legal help from your firm to help us collect these funds owed to our company as we do not wish to go any further with the said transaction.We have made several attempts in the past to collect these funds which all ended negatively.

We are aware that a conflict search would need to be done.Please find below details of the owing company.

Here is the name of our supplier for your conflict check of interest-

Arrow Electronics, Inc
200 Perimeter Park Drive
Suite D
Morrisville, NC 27560

Attached to this email you will find attached copy of contract,email correspondence and proof of payment for your perusal.We are prepared to pay a reasonable retainer fee for this service as soon as our board gets to review the terms of your engagement.So please have that sent to my attention via email if this is a case you are willing to handle.

What we require from your firm is to Provide legal advice,collect funds owed to us and bring actions in court against Arrow Electronics, Inc.if the need be.We look forward to your prompt response.we wanted to also inform you that the said funds owed to us has caused a great strain on our company’s operational capital and we want this issue to be resolved quickly.We would like to know a few things about your firm and also how you intend to handle this case. Find our concerns and questions below.

1. Have you handled cases like mine? Do you have a track record of success?

2. What course of action would you recommend for my business dispute?

3. What are the strengths and weaknesses of my case?

4. Do you have extensive experience in cases like mine?

5. Will you be handling my case personally?

6. How do your fees work?

7. How long have you been in practice?

8. How strong is my case and what are the possible outcomes?

9. How long do you think it will take to resolve this matter?

10.How often will you communicate with me about my case status?

11.Will you plan to pursue a settlement or fight for a court date? What about arbitration?

12.Who else in your office will work on our case?

13.What are our responsibilities in this case?

However,if you are able to help us with legal services do have your retainer agreement prepared and forwarded to us for proper review of your terms and conditions to enable us know if we can employ your services as time is of essence.

If you have any questions contact me personally anytime by email or call.You would find contact details at my signature block.

Best Regards,

Barclay Chalmers
Managing Director
Barr Holdings Limited
100 Inchinnan Road
PAISLEY PA3 2RE,United Kingdom
t:+44 1414 160697
f:+44 1416 261557
www.barr.co.uk

Chalmers ARROW CONTRACT
Chalmers WIRE FROM ARROW
Chalmers WIRE TO ARROW

How to handle a real or suspected fraud

If you have been targeted by any of these frauds, please forward any of the emails and supporting documents that you have received to [email protected].

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.

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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.