Divorce settlement agreement scam by Harmony Young
Date First Reported: September 2012
Primary Name Associated: Harmony Young
Description of Potential Fraud:
Over a hundred lawyers in Canada and the U.S. have notified us that they’ve been contacted by the purported Harmony Young 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.
Updated Oct 2013: Toronto police are looking for additional information from anyone who has received this scam and come across the name “Joe Mathewson” in any of the responses from the fraudsters. Click here for more details
Here is the initial email:
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: September-10-12 10:29 AM
Subject: Contempt of Judgment
I wish to file a contempt petition against my ex-spouse for breaching the court’s decree with regards to payment of divorce settlement. Please advise if you handle such case.
Harmony Young
Email: [email protected]
A lawyer who replied received the following response and counterfeit documents:
Thank you for your prompt response to my inquiry. Am residing in South Korea for an assignment at present and my ex-spouse Shin Young lives in Oakbrook, Illinois. As a result of time difference it is a little bit difficult to reach you. We were divorced in South Korea but my ex-husband Shin Young relocated to the United States. He is a citizen. We both agreed under a Separation Agreement incorporated, merged into and made part of the court decree for a settlement of Child Support, Spousal Support, and Medical support of $941,100.00, he has paid me $270,500.00 but still owing $670,600.00 and the stipulated time for completion of payment has long elapsed. This is the reason why I contacted you as there is already an agreement in place. I know for sure my ex-husband has the financial means to pay for balance he owes me. Thus, I request your legal services to enforce the court order compelling him to remit balance owed me. Attached is a copy of the terms of separation 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 expect this to be resolved in a timely manner. Sequel to this, If you are happy to proceed, kindly send me a copy of your retainer and if the terms are acceptable I will sign so we can commence the process without delay
Thank you for your anticipated cooperation and professionalism
Yours truly,
Harmony Young
Young Divorce Decree
Young Separation Agreement
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.
For more immediate updates on fraud and claims prevention, 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.
November 12, 2012 at 11:10 pm, Kristanto said:
We also got the same email in Indonesia. She said that her ex-husband was residing in Indonesia now, but she could not provide her husband’s complete address. That was suspicious at the beginning, but now it’s clear after reading this. Thanks for posting this.
November 13, 2012 at 10:14 am, Ron said:
Received the email from Harmony today here in Iowa with the email I just established for myself as a new attorney.
November 14, 2012 at 2:51 pm, Lyndi said:
Received one from her today. November 14, 2012 in Dallas, Georgia.
November 19, 2012 at 4:57 pm, Stacy said:
Received one on November 13th. FH now lives in Longwood, Florida.
November 20, 2012 at 10:36 pm, Hazelyn Ross said:
My that Harmony does get around, received email from her in Nevis, W.I. Husband now living in St. Kitts.
November 22, 2012 at 1:19 pm, gillian said:
I also got an e-mail from Harmony. You guys are doing us a great service. It went straight to the spam folder probably because of the reports that have been made before. The e-mail was received October 28, 2012. I live in Jamaica WI
December 04, 2012 at 12:57 pm, Brenda Brooks said:
I received email on November 30th 2012. Figured out from the content that something was wrong. After doing some research via your website I got confirmation that it is a scam.
December 06, 2012 at 6:26 am, Bfrancois said:
I’m in Montpellier, South of France, and I received the same email… Too bad, I thought I got a great client !
January 08, 2013 at 8:28 pm, PDS said:
Harmony’s husband certainly is a bounder. He’s now living in Australia. She’s well rid of him.
February 05, 2013 at 8:23 pm, MRA said:
He is supposedly living in Mexico Now… We even got a divorce agreement…
February 15, 2013 at 6:34 pm, Nathan said:
You are ALL wrong. Harmony Young’s husband moved to Oklahoma. (Very glad I searched her name, on a serious note.)
February 19, 2013 at 1:44 pm, Georgia said:
How many husbands does this woman have? I received the same e-mail in San Diego. Thanks for the warning.
February 20, 2013 at 6:51 pm, Greg said:
Our family law firm in Washington state got the same email with different names filled in.
March 01, 2013 at 11:29 am, David said:
This Harmony contact me in Santo Domingo, D.R.
We actually shared 5 days of emails.
March 03, 2013 at 5:04 pm, Terrance Meyers said:
Just so that all of her potential “counsel” are aware, Ms. Young has re-married and divorced Mr. Atsushi and in the process changed her first name to “Kin”. However, the Korean Court has thought it wise to grant her the identical documents with the names of the Plaintiff and Defendant changed to reflect the new spouses.
I have forwarded my version to LawPRO, but in case they are swamped right now, keep an eye out for KIN ATSUSHI. Same game, different name.
March 14, 2013 at 4:16 am, Property Settlement Lawyers Sydney said:
This Harmony Young scam has also been reported from Canada and the United States. “Harmony” has also been reported as wanting legal assistance with filing a “contempt petition” against her ex-spouse.
March 16, 2013 at 10:30 am, Juan Ignacio Rusich said:
I am living in Argentina. I received the mail today. Thanks for the warning!
March 18, 2013 at 5:41 am, eve said:
Funny is, that I received her mail as corporate counsel (no law-firm!)
with a very bad translation from her english request.
The husband now supposedly moved to Germany…
mein Name ist Harmony Young,
Ich möchte eine Verachtung Petition gegen meinen Ex-Ehepartner (Shin
Young) einreichen seinen Wohnsitz in Ihrem Land für die Verletzung der gerichtlichen Erlass in Bezug auf Zahlung von Familienleistungen Scheidungsvereinbarung. Bitte geben Sie, wenn Sie einem solchen Fall, damit ich liefern Ihnen näher zu behandeln.
Ich werde auch eine Überweisung, wenn dies nicht Ihr Gebiet der Praxis.
Ich freue mich auf Ihre Antwort.
Grüße,
Harmony Young
========================
My name is Harmony Young,
I wish to file a contempt petition against my ex-spouse (Shin Young) who resides in your jurisdiction for breaching the court’s decree with regards to payment of family divorce settlement. Please advise if you handle such case to enable me furnish you with more details.
I will also need a referral if this is not your field of practice.
I look forward to your response.
Regards,
Harmony Young
March 18, 2013 at 1:07 pm, Peter Holzschuher said:
Hello,
thanks for warning. Mr. Shin Young now seems to live in Nuremberg, Germany!? 😉
E-Mail-Adress this time: [email protected]
Kind regards,
Peter
March 22, 2013 at 4:47 pm, Massimo montagner said:
I receved to day all the documents from harmony young. Thank you to tell me that is a fraud .
Regards
Avv montagner
March 25, 2013 at 5:01 am, aclicagliarifamiglia said:
Ciao,
abbiamo ricevuto anche noi una richiesta del genere dicendo che il marito in questione abita a Cagliari (italy).
Grazie.
Ciao
Maurizio F.
March 26, 2013 at 1:02 pm, stephen scott said:
Husband has now turned up Northern Ireland and she is working in Japan!!
March 27, 2013 at 8:38 am, Dan said:
Just received the message in Manchester, England.
Thanks for the warning
March 28, 2013 at 10:24 am, Amanda Judd said:
We received the message today. 3/28/2013 in Washington, DC
April 03, 2013 at 10:01 am, Giuseppe said:
We received the message on 03/22/2013. Mr. Shin Young now lives in Italy. Harmony is working in Japan… Thanks for the warning
April 03, 2013 at 1:33 pm, Giuseppe said:
Hi, few days ago I was contacted by Harmony and Shin Young . Harmony has sent me a copy of his passport and marriage certificate. Harmony asked me to recover a sum of money of $ 670,000 from ‘ex-husband.
I have a question to ask. In that way they can cheat people?
April 04, 2013 at 9:40 am, TimLemieux said:
The ex-husband is part of the fraud. He would send you a fake cheque and “Harmony” would ask you to deposit it, deduct your fees, and wire the rest to her. Then your bank would find out the cheque was fake.
April 05, 2013 at 7:45 am, SSathiaraj said:
It’s just reached Weybridge, Surrey UK! Thanks for help everyone…!!
April 05, 2013 at 11:33 am, Chris Knowles said:
Email received today from Ms. Young. I swear my spidey sense went off the second I read this email…
I wish to file a contempt petition against my ex-spouse for breaching the court’s decree with regards to payment of divorce settlement. Please advise if you handle such case.
Harmony Young
Email: [email protected]
April 06, 2013 at 9:08 am, Jayne said:
I just received this one today in New York. An immediate Google search found this site. Thank you!
April 09, 2013 at 6:07 am, SF Devereux said:
Cardiff, Wales. They get around.
If you *do* reply, then a couple of days later the “ex-husband” starts e-mailing you too, ready to pay millions of pounds into your account.
What a strange, strange scam. Has ANYONE ever reported falling for this?
I mean, I understand the impetus behind it, but the execution is so unbelievably shoddy, that – considering it’s not aimed at the general public but rather a specific class of highly-educated professionals who by their nature will be are on the lookout for scams – the success rate of this must surely be 0%…?
April 09, 2013 at 6:10 am, SF Devereux said:
Giuseppe: further to what TimLemieux correctly said, there’s also the possibility that the funds are real and this is a money-laundering scam, to funnel profits from illegal activity through your firm (in many jurisdictions, this lands you, the lawyer, in prison). Either way, do not touch this with a fifteen foot pole.
April 09, 2013 at 10:40 am, TimLemieux said:
Not many fall for it, but some do. When they are making a few hundred thousand dollars for each success, they only need a tiny % of lawyers out of the 1,000s they email to get duped, and they are doing a pretty profitable business!
April 11, 2013 at 6:23 am, Alessandro said:
I received the same mail and after also a check about 98.000 us dollars. I don’t send any money and I’ll check the integrity of the check and of the account with italian authority. It’s a check of YOUNG HOLDINGS payable through HSBC Bank USA n. 733298243
April 23, 2013 at 10:41 am, Adrian Berkeley said:
Same scam received in Manchester England.
April 23, 2013 at 12:29 pm, Miriam Moeller said:
Mr. Shin Young on March 18th also has moved to Toenisvorst (Northrhine-Westfalia) in Germany… the given address points to a property with no house on it. I have received a check of about 200.000 us dollars.
April 23, 2013 at 4:04 pm, David said:
What happens if you cash the check that Mr. Shin Young sends?
April 24, 2013 at 5:34 am, nj-gal said:
In my case here in Germany: Since it’s an international check the bank takes up to 6 weeks before it finally clears. I suppose it won’t clear.
By the way: To make their scenario seem even trustworthier the person whose name is on the check also sent me an email – Mr. Joe Mathewson from Canada – informing me about a security hold on it and that he has to take it off once he receives my email that the check actually made it to me.
Harmony then of course asked me to further transfer the money after deducting my fees partially to two of her children supposably residing in Great Britain and to wire transfer the rest to her fiancé Marc Roskin in China. Strange enough she asked me to Western Union the money to her children and informs me about their addresses. If one did that wouldn’t these people have to officially identify themselves to Western Union in order to receive the money? I mean, wouldn’t that given address then actually point to an actual person that could be prosecuted by the authorities? Whom do I inform about this then? Since I was addressed in Germany by somebody supposably being South Korean living in Japan and asking me to send the money to Great Britain and China?
On another side note: Since I told Harmony that I can’t forward any money before final clearance by my bank she tried to reach my sympathy by making up a heart warming story about the fact that the money for her children is for their school fees and that the school has already stopped giving them lectures. Could I please be so nice as to at least forward those 4.000 € to her kids? After denying even that she now went down to asking me to forward only 3.000 € to her kids because she has been able to raise 1.000 € herself. Oh, and she also actually CALLED my office. I wasn’t in so only my secretary took the call.
May 02, 2013 at 4:40 pm, Vanessa said:
Commonwealth of Dominica
I received an email from Harmony Young inquiring whether our firm could assist her in compelling her husband to pay monies owed to her through a separation agreement.
I responded by saying that we are able to assist her. She then responded by saying that her husband owes her almost one million dollars. This did not sound normal to me. I googled Harmony Young and found this website. I copied the link and forwarded it to her for her review.
May 06, 2013 at 4:25 am, Angel said:
Today we received one of these scams – our law firm is in Germany. The translation of the scammer’s request was so appalling and the content so dubious that we did a little research and found this very informative link. In our ‘case’ they used the following email address:
[email protected]
Thank you for providing this information!
Best regards
May 06, 2013 at 12:23 pm, Peter said:
Our law firm is also in germany.
Harmony told us that her ex spouse live now in frankfurt/main.
she used the following email adress:[email protected]
Thank you for sharing this information.
May 06, 2013 at 1:47 pm, rafael said:
i am living in MEXICO. I received the mail today. Thanks for the warning!
May 07, 2013 at 10:59 am, Adrian Berkeley said:
What I don’t understand is why, when there is so much evidence from professionals around the world, are the various enforcement agencies not interested? In fact they are not even aware!!
May 10, 2013 at 11:45 am, Casimiro Vargas said:
We were contacted by them in Costa Rica. However, before we did not replied because we search on google and found your alert.
Thanks.
May 13, 2013 at 10:45 am, Erica said:
I received an email last fall, responded and it was bounced back to my server. That’s when I looked it up and confirmed it was a scam. I received another email this morning from [email protected]. Thanks
May 14, 2013 at 12:42 pm, Keith said:
I received this from Rina regarding her husband Tomio Walton who lives in Dale, Wisconsin where my office is. Since there are like 300 people in Dale, I probably would have known Mr. Walton, especially since I do not remember John boy having a japenese 1/2 brother.
May 16, 2013 at 4:27 am, Karen said:
Harmony’s husband is now in Grenada, W.I.
May 17, 2013 at 12:42 pm, Katalyn said:
Guess what, he is now in Grand Cayman. This chap is a real globetrotter!
May 20, 2013 at 7:40 pm, Martin said:
Harmony Young has found me in Adelaide, South Australia!
Same problems, same husband.
May 22, 2013 at 6:56 pm, Marta Escanilla said:
Hola colegas: puedo informar que el marido de Harmony, se encuentra en CHILE, SUDAMÉRICA.
Es una buena historia. Lástima, pensé que era un buen cliente al fin.