by FraudInfo

Date First Reported: June 2012

Primary Name Associated: Hideki Kazuhiro

Description of Potential Fraud:

fraud-warning

A number of U.S. lawyers (in Florida and Texas) have notified us that they’ve been contacted by the purported Hideki Kazuhiro 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. For a full description of how this fraud works and a list of names associated with it, see our Confirmed Fraud page.

Here is the email:

From: Hideki Kazuhiro Date: February 12, 2012 8:16:06 PM
To: Undisclosed recipients: ;
Subject: From Hideki Kazuhiro.

Hello,
I am Hideki Kazuhiro from Malaysia. I will be relocating to the United States with my family very soon after my retirement, and I intend buying a home before I come over. I will like you to send me a listing of properties with 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms within the price range of $500,000.00 to $1,200,000.00 with a nice view and garage, in a nice neighborhood in your city and state. Communication via email will be better as my spoken English is very poor. Waiting to hear from you.

Regards,
Hideki Kazuhiro

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.