Business loan collection scam by Raymond Ackley
Date First Reported: August 2013
Primary Name Associated: Raymond Ackley
Description of Potential Fraud:
[Updated June 2014]
Twenty lawyers from across Canada notified us that they received an email from the purported Raymond Ackley looking to retain them with regards to a breach of a business loan agreement.
This is a classic bad cheque scam that presents as legal matter 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). See our Confirmed Fraud Page for more of an explanation of how these frauds work and other names associated with it , and our Fraud Fact Sheet for a list the red flags of a bogus legal matter that is really a fraud.
Here is the initial contact email sent by the fraudster to the lawyer’s intake site, and subsequent reply:
From: [email protected]
I went through your profile and i believe you will be able to help me. I borrowed money to my in-law who has paid me only 20 percent of the money and has refused to pay me the balance so I want legal action to be taken. Your urgent assistance will be highly appreciated. You can contact me via this email address: [email protected] Mr.Raymond Ackley
Replying to the email brought this response and fake documentation:
Sorry for the delay in responding to your mail, its as a result of my failing health.
I lent my son In-law Mr Paul Nathaniel the sum of $570,000 which he promised to pay back but has only
paid $114,000 and has continued promising to make the balance payment each time i ask. I am based
in Japan but currently receiving treatment in the UK.
Attached is a copy of the loan agreement entered by both party.
I will deeply appreciate if you can assist me as i need
the money to settle a lot of bills including medical bills.
Also kindly let me know how much it will cost me.
Hope to hear from you.
Thanks,
Raymond Ackley
Ackley RAYMOND LOAN AGREEMENT1
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.
August 28, 2013 at 8:22 am, GUY NEPHTALI said:
The same hoax has been played on me in Quebec. I have been suspicious from the beginning and check with you so I didn’t lost much time……
Good Day Guy,
I lent my son In-law Mr Paul Nathaniel the sum of $570,000 which he promised to pay back but has only
paid $114,000 and has continued promising to make the balance payment each time i ask. I am based
in Japan but currently receiving treatment in the UK as a result of my failing health.
Attached is a copy of the loan agreement entered by both party.
I will deeply appreciate if you can assist me as i need
the money to settle a lot of bills including medical bills.
Also kindly let me know how much it will cost me.
Hope to hear from you.
Thanks,
Raymond Ackley
Good Day Guy,
Mr Nathaniel’s address is 256 Chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine, Montréal, QC H2V 2B2, Canada while
mine is 5-2-1 Ginza, Chuo-Ku, Tokyo Japan, Zip 179-3692. My Daughter’s name is Laura Nathaniel, but wont
want her to get involved until very necessary. Mr Nathaniel’s last payment was made in February of 2012.
Regards your retainer fee please furnish me with your wire information to enable me transfer the said fund to
you so we can start the process immediately.
Kindly also find attached my passport.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Raymond.
August 30, 2013 at 6:30 pm, Michael Alexander said:
I received the Ackley request this week. However, I asked him for a copy of his passport and his driver’s licence, which he provided. Having said that, I explored further on the Internet for identity tags. I couldn’t find any. Then I came across Ackley under the LawPro site and discovered that the language of the e-mail is identical to the one cited above. Thanks for confirming my suspicions.
July 15, 2014 at 8:56 am, John Harmon said:
Just received an Ackley email today – thanks for posting this warning. The scam apparently extends beyond Canada – I’m in New Jersey.
July 18, 2014 at 11:09 am, Jose Luis Velez said:
Just received an Ackley email today – thanks for posting this warning. The scam apparently extends beyond Canada and now in Mexico – I’m in Mexico City.
August 07, 2014 at 5:50 pm, Erica said:
I also just received an email through my website. Thanks god you have this post.
September 13, 2014 at 5:40 pm, Cristian Almonacid said:
Just received an Ackley email today – thanks for posting this warning. The scam apparently extends beyond Canada – I’m from Chile.
January 12, 2015 at 10:43 pm, kristine said:
I am a debt recovery law firm in Melbourne, Australia. I was contacted by a person named Raymond Ackley on 12/1/15 by email asking me to help recover same loan. Emails are almost the identical to the above emails. I asked “Raymond” to complete a new client information form and a debtor information form and asked for a copy of his passport and the nature of his illness and whether he had a POA in Australia, before sending a letter of demand. I wonder why the alleged scammer hasn’t googled his alleged scammer name (Raymond Ackley) yet and come across this site also and why he is still using the name Raymond Ackley. Seems lazy for a scammer. I wonder if any law firm has actually drawn trust funds. Trust account regulations here in Victoria, Australia ensure that a trust account must be in cleared funds before funds are drawn meaning that this scam wouldn’t work here, if the lawyer was complying with the Trust Account Regulations.
February 24, 2015 at 3:58 pm, Ric Orintas said:
THIS IS WHAT I RECEIVED TO DATE:
Original Message ——–
Subject: LEGAL ASSISTANCE
From: My Site
Date: Tue, February 24, 2015 11:11 am
To: [email protected]
Name: Raymond Ackley
Email: [email protected]
Subject: LEGAL ASSISTANCE
Comments:
I went through your profile and i believe you will be able to help me.
I borrowed money to my in-law who has paid me only 20 percent of the money
and has refused to pay me the balance so I want legal action to be taken.
Your urgent assistance will be highly appreciated. You can contact me via
this email address: (above)
June 23, 2015 at 11:18 am, Virginia Selemidis said:
This person contacted me through Kijiji on April 8, 2015. Fortunately I did not fall victim as the amount he was looking to sue was beyond my scope of practice.