Commercial debt collection scam by Edward Scholes of J&A McDougalls Ltd
40 lawyers in the US and Ontario have notified us that they have received an email from the purported Edward Scholes of J&A McDougalls 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: Edward Scholes. [mailto:sedward817@yahoo.co.uk]
Sent: Friday, March 08, 2013 8:36 AM
Subject: Contract Dispute.
Attention:
We seek an attorney who handles breach of contract matters.Let us know if your firm takes such cases.
Thank you
Edward Scholes
A lawyer who replied got this response and fake documentation:
From: Edward Scholes
To:
Sent: Thursday, March 14, 2013 4:27 PM
Subject: Re:
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 Lowe’s Companies, 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-
Lowe’s Companies, Inc
8411 South Holland Road
Chicago, IL 60620
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 Lowe’s Companies, 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.
• Which of the court in the United States would be appropriate to file for law suits?
• How many matters have you handled in the past years?
• We would like to know your fee structure in details first, as we don’t want any confusion in relating to payments.
• We would also like to know if you will be handling the case yourself as most attorneys hand their cases to junior attorneys.
• What kind of background or experience do you have in this specific area?
• We would like know your means/advice of alternative dispute solution on the 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,
Edward G Scholes
Managing Director
J&A Mcdougalls ltd
32 Combie Street
Oban PA34 4HT,United Kingdom
TEL:01622 37 0798
Scholes Lowes Transaction receipt
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 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.
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Looks like you can add Vermont to the list. I received a similar collection inquiry, regarding a local Lowe’s .
You can add Washington to the list as well. Same exact collection inquiry regarding a local Lowe’s here.
I just recieved that email from “Edward Scholes”. We’re located in Portland, OR.
Same with VA – rec’d one yesterday.
Add Texas, too. Almost word-for-word, except for the address of the Lowe’s (which was local).
You can add New Mexico as well. I just received the same email.
I received same email today in Louisiana.
I just received the same in Rhode Island….
Received in Virginia this morning.
I received an email from Edward Scholes myself. I replied asking who he was. I have not received a response.
Received the same e-mail today here in California.
By the way, is the real company J&A McDougall Ltd. aware of this scam being posed under its name?
Received same in Rhode Island, 12:30am
Add Alaska to the list. It does look like the company he says he is a director for has about 60 stores.
I just got the email in California, also.
Also received in Maryland.
Same in Sacramento, CA.
Got one in CA today.
Columbia, MD, as well
I had the same thing in New Hampshire. He is using edwarddscholes@yahoo.cou.uk
I tried to contact McDougall’s in Scotland, but no dice. They are a legitimate business. This has to be a former insider, or worker there.
Somebody should let them know.
Add San Antonio Texas to the list
Received the email in Ohio.
Received the email in Mississippi. They are definitely making the rounds.
Just received same inquiry in Connecticut.
Just received same in Philadelphia. Email was from Edwardg Scholes [edwardg.scholes123@gmail.com] and said:
We have a breach of contract issue, and would be glad if you let us know if you handle such case.
Thank you.
Edward G Scholes
Managing Director
J&A Mcdougalls ltd
32 Combie Street
Oban PA34 4HT,United Kingdom
TEL:01622 37 0798
Same in Arizona.
He reached out to us in Indiana this morning.
You can add Saudi Arabia, Riyadh as well. I just received the same email.
Same in Honolulu
We received the email and contracts in Michigan.
We received one yesterday…we are in NC. The email is very similar but involved an attorney from the UK and True Value…will forward this entire email to the NC Attorney General.