Commercial debt collection scam using the names Xu Gang and Henan Billions Chemical Co. Ltd
Date First Reported: July 2013
Primary Name Associated: Xu Gang
Description of Potential Fraud:
[Updated November 2013]
Eighty lawyers in Ontario and elsewhere in Canada have notified us that they received an email from the purported Xu Gang of Henan Billions Chemical Co. Ltd looking to retain them with regards to a commercial debt collection.
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 to see other names associated with it. Our Fraud Fact Sheet lists the red flags of a bogus legal matter that is really a fraud.
Henan Billions Chemical Co. Ltd appears to be a real company whose name is being used in this fraud and the fraudsters are impersonating Xu Gang.
Here is the initial contact email and subsequent response sent by the fraudster to the lawyer:
From: Henan Billions Chemical CO. Ltd
To:
Sent: Saturday, July 20, 2013 2:30 PM
Subject: Dear Counsel,
Dear Counsel,
We need a litigation lawyer who can handle a collection case. Please let me know if you can be of assistance to me or If not a referral could be helpful. CONTACT Mr. Xu Gang Email: [email protected]
Regards,
Mr. Xu Gang.
Replying to the email brought this response:
Thank you for your swift response to my mail.
The Company has several deals sealed with us over the years past without any issues. They have Affilate in different companies as well as a parent company. So,we need a good lawyer to handle this matter urgently. If you do not your referral to another attorney will be appreciated. Like I stated in my previous email this is a collection case. This Company owes us to the tune of $633,590.00 (Six Hundred and Thirty-Three, Thousand Five Hundred and Ninety dollars). I will forward you all the purchase order and invoice concerning this transaction as soon as you agree to retain us. I am in constant contact with them and even though they have promised to pay, I think the threat or possibility of litigation would serve as a catalyst to make them pay sooner rather than later.
We are prepared to pay your retainer fee for this service as soon as I get an engagement letter from your firm. I expect this to be a non-litigation collection from the Debtor, but I am prepared to litigate this matter if they are not ready to pay the balance owed.
Send me the engagement letter so that we can proceed with this issue with him. I want to also let you know that as an owner of a business, this debt has caused considerable strain on our operations.Time is of the essence for me now.
Sir, let me know how much your retainer will be for I am ready to retain your firm to help me with this very issues of mine.
Please send me your retainer agreement or engagement letter at your earliest convenience.
I am open to either an hourly or contingency fee basis. Please advice which works better for you.
Best Regards,
Mr. Xu Gang
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.
November 02, 2013 at 3:27 am, bill virgil said:
dear sirs this scam is still going on as was contacted just a couple days ago by aperson claiming to be xu gang,they wanted me collect back payments from companies in the phoenix area.one company was the hill brothers chemical co.they subposidly owed xu gang 650,000.i was to get 10% for collecting thid debt.yea right.so there out there and still at it.i sent an email to the xu gang chemical co about this.no reply.just thought they should know.glad to see someone is doing something about these crooks.i knew it sounded to good to be true.if it happens again or they continue to email I will let you.i wont be burned by these crooks,thanks guys!!
November 05, 2013 at 7:16 pm, Christopher said:
We received a brief request for our assistance here in the Kansas City area. I have seen similar requests that were all scams, but this one seemed particularly questionable because of the name “Henan Billion Chemical Company”. I googled it and found that the name is valid, but the scam is not. An interesting twist to say the least!
November 25, 2013 at 9:49 pm, James said:
Here is the one I received up here in Canada.
Dear Sir,
Our Company *HENAN BILLIONS CHEMICALS CO., LTD* is in search of a competent individual or firm that will be responsible in handling funds as our agent and sales representative in canada region. If interested kindly email me on : [email protected] for further details.
Best Regards
HENAN BILLIONS CHEMICALS CO., LTD
December 04, 2013 at 3:48 pm, Bruce said:
I have seen these scams pop up on a legal referal site called Legal Match. Legal Match is a legitemate case lead site with lots of good client contacts. I have been using the site for ten years, and it always provides a good return. Notwitstanding, this particular scam pops up every so often on it. Occasionally I will respond. it is interesting to see how these idiots operate. On one, I received a check drawn on a California Bank, sent to me from a Vancouver address for a company that works only in New York. Biggest giveaway is that these guys use throw away email accounts for big name companies.