Commercial debt collection scam from Hiroyuki Yamamoto of Eta Electric Industry Co
Date First Reported: February 2013
Primary Name Associated: Hiroyuki Yamamoto
Description of Potential Fraud:
Lawyers in Ontario and the U.S. have notified us that they have received an email from the purported Marhshal Hiroyuki Yamamoto of Eta Electric Industry Co 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.
We’ve seen two initial emails:
Email #1
From: Hiroyuki Yamamoto [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: 31 January 2013 23:05
To: Lawyer name
Subject: Legal Matter
We have communicate with a company whom are customers of ours in your state regards merging, we like to merge with the company to increased revenue, market share, and cross-selling opportunities.
We would like to retainer you to help us in the process to review proposed transactions for acquisitions or purchase of businesses, and creation of contracts for acquisition (merger) , if you are interested
please advise us on your initial retainer fee and agreement and we shall forward you the company information and letter of intent. if this is not your practice please pass it on to the appropriate attorney
Regards
Hiroyuki Yamamoto CEO
Eta Electric Industry Co., Ltd.
16-10, Hon-Haneda 2-chome
Ota-ku, Tokyo 144-8611
Tel: (03)3745-7771
http://www.eta.co.jp/en/
Email: [email protected]
Email #2
From: Hiroyuki Yamamoto [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Sunday, February 03, 2013 8:00 PM
To: Lawyer Name
Subject: Legal Matter
We are a media Publishing Company in Japan. We have a breach of intellectual property agreement matter in your jurisdiction, we can
forward you the agreement and the other party information for your review to enable you run a conflict check.
Regards
Hiroyuki Yamamoto CEO
Eta Electric Industry Co., Ltd.
16-10, Hon-Haneda 2-chome
Ota-ku, Tokyo 144-8611
Tel: (03)3745-7771
http://www.eta.co.jp/en/
A lawyer who replied got this response and fake documentation:
Thank you very much for your response. We will be happy to hire your
legal firm in the pursuit of a potential case in a breach of
intellectual property agreement in which our firm now seek redress.
Below is the other party information that has defaulted-
Astute Publishing Company 88 E River Bend Road Fredericksburg, VA 22407-2307
We will also be forwarding to you the documentation of our agreement for your
review if a potential Attorney/client relationship is established.
Please advise us on your retainer fee and forward us your engagement
letter if there is no conflict.
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.
August 02, 2013 at 7:58 pm, Steven Sugars said:
I received a virtually identical fraudulent solicitation email today, 8-2-13.
I am copying and pasting it below:
Atsushi Ouchi [email protected] via att.net
4:25 PM [8-2-13]
to Ssugars_1
101-8>??id=yui_3_7_2_1_1375373436684_7485>
We have communicate with a company whom ,0); FONT-SIZE: 12pt” _1_1375457360665_6941>101-8>??are customers of ours in your state regards merging, we like to merge with the company to increased revenue, market share, and cross-selling opportunities.
We would like to retain you to help us in the process to review proposed transactions for acquisitions or purchase of businesses and creation of contracts for acquisition (merger), if you are interested
Please advice us on your initial retainer fee and agreement and we shall forward you the company information and letter of intent.
Yours Sincerely,
Mr. Atsushi Ouchi
Takasago Thermal Engineering Co., Ltd.
4-2-5 Kanda Surugadai,
??
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
101-8321, Japan
Tel : 81-3-3255-821
Email;[email protected]
http://www.tte-net.co.jp
August 06, 2013 at 2:29 pm, Marc Hughes said:
We are Sacramento Family Law attorneys and received the unsolicited solicitation from “Mr. Ouchi” too. These obvious scams should be ignored. Any response could be used to perpetrate further scams.
August 08, 2013 at 5:57 pm, Paul Sczudlo said:
I am a Los Angeles international tax attorney. I received an email today from Mr. Ouchi. I did some initial checking on Mr. Ouchi and his company Takasago online; he and the company are followed by Bloomberg and Businessweek (not a lot of information but it reportedly has 4000+ employees, an apparent regular market for its shares in Japan, regular earnings reports and web sites for a number of international affiliates (e.g., one in India). I was going to get back to him, but was concerned about the gmail address and my inability to find contact information elsewhere for him. (His name is listed both as “Ohuchi” and “Ouchi”.) I have ignored prior scams like this, where the websites appeared to be too thin and without substance.
November 19, 2013 at 6:50 pm, Beth Darling said:
Is it possible this scam can come in form of phone call
November 20, 2013 at 10:59 am, TimLemieux said:
It could begin with a phone call, but usually it then moves online so the fraudsters can email their fake documents.
June 02, 2014 at 8:51 am, Pennsylvania Lawyer said:
We have communicate with a company whom are customers of ours in your state regards merging,
we like to merge with the company to increased revenue, market share, and cross-selling opportunities.
We would like to retain you to help us in the process to review proposed transactions for
acquisitions or purchase of businesses and creation of contracts for acquisition (merger).
if you are interested Please advice us on your initial retainer fee and agreement and we shall forward
you the company information and letter of intent.
Yours Sincerely,
Seizo Mori
Aimor Electronics Co., Ltd.
21-18, Nozaki 3-chome
Mitaka, Tokyo ZIP 181-0015
(0422)31-7371 (0422)32-5573
Email: [email protected]
http://www.aim-elec.com/
June 19, 2014 at 10:36 am, Mark Collier said:
I have received this email as well. Anyone who clicked on any link on that email should have their computer debugged. They will have downloaded a key stroke virus and will be gaining access to all of your files and accounts.. Below is the email I received;
On Jun 8, 2014, at 8:51 AM, “Seizo Mori” wrote:
We have communicate with a company whom are customers of ours in your state regards merging,
we like to merge with the company to increased revenue, market share, and cross-selling opportunities.
We would like to retain you to help us in the process to review proposed transactions for
acquisitions or purchase of businesses and creation of contracts for acquisition (merger).
if you are interested Please advice us on your initial retainer fee and agreement and we shall forward
you the company information and letter of intent.
Yours Sincerely,
Seizo Mori
Aimor Electronics Co., Ltd.
21-18, Nozaki 3-chome
Mitaka, Tokyo ZIP 181-0015
(0422)31-7371 (0422)32-5573
Email: [email protected]
http://www.aim-elec.com/