by FraudInfo

Date First Reported: July 2016

Primary Name Associated: Frederick Cheung

Description of Potential Fraud:

fraud-warning

A Philadelphia firm that represents a real company Wing Lung Plastic and Metal Electrical Factory Ltd has notified us that lawyers are being emailed by someone going by the name Frederick Cheung who claims to represent that company, and is asking for help collecting a debt.

The firm would like us to pass on the following information:

“…two attorneys reported to our client Wing Lung Plastic and Metal Electrical Factory Limited (“Wing Lung Plastic”) that they had responded to emails from “Wing Lung” and received checks, which were purportedly issued from “debtor’s” accounts held by The Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank), and the Bank of Montreal. The memo in one check refers to the business as “Wing Lung Plastic and Metal Electrical FTY” (and “Mental Electrical” in the other check).

None of these transactions were authorized by or entered into on behalf of my client nor in any way connected to any business conducted by or on behalf of Wing Lung Plastic…but rather were orchestrated by an unidentified third party which had falsely assumed our client’s identity.

This appears to be a 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 purchaser (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 information provided by the purported Frederick Cheung:

[email protected]

Mr. Fredrick Cheung.
WING LUNG PLASTIC AND METAL ELECTRICAL FTY LTD
Country:Hong KongAddress:Fiat c. 2/F, Chi Wah Industrial Building,
1-7 Kin Hong Street, Kwai Chungi
New Territories, Hong Kong
Tel: +8:22 3653 1118
Fax: +852 3236 1888

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]. We use this information for the warnings we post on AvoidAClaim. We do not disclose the names of firms that have provided us with information.

Ontario Lawyers - Call LAWPRO

If you are an Ontario lawyer acting on a matter that you suspect might be a fraud, call LAWPRO at 1-800-410-1013 (416-598-5899). One of our Fraud Team members 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, we will work with you to prevent the fraud and minimize potential claims costs.

What can you do to help put a stop to the fraud attempt?

You can simply stop replying to the fraudster’s emails or inform them that you suspect fraud and will not act on the matter. You can report the fraudsters’ email addresses to the email hosting company. If you have a fraudulent cheque you can destroy it or send it to the fraud department of the financial institution it is drawn upon. In Canada, you can report the fraud to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

We are often asked if it is worthwhile to report the fraud attempt to the police in the hopes of helping catch the fraudsters. You can certainly report the fraud to your local or federal law enforcement agencies, but unfortunately it is often difficult, expensive and time consuming for them to attempt to shut down these online fraud perpetrators (though there are some successes).

What if the fraud has been successful?

If you have been successfully duped, please immediately notify LAWPRO as there may be a claim against you. See the LAWPRO website for instructions on how to report a claim.

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. To proactively prevent trust account shortfalls and malpractice claims, LAWPRO encourages firms to teach their lawyers and staff about fraud and how to recognize fraud attempts.