by FraudInfo

Date First Reported: December 2012

Primary Name Associated: Hiroaki Iwasaki

Description of Potential Fraud:

fraud-warning

Four Ontario lawyers have reported to us that they’ve been contacted by the purported Hiroaki Iwasaki of Iwasaki Publishing Co Ltd with regards to retaining their services to collect on a breach of an IP agreement. For details of how this scam works and to see other names associated with it, see our Confirmed Fraud page.

Here is the initial email.

From: Hiroaki Iwasaki [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: December-03-12 11:08 PM
To: lawyer email
Subject: Legal Matter


We have a breach of intellectual property agreement matter, please contact us if you are can.

Regards
Hiroaki Iwasaki
Iwasaki Publishing Co., Ltd.
1-9-2 Suido Bunkyo-ku
Tokyo Japan 112-0005
Telephone:+81 3 38135526
[email protected]

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.