Business debt collection scam by Mathew White
Date First Reported: March 2012
Primary Name Associated: Mathew White
Description of Potential Fraud:
An Ontario lawyer has notified us that they’ve received an email from the purported Mathew White looking to retain them with regards to a breach of a business loan agreement. This is similar to other frauds of this kind we have seen. For a full description of how this fraud works and to see other names attached to it, see our Confirmed Fraud page that deals with business load frauds.
From: Mathew White [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Saturday, December 31, 2011 06:30 PM
To: lawyer name
Subject: BREACH OF LOAN AGREEMENT
Hello Counsel,
Please get back to me if your firm is in a position to litigate the
issue of a $380,000 breach of loan agreement repayment.
Regards
Mathew White
DURHAM, England
DH1 4HF
(19) 137 – 4752
Email Address: [email protected]
One lawyer replied and received the following response and documentation. Accompanying the passport was a fake notarization from a solicitor in the UK. The solicitor is real, but has indicated that his name was used without his knowledge.
Thank you for your response. Am Briton, below is the name of the borrower:
Paul Yurich
Promenade Circle
Thornhill , ON
L4J 4P8,
The Borrower is someone I have known for a few years and we have done business in the past without any issues. He has only paid $30,000 out of a total ($380,000), the balance is still outstanding till this day. I am in constant contact with him via email though he never told me of his sudden relocation to Canada and even though he has promised to pay the balance, I think the threat or possibility of litigation would serve as a catalyst to make him pay sooner rather than later as same method was applied by a business colleague whom he also owed some money.
I am prepared to pay a reasonable retainer or collection costs for this service as soon as I get an engagement letter (if same applies to your judicial system) from your firm. I anticipate this to be a non-litigation collection from the borrower but I am prepared to litigate this matter if Mr Yurich is not ready to pay the balance owed on the loan agreement.
I have attached to this mail a PDF version of the loan agreement promissory note for your perusal. Please send me the engagement or agreement letter so that we can proceed with this issue with Mr Yurich. I want to also let you know that as a owner of a small business, this loan that I gave to Mr Yurich has caused considerable strain on my operational capital as I am indebted to four individuals in London as well and they are also threatening to sue on my property if I do not pay up before the end of January.
White Loan Agreement
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 SheetMore 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.
July 21, 2017 at 2:14 pm, Carl Rowe said:
I am a management consultant and received a solicitation from an individual purporting to represent Jiangsu Shagang Steel Company, requesting that I become a regional receivables representative under similar terms as those listed in the fraudulent schemes set forth in your article. My question: Should all such solicitations be taken as fraudulent or are some legitimate business proposals? If the latter, what should one do in conducting due diligence to unearth the truth? Thank you.