Collaborative family law agreement scam by Elena Kinoshita
Description of Potential Fraud:
Since May 2012, over 100 lawyers in Ontario and all over the U.S. have notified us that they’ve been contacted by the purported Elena Kinoshita with regards to a to a collaborative family law agreement dispute. This is a fraud we have seen before under several other names and similar scenarios. For details on how this fraud works and a full list of names attached to it see our Confirmed Fraud page.
Here is the initial email:
From: [email protected]
Sent: May-21-12 7:19 AM
Subject: Re:
Dear Counsel,
I wish to file a contempt petition against my ex-spouse for failure to make
court ordered payments of Child Support, Spousal Support, Equitable
distribution, Medical support and separate maintenance. Please advise if you
handle such case.
Elena Kinoshita
[email protected]
Here is another variation:
From: “[email protected]
Date: May 23, 2012 7:46:43 AM CDT
To: “[email protected]
Subject: Collection of Divorce Settlement
Please advise if you handle such case,I wish to file a contempt petition against my ex-spouse for failure to make court ordered payments resulting from dissolution of marriage.
Elena Kinoshita
A lawyer who replied got this response and supporting documentation:
Thank you for your prompt response. Am residing in South Korea for an assignment at present and my ex-spouse and Greensberg Kinoshita (ex-spouse) lives in Yuba City, California. Due to the time difference (+13hrs EST), it is a little bit difficult to determine the best time to call you. Following my previous mail, My ex-spouse and I agreed under a Collaborative Law Agreement which incorporated by reference was approved, merged into and made part of the court order for a cash settlement of $698,000.00USD, for child support, spousal support, etc, To his credit, he has paid me $260,500.00USD but still owing $437.500.00USD and the stipulated time for completion of payment has long elapsed. Therefore, breaching the court’s decree with regards to payment of divorce settlement. He is aware of my intention to seek legal actions. Attached is a copy of the Collaborative Law Agreement, Entitlement Settlement Agreement and the Court’s Decree (i.e. Divorce Decree) and I will be pleased to provide further information on this case on request. I have already advised him I am planning on retaining your firm. Kindly send me your firm’s retainer fee agreement so that we can proceed. Thank you and I await your email with the retainer agreement.
Another lawyer had a signed retainer agreement returned with this message:
Please can you acknowledge receipt of the signed agreement. I am looking for a way forward on this matter and I am unanimously content with the details portrayed on the agreement. Find the attached signed page of the agreement received from your firm and I will be sending a hard copy of the documents in mail to your office.
For the remittance of the retainer, Please send me the name and address(not.p.o.box) you want the retainer issue to , I have informed Mr.Greensberg Kinoshita that I am working with your firm in regard to the issue. He went on to ask for extra time period to set up the payment to be made, which I feel inclined to grant to maintain a decent relationship, giving him till next week to produce the monies and remit payment.
Nonetheless, after the grace time expires, full measures must be initiated against Greensberg Kinoshita. Therefore, till the time granting expires, you should not make contact to Greensberg, unless advised by me, to do so. Also, the payment that will be sent by Greensberg Kinoshita will be solely controlled by you, as my Attorney, for any and all payment that will be made to and secured in the trust account. Thank you for your professional assistance. I await your acknowledgment of this email immediately.
Best Regards,
Elena Kinoshita
Regards,
Elena Kinoshita
Address: 928-12 Daechi 3-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 135-502, South Korea
Kinoshita Collaborative agreement
One lawyer’s office received the following cheque and cover letter from the “ex-husband”:
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.
May 22, 2012 at 5:02 pm, Karen Hansell said:
The busy beavers are now targeting paralegals. I got the exact same letter, only the ex supposedly lives in Redwood Valley, California. I took the emails to the lawyer next door that I work with, and we discovered the scam after Googling the hubby.
May 23, 2012 at 10:52 am, Robert Hughes said:
I received this scam email yesterday. I will forward the email to you at [email protected] as soon as I send this email. Thanks for making this info available. I knew something fishyu was up when I read the husband’s name. I mean, come on? What Japanese parents would name their son “Greensberg”? And, why would pleadings and orders from a Japanese court be written in nearly perfect English?
Thanks for making this resource available, I am sure it has save alot of people alot of headaches!
May 23, 2012 at 3:36 pm, Lolita Martin said:
I am an attorney in Washington, D.C. I received an email from Elena Kinoshita on May 4, 2012, alleging that her ex-husband, Greensberg Kinoshita was living in Washington, D.C. and had not fulfilled his obligation under a Collaborative Family Law Agreement and court order. I was sent a copy of her passport, (the same one shown above) and the emails were identical to the ones shown above. She signed my firms retainer agreement and sent it back. I was also emailed a copy of the court order and agreement. On May 21, 2012 I received a check in the amount of $196, 200.00 made out to me with Greensberg Kinoshita as the remitter of the check. It was a cahsier’s check draw on Citibank. I took the check to Citibank and was informed that it was counterfeit. The scam is alive and well. Ms. Kinoshita alleged that she was in Korea working on a long term assignment. The return address on the envelope was Paris Roberts, a Park Avenue New York, New York address. The envelope was a Canadian Post, (akin to Fed Ex).
May 24, 2012 at 6:17 am, Karen Hewes said:
I received this scam email this morning in Manchester, NH. I forwarded a copy along to you as well as the NH bar association.
May 24, 2012 at 4:27 pm, David Carron said:
Ms. Kinoshita seems very busy with legal trouble… I received this today as well.
May 25, 2012 at 3:08 am, Jamaul Cannon said:
I received a similar email from someone allegedly named Mary Lee Teng-Hui who was from some province in China. Same type of scam, except she didn’t even have the decency to send me a copy of a fake ID. Needless to say, I received a purported cashier’s check from Citibank today in the amount of $296,000 as partial payment for the $620,000 owed to her.
I eventually took the check to citibank (a branch is literally 300 feet from my office) to confirm its fraudulence. In the meantime, though, I told my new “client” that I already deposited the money and I just needed instructions on “where to wire” the remainder. Of course, whomever it was took the bait and I immediately turned the information over to the bank’s loss prevention department. Hopefully, this will at least help put someone behind bars so they can’t take advantage of the next person.
May 25, 2012 at 3:08 pm, Thomas G. Kraeger said:
I got a nearly identical scam invitation from Ms. Kinoshita on 5/23 complete with her “passport”, watermarked and sealed final decree documents from the Sapporo Family Division, etc. Thanks for posting the “Entitlement Settlement Agreement”
May 28, 2012 at 12:09 pm, Ginny Bain said:
I also received this e-mail today. The strange thing is I’m most certainly not a lawyer nor in any way involved with the legal profession (research scientist). I guess they’re targeting random e-mail addresses now.
June 06, 2012 at 8:31 pm, Attorney Bob Prince said:
I did receive an e-mail from this person and replied, cautiously I might add. She never responded. I thought it was odd from the beginning and if she did contact me intended to ask a lot of questions, believe me. Glad she didn’t respond!
June 07, 2012 at 10:15 am, Skip Klauber said:
Is making contact with retired lawyers more or less desperate than hitting on paralegals? Given what I’ve seen in South Florida, “Ms. Kinoshita” is planting her fraud in very fertile soil.
June 11, 2012 at 1:42 pm, Allen Browning said:
I have a law practice in Idaho Falls, Idaho. I received this request via email this morning. I immediately smelled a rat and found this site. I wrote to “Mr. Elena Kinoshita” and said I would happily handle her case for a flat rate of $50,000, to be paid in advance, with no guarantee of results. I am of course expecting a wad of cash to be stuffed in an envelope just for me at my business address.
June 13, 2012 at 12:46 pm, Victoria Fernandez said:
We just received this email as well today:
Thank you for your prompt response. Am currently residing in South Korea for an assignment and my ex-spouse Greensberg Kinoshita lives in Sacramento, CA. Due to the time difference (+13hrs EST), it is a little bit difficult to determine the best time to call you. My ex-spouse and I agreed under a Collaborative Law Agreement which incorporated by reference was approved and made part of the Divorce Decree for a cash settlement of $698,000.00USD, for Child Support, Alimony, Equitable distribution and Medical support. To his credit, he has paid me $260,500.00USD but still owing $437.500.00USD. Hence, I need your counsel in order to collect the balance owed to me under the settlement agreement. He is aware of my intention to seek legal actions. I will be pleased to provide further information on this case on request. I have already advised him I am planning on retaining your firm. Kindly send me your firm’s retainer fee agreement so that we can proceed. Thank you and have a pleasant day.
Regards,
Elena Kinoshita
Address: 928-12 Daechi 3-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 135-502, South Korea
June 14, 2012 at 11:24 am, John Q said:
Got it here (Newburyport, MA) as well:
After I simply confirmed via email that I specialized in family law, I received the response below yesterday (June 13th):
Dear John,
Thank you for your prompt response. Currently am living in South Korea for an assignment and Greensberg Kinoshita (ex-spouse) lives in Newburyport. MA.. Due to the time difference (+13hrs EST), it is a little bit difficult to determine the best time to call you. Following my previous mail, my ex-spouse and I agreed under a Collaborative Law Agreement which incorporated by reference was approved, merged into and made part of the court decree for a cash settlement of $698,000.00USD, to his credit, he has paid me $260,500.00USD but still owing $437.500.00USD and the stipulated time for completion of payment has long elapsed. Thus, I need your counsel in order to collect the balance owed to me whichever legal means deem fit.He is aware of my intention to seek legal actions. Attached is a copy of the Collaborative Law Agreement, Entitlement Settlement Agreement and the Court’s Decree (i.e. Divorce Decree) and I will be pleased to provide further information on this case on request. I have already advised him I am planning on retaining your firm. Kindly send me your firm’s retainer fee agreement so that we can proceed. Thank you and I await your prompt reply.
Regards,
Elena Kinoshita
Address: 928-12 Daechi 3-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 135-502, South Korea
June 18, 2012 at 4:56 pm, Safiya B said:
Hello everyone I received this same email a few weeks ago. Elena(??) sent us a copy of her passport and purported documents. We then sent her our contract and she responded. Her response as follows:
Dear Safiya Byars,
Please can you acknowledge receipt of the signed agreement. I am
looking for a way forward on this matter and I am unanimously content
with the details portrayed on the agreement. Find the attached signed
page of the agreement received from your firm and I will be sending a
hard copy of the documents in mail to your office.
For the remittance of the retainer, Please send me the name and
address(not.p.o.box) you want the retainer issue to , I have informed
Mr.Greensberg Kinoshita that I am working with your firm in regard to
the issue. He went on to ask for extra time period to set up the
payment to be made, which I feel inclined to grant to maintain a
decent relationship, giving him till next week to produce the monies
and remit payment.
Nonetheless, after the grace time expires, full measures must be
initiated against Greensberg Kinoshita. Therefore, till the time
granting expires, you should not make contact to Greensberg, unless
advised by me, to do so. Also, the payment that will be sent by
Greensberg Kinoshita will be solely controlled by you, as my Attorney,
for any and all payment that will be made to and secured in the trust
account. Thank you for your professional assistance. I await your
acknowledgment of this email immediately.
Best Regards,
Elena Kinoshita
June 22, 2012 at 3:34 pm, victor g. sison said:
But for my guardian angel, I almost was victimized by Elena Kinoshita today, June 22, 2012. A certified check was sent overnight by the alleged husband, after Kinoshita signed a retainer agreement with my office. I deposited the said check into my Trust account. It was accepted by the bank and credited to my Trust Account. I was ready to wire the funds pursuant to the wiring instructions of Kinoshita, when my office manager googled the name of Elena Kinoshita. Upon knowing that Kinoshita is a scammer, I put to stop the wire transfer and advised my bank that the check deposit is counterfeit. Then the alleged husband called my office. I told him, the check is being investigated. He hanged up.
June 25, 2012 at 12:01 pm, John Johnson said:
Received the scam email today:
From: Elena Kinoshita [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, June 25, 2012 8:54 AM
Subject: Contempt Motion
Dear Counsel,
Can your law firm handle contempt petition against my ex-spouse for
failure to make court ordered payments of Child Support, Spousal
Support, Equitable distribution and Medical support?
Regards,
Elena Kinoshita
June 27, 2012 at 11:55 am, JRG said:
The scam has reached Euclid, Ohio. Received the very same information, and, in brainstorming jurisdiction and venue issues, decided to Google the husband’s name to try to find information regarding any property he may have an interest in in this County, what sort of business he might be involved in, etc. Very happy to have found this information immediately. Thank you for saving me from a significant headache.
June 27, 2012 at 4:40 pm, ZSA said:
This email was received by ZSA in Toronto on June 26, 2012:
_____________________
From: Elena Kinoshita [[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, June 26, 2012 6:00 AM
Subject: I need a Legal service
Dear Counsel,
My Name Is Elena Kinoshita.I wish to file an enforcement petition against my ex-spouse for breaching the court’s decree with regards to payment of divorce settlement. If you are available for such case Kindly Advise immediately.
Regards,
Elena Kinoshita.
June 28, 2012 at 12:33 pm, William Scheil said:
Any attorney should be wary of easy money, a client that will pay any retainer without asking the amount, and a foreign court decree written in English and sealed by the foreign court.
I hope we, as a profession, use good business practices–especially with regards to receiving checks and issuing firm checks less firm’s fee from the deposited check. That is a popular scam at the moment.
Obviously, I have received Ms. Fraud’s email and documentation as well.
June 28, 2012 at 2:19 pm, MSH said:
I received the same email this week. I asked her three times who referred her to me so that I could thank them and she never answered the question. I also repeatedly asked how long her ex had lived in this area (to determine jurisdiction) and she also never answered that question. I am in Georgia. Who do we need to contact to put a stop to this?
June 28, 2012 at 4:01 pm, TimLemieux said:
We don’t know of any way to put a stop to it. Not replying at all is the best thing to do. Hopefully the online spam filters will get better at spotting these emails before they ever reach people.
July 02, 2012 at 3:16 pm, Brian Fresonke said:
I received this scam e-mail several times in the past week. My advice is (1) do not respond to e-mails like this; and (2) never let someone retain you over the internet who cannot meet with you or at least give you a brick and mortar address where they reside and a phone number in the United States.
July 06, 2012 at 8:22 pm, William Becker said:
I received it this week too in California. Seemed like an obvious scam of some sort. I am pleased that attorneys have the sense to inquire further and to post to this site.
July 10, 2012 at 2:56 pm, Southern NJ law firm said:
I also received this and had her sign the retainer agreement, plus received a “certified check” and fedex from “Peter Andrews” in Georgetown Ontario. Needless to say, we did not deposit the funds; however, we have some addresses to turn over to the fraud department.
July 13, 2012 at 2:36 pm, Chris Lewi said:
I too now “represent” Elena Kinoshita. Could have used my portion of $437K US too. Elena Kinoshita is a very bad man.
July 18, 2012 at 4:29 pm, Mary said:
Ms. Kinishita contatced us in Wildwood, NJ. Recieved the “check” two days after she emailed me. I wish all our clients were that diligent!
August 15, 2012 at 1:56 pm, Don said:
I have received a couple of inquiries like this. The checks are really well done and my bank, Citibank told me that it could take them up to three ((3) weeks for the check to bounce around in the banking system before being returned as a fraud. I was tipped off by a few things. First, the check was sent from Canada which did not match up with the Email story. Second, anything that comes in via Email is highly suspect anyway, so I Googled stuff and did as much due diligence as possible which uncovered other issues. I told the fraud client that I would deposit the check (that was before my bank physically called Chase and verified that the check was a fraud) and once the actual funds were in my account that I would proceed and not sooner. The problem is that your bank will make the funds available long before they actually know if the check is good which is a major problem that the scammers are exploiting. Oh, yes, I got her Email today and I am amazed that she is so stupid that she has not even assumed a new name.
August 21, 2012 at 10:21 am, Brett levy said:
I am an attorney in Boston and I just received the same “scam” email yesterday. They are very quick in responding and sending documents for review. It would be interesting to find a way to have them actually send money, even if it’s nominal, in order to retain a lawyer. Other than that thought, the documents being prepared (not translated) in English does not make sense to me and the willingness to hire a firm sight unseen made my alarms go off.
August 24, 2012 at 10:16 am, Dolores M. Troiani, Esquire said:
Elena has hit Chester County, Pennsylvania. We had a client with a similar name so we at first thought it was an email from her. We goggled Elena and came upon this website. Thanks for this service.
September 06, 2012 at 11:02 am, Jonathan said:
Here’s the one I just received:
Dear Counsel,
I wish to file a contempt petition against my ex-spouse for failure to make
court ordered payments resulting from dissolution of marriage. Please advise
if you handlesuch case.
Harmony Young
Email:[email protected]
September 11, 2012 at 12:50 pm, Elizabeth A said:
We received the same song and dance from an individual named Harmony Young.
Thank you for your prompt response to my inquiry. Am residing in South Korea for an assignment at present and my ex-spouse Shin Young lives in Atlanta, GA. As a result of time difference it is a little bit difficult to reach you. We were divorced in South Korea but my ex-husband Shin Young relocated to the United States. He is a citizen. We both agreed under a Separation Agreement incorporated, merged into and made part of the court decree for a settlement of Child Support, Spousal Support, and Medical support of $941,100.00, he has paid me $270,500.00 but still owing $670,600.00 and the stipulated time for completion of payment has long elapsed. This is the reason why I contacted you as there is already an agreement in place. I know for sure my ex-husband has the financial means to pay for balance he owes me. Thus, I request your legal services to enforce the court order compelling him to remit balance owed me. Attached is a copy of the terms of separation agreement, and the Court’s Decree (i.e. Divorce Decree) and I will be pleased to provide further information on this case on request.
I expect this to be resolved in a timely manner. Sequel to this, If you are happy to proceed, kindly send me a copy of your retainer and if the terms are acceptable I will sign so we can commence the process without delay
Thank you for your anticipated cooperation and professionalism
Yours truly,
Harmony Young
We received the exact same documents as shown above, just a different picture. So glad this website is here so others won’t be victims.
September 11, 2012 at 1:48 pm, Suzanne J. Shaw, Esq. said:
Ms. Kinoshita has hit NJ under a new name! Harmony Young. I got almost the exact same emails, with documents including a passport (different photo), divorce decree, settlement agreement and marriage certificate attached. All documents prepared in English and Korean. What tipped me off was that whoever this person is, used 3 different email addresses, one at att.net, one at comcast.net, and one at iprimus.com.au (why would someone in Korea be using an Australian email address?)…also the address at the bottom of the email asking me to send her a retainer agreement was almost identical to that on the known scammer’s email above…please see the text below….I emailed her back that due to the likelihood of fraud we don’t deal with international clients on these sorts of matters….(hahaha)…
Dear Suzanne Shaw,
Thank you for your prompt response to my inquiry. I live in South Korea while my ex spouse “Shin Young” lives in Bound Brook, New Jersey. As a result of time difference it is a little bit difficult to reach you. We were married and divorced in South Korea but my ex husband Shin Young relocated to the United States. He is a citizen. We both agreed under a Separation Agreement incorporated into the Court’s order and is a part of the decree of divorce for a settlement of $941,100.00 for Child Support, Spousal Support, and Medical support, he has paid me $270,500.00 but still owing $670,600.00 and the stipulated time for completion of payment has long elapsed. This is the reason why I contacted you as there is already an agreement in place. I know for sure my ex husband has the financial means to pay for balance he owes me. Thus, I request your legal services to enforce the court order compelling him to remit balance owed me. Attached is a copy of the terms of separation agreement, and the Court’s Decree (i.e. Divorce Decree). Furthermore, I wish to retain you for this purpose, kindly send me a copy of your retainer agreement for my review and signature.
Yours truly,
Harmony Young
Address: 915-14 Daechi 3-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 135-502, South Korea.
September 18, 2012 at 6:39 pm, Amy said:
We received the following “scam” from Harmony Young today… We’re in Phoenix, Arizona.
I wish to file a contempt petition against my ex-spouse for failure to make court ordered payments of Child Support, Spousal Support, Equitable distribution and Medical support. Please contact me via “[email protected]” if you handle such case.
Please reply to me Via [email protected]
Harmony Young.
October 02, 2012 at 6:57 am, John said:
New attorney in Alabama here. Received the email yesterday from Harmony Young, stating her former spouse Shin Young resides in Atlanta, GA. Luckily, a quick Google search brought me to this site.
October 09, 2012 at 8:35 am, Clifford Rohde said:
The scam continues, in the United States.
Received same email, though was from Harmony Young at email address “[email protected]” and asked that response be sent to “[email protected]”.
Text of email, sent to multiple undisclosed recipients, follows:
“On Tue, Oct 9, 2012 at 8:06 AM, wrote:
Dear Counsel,
I wish to file a case against my ex-spouse for failure to make court
ordered payments of Child Support, Spousal Support, Equitable
distribution and Medical support.Please reply to me via: [email protected].
Regards,
Harmony Young.”
October 16, 2012 at 9:20 pm, James R. Barnes said:
I, too have received several of these same emails. Today’s was from Harmony Young. I responded that I was willing to simply send Ms. Young all of the money owed to her, in exchange for an assignment that I would pursue attendant with an additional claim for my fees. Why not give her/them something that is too good to be true. So far, no reply from “Ms. Young”.
October 19, 2012 at 6:15 pm, Angelo Mosca III said:
I received the email from a michelle seung. Same deal. Copies of the marriage certificate & agreement (in both english & korean). Balance due of over 500,000.00. As with some of the other replies posted here; I wonder what their angle is. Will they seek account info, or attempt to have the “defendant spouse” tender a check in payment and have us negotiate it, forward the proceeds and then find out the original tender is counterfeit? That is the only that makes sense to me.
I did reply initially seeking more info. I got a quick response (with the docs listed above) and the reason given for not being able to speak was conductive deafness. I responded back (after checking this site) and told them “nice try, the only thing missing is you telling you have billions in your native country waiting for you”. No reply yet.
October 22, 2012 at 10:09 am, TimLemieux said:
“have the “defendant spouse” tender a check in payment and have us negotiate it, forward the proceeds and then find out the original tender is counterfeit?”
That’s exactly how it plays out.
October 24, 2012 at 3:04 pm, James Knox said:
Ms. Kinoshita is now deaf and sent me the same basic email. Thank you for maintaining this site!
October 30, 2012 at 2:55 am, Fiona said:
Good site – I see they are hitting UK practitioners now:
Please let me know if you can represent me in a case against my ex husband
for failure to make court ordered payments of Child Support, Spousal Support,
Equitable distribution and Medical support. Please reply to me Via [email protected].
if you handle such case
Harmony Young.
November 23, 2012 at 5:02 pm, Anthony Van Zwaren said:
Just received a similar scam to my office in New Jersey from Pascha Chang of Korea. A quick internet check of “certified divorce decrees” and property settlement agreements revealed almost identical forms with same number of children and same birthdates, only changing the names.
November 23, 2012 at 5:04 pm, Anthony Van Zwaren said:
I got the same form, only the name this time was Pascha Chang. Children had same birthdates but their names were slightly different than other ones I found for “Korean divorce decrees” on the internet. This one was slightly more sophisticated in that the initial email actually had my city’s name in the original email (usually these scams just say “in your jurisdiction”. However, my city’s name was in a different type face than the rest of the letter, as if they were plugging the name into a mass mailing.
March 06, 2013 at 2:03 pm, GLW said:
I got a two-for-one today. I received the same e-mail from Sharon Trump and Ms. Zarifa. Ms. Zarifa’s new e-mail address is west city marine in Australia.
April 22, 2013 at 8:15 pm, DEL said:
I received a similar email today from “Zarifah” and it stated that she had recently contacted me about a Contempt petition against her ex-spouse and had yet to hear from me…the email address was [email protected]. I never received a prior email.
August 20, 2013 at 4:05 pm, S.G. said:
My boss received the email stating that a spouse owed money from a court ordered family settlement to the wife and she needed help getting the payments. She asked that we respond to a separate email address with the help. That there threw up a red flag for me. All I had to do was search the iprimus.com.au and it found 100’s of scams. The nerve of some people…
September 04, 2013 at 3:05 pm, Gary Tucker said:
I received this scam yesterday except it was from Fumiko Anderson in Japan and her husband Bill lives here in Dallas where I am. The dollar amounts and her location were different but the wording of the email was almost exactly the same.
September 10, 2013 at 6:13 am, Luna said:
their is now one like this word for word, and is from a Fumiko Anderson.
September 11, 2013 at 1:06 pm, Lin Morrisett said:
She apparently has a new name:
—–Original Message—–
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, September 11, 2013 11:31 AM
Subject: I need your legal help……………
Please do you handle cases on failure to obey court order of separation agreement?
Ms Hina.
September 16, 2013 at 5:42 pm, Natalia M. said:
Same scam (3 letters) received from the name Fumiko Anderson
“My Ex Husband has violated court oder in payment of child, spousal and medical
support. Please, advise if you handle such case.”
November 18, 2013 at 2:39 pm, PN said:
I wonder if they’re hoping people will feel sympathy for some “unfortunate Japanese woman who’s been wronged by her Western ex-husband”?? I received a similar email from Hitomi Jefferson:
“My Ex Husband has violated court oder in payment. advise if you handle such case”
First red-flag was when the email address she provided (for response) didn’t match the email address where this originated from. Thought it could still be legit, when I couldn’t find any scams online involving “Hitomi Jefferson”…but then I found all of these similar scams originating from iprimus.com.au…and that clinched it for me. Not sure if they expect to get money out of this nonesense, or if they just get kicks from wasting people’s time. Either way, very annoying.