by FraudInfo

Date First Reported: February 2012

Primary Name Associated: Marilyn Montgomery

Description of Potential Fraud:

fraud-warning

Three lawyers in Ontario and one in the U.S. have notified us that they have been contacted by the purported Marilyn Montgomery with regards 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: Marilyn Montgomery [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, February 15, 2012 11:52 AM
Subject: Attention Attorney

Attention Attorney,

Complement of the season. I am Marilyn Montgomery. I am writing this firm in respect to my settlement with my separated husband (John Montgomery) I am currently on assignment in Asia . We had an out of court agreement (Collaborative Law Agreement) for him to pay $567,700.00 plus legal fees. He has only paid me $174,000.00 I am hereby requesting your firm to assist in collecting the balance from him. He is willing to pay me the balance but I would appreciate if your office handles the collection process from my ex Husband to avoid further delays or litigate this matter if he fails to pay as promised.
Sincerely,
Marilyn Montgomery.

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 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.