by FraudInfo

Date First Reported: June 2012

Primary Name Associated: George Burger

Description of Potential Fraud:

fraud-warning

Two Ontario lawyers received an email from the purported George Burger of Alliance Machining Technologies with regards to a commercial debt litigation scam. For examples of other names attached to this kind of fraud see our Confirmed Fraud Page. For an explanation of how this fraud works see our Fraud Fact Sheet.

It appears that this scam may be using the name of a real person and business, as we’ve seen before in other fraud attempts.

Here is the initial email:

From: George Burger, Jr. Alliance Machining Technologies Inc [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, June 15, 2012 04:58 AM
To: Lawyer Name
Subject: My Company Need The Help Of Your Firm

Dear Counsel,

On behalf of Alliance Machining Technologies Inc., we request your
legal services and possible representation on a Debt Recovery matter
involving Alliance Machining Technologies Inc and a client in your
jurisdiction.
Do let us know if you are currently accepting new clients. We look
forward to a prompt response from you.
Thank you very much.

Sincerely,
George Burger,Jr.
Alliance Machining Technologies Inc.
1304 W Red Baron Rd
Payson, AZ 85541-3524

A lawyer who replied got this response and attachment:


Thank you so much for your swift response. I’m sorry i cannot telephone you as i’m out of town at the moment.I only have access to email.But nevertheless,please find below contact information of our debtor owing us to enable you open up communication with them regarding this debt.

Contact person’s name: Steve Baldwin
Kuo International Oil Inc.
Tel:: 1212 537 4069
Email:[email protected]
Address: 767 3rd Avenue
New York, NY 10017 United States

Please contact Steve Baldwin and keep me posted on outcome of your discussion with him.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

George Burger, Jr.
Alliance Machining Technologies Inc.

Please find attached agreement for your perusal. I look forward to hearing from you on outcome of your contact with our debtor owing us the outstanding payment of $500,000.00

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

George Burger, Jr.

Another lawyer received this reply:

I thank you very much for your reply back to my email message to your firm, also my company have the Contract Agreement Letter, Invoice of the supply, Bill of Landing, and the Bill of Sale. For all that will be forwarded to you as soon as you confirm the receipt of this message for your review before talking about your fee.

I’m requesting your legal expertise on a matter of an outstanding payment for goods Supplied to A.I. Technology Company and associate, values the amount of $475,700.00.

The said outstanding payment is for goods delivered in good condition and Acknowledged as such Due date for payment was set for the September 23nd, 2008. As Stipulated in our sale contract. After this agreement was breached, we had a Lengthy negotiation, and consequently agreed to extend payment to a deadline of 25th of Nov. 2008. Quite unfortunately, the extended deadline was not honored.

We strongly believe that the introduction of legal pressure may initiate immediate Payment from our customer. If your firm is retained, our expectation of your Services for now will be within the scenario of a phone call or demand letter to

Our customer Litigation may be introduced as a last resort when all options have been exhausted and we will review the terms in accordance with your services. I will also forward to you the Contract Agreement as soon as I hear back from you, where you can find all the information you will need to contact them.

We look forward to your prompt response and you may send your engagement letter or Retainer document as well, so as proceed on this matter immediately to enforce all Due payment from our debtor in due time manner.
Sincerely,

George Burger, Jr.
Alliance Machining Technology Inc.
1304 W Red Baron Rd
Payson, AZ 85541-3524

Another lawyer received a different set of fake documents:

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.