by FraudInfo

Date First Reported: February 2012

Primary Name Associated: Steven Graham

Description of Potential Fraud:

fraud-warning

Two lawyers have told us they’ve received emails from the purported Steven Graham 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.

From: Steven Graham [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2012 4:14 AM
To: lawyer name
Subject: RE: Counsel Needed

Hello (lawyer name),

I am Steven Graham, soliciting your representation on behalf of Steven’s and Co Textiles Limited. We got your contact from the lawyer referral service and as such we need your counsel in litigation to collect a debt owed in the amount of $700.000.00USD by a delinquent seller in your region.Kindly let me know the best time to reach you.We prefer to established Our presence in your state via a legal representative, Thereby forcing the seller to comply with payment request as effort made for refund has proven to be abortive.

Find Below the location of the delinquent seller for you to run a conflict check Please send your retainer agreement for my review thereafter.

AAA Supply & Equipment
110 Newport Center Drive # 200
Newport Beach, CA 92660-6973

We ordered Machinery Equipments worth $1,400,000.00, of which 50 percent of the funds was demanded before delivery. Payment to the seller was made in September of 2011 and calculation shows that delivery is above three Months late, The regular purchase agreement requires seller to effect goods not later than 60 days upon payment or legal action may be enforced if delivery delay exceeds 90 days.

I will forward you supporting documents i.e., proof of payment, sales invoice and wire transfer slip once your retainer agreement is signed.

I look forward to your prompt response and your retainer agreement.Thank you

Steven Graham.
Managing Director
Steven’s and Co Textiles Limited
Houghton Street
London, WC2A 2AE
United Kingdom.
Tel :+44 (0) 770 007 5009
Fax:+44 (0) 704 307 9169
[email protected]
[email protected]< /em>

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.