Description of Potential Fraud:

fraud-warning

Lawyers in the U.S., B.C. and Ontario have just reported to us that they received the following message from the purported Daniel Liu. This scam is very similar to other breach of copyright or trademark scams we have seen over the last several months. It is a setup to dupe a lawyer into wiring good funds from a trust account after depositing a fraudulent cheque received in payment of damages.

Here is a copy of the message the lawyers received. They are personally addressed, unlike many scam emails that simply start with “dear lawyer”:

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, June 07, 2012 2:44 AM
To: lawyer name
Subject: Copyright Infringement

Dear Mr.******,

Please do you handle Copyright Infringement cases as our long time business associate has violated our copyright agreement and we need a good lawyer to handle this matter urgently. If your firm is retained, our expectation of your services for now will be within the scenario of a Demand letter to our client.
This approach will trigger the much needed response from our client towards amicable settlement We are prepared to pay your retainer fees.We will also send you other important and sensitive documents documents

Expecting your urgent reply

Best Regards

Daniel Liu
President/Owner
China Resources Machinery Company Ltd
26 Harbour Road
Wanchai Hong Kong

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.