Trademark infringement scam by Elias Machta
Date First Reported: June 2013
Primary Name Associated: Elias Machta
Description of Potential Fraud:
Two New York lawyers have just reported to us that they received the following message from the purported Elias Machta. This scam is very similar to other breach licence 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:
From: Elias Machta [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, June 12, 2012 10:00 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Trademark Violation
Dear Attorney:
We have a case of trademark violation that we wish that you review for us.
If your practice schedule will allow you take in new client or interview new
client, please advise.
Should you want to look at the merit of our case, I will quickly forward all
evidential documents regarding our claim.
Thank you and Please respond promptly to our inquiry.
Regards,
Elias Machta
A lawyer who replied got this response:
Thank you for your response, it is our opinion that you do a conflict check before pertinent documents relating to this claim is forwarded to your office. Should we receive an all clear, please advise on the best way to forward our evidence to your attention.
Please find below the name of the infringer:
CIGS Clothing Co
St, Paul, MN
Our Trade Mark Registration Number:
4,049,819
Serial Number:
77856919
I would like us to discuss this further on the phone, do advise on the best time to reach you. Once more thank you and I look forward to a mutual business relationship between us.
Regards,
Elias Machta
Baleno Enterprise Inc.
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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June 14, 2012 at 2:40 pm, Michael Feigin, Esq., NY, NJ, PA Patent Attorney said:
I had this scammer contact me. Same thing happened… except I saw this blog post before going forward with him. I have copies of the documents he sent me if anyone wants to compare. I thought it was suspicious that the domain name he was writing from was only registered a week ago with nothing on the website, and then he writes me the second time from a a yahoo account instead. Number he gives to call is in Argentina despite that Elias Machta is located in Florida, according to the trademark application.
June 14, 2012 at 4:39 pm, TimLemieux said:
Hi Mr. Feigin,
Yes we’d be curious to see the documents he sent you. You can email them to [email protected] Thanks!