Business debt collection scam using the name Rick Benson
Date First Reported: September 2013
Primary Name Associated: Rick Benson
Description of Potential Fraud:
Two Ontario lawyers notified us that they received an email from the purported Rick Benson looking to retain them with regards to a breach of a business loan agreement.
This is a classic bad cheque scam that presents as legal matter requiring the assistance of a lawyer. In this scam lawyers will be duped into wiring real funds from their trust accounts after depositing a fake cheque received as payment from the debtor (who is part of the fraud). See our Confirmed Fraud Page for more of an explanation of how these frauds work and other names associated with it , and our Fraud Fact Sheet for a list the red flags of a bogus legal matter that is really a fraud.
Here is the initial contact email sent by the fraudster to the lawyer’s intake site, and subsequent reply:
Subject: COLLECTION MATTER
From: RICK BENSON
To:
Hi
I need a Business/Commercial expert who can handle a
collection issue on my behalf
Sincerely
Rick Benson
Replying to the email brought this response:
Thank you so much for your email.
I am Mr Rick Benson U.S citizen currently based in UK.
I want you to help me receive outstanding debt from Mr Gregory Phillips on my behalf .He made commitment to pay the money
Debtor: Phillips Gregory
Amount: $488,000.00
Amount Paid:$60,000
Balance $428,000.00 plus 7.75%. annual interest.
The fund is part of the loan Phillips took from me .
The point of disagreement between the debtor and I is on the interest at 7.75%.
Due to the fact that he is ready to pay the principal with a downward negotiation of the interest gives me this assumption.
I am ready as it is now to negotiate a review of the interest. he assured me that he will pay a substantial part of the capital now then he will pay the balance install mentally as we may agree.
Find attached copy of Loan Contract,I have informed Mr Gregory Phillips of my decision to retain you as my representative in the collection
Please contact Greg via his Email [email protected] for more details about the situation
My best regard,
Rick Benson
+447012949745
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 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.
September 16, 2013 at 10:48 am, Paladin Investigations said:
I actually received a similar one about a year ago and played it out. I contacted the alleged creditor in the UK and they informed me that Scotland Yard was investigating.
I played along and was contacted by the “debtor” who wanted to pay me. The $288,000.00 cashier check I received, actually two of them came Airborne from Canada. I was to deposit the check into my account and take my fees sending the rest to the “creditor”.
The email I received from the “creditor” domain was one letter off a real domain it was made to look like. When I did a whois search found that the domain was owned by a guy in…wait for it…Nigeria.
Two attorneys in California fell for this and their trust accounts went into the negative for quite a bit of money.
November 24, 2013 at 7:47 pm, Quintin L King said:
Just got one of these from a Gary Blythe in England.Told him I would be more than happy to help, provided that any collections made was done by Electronic transfer, no checks, cashier or otherwise….I don’t expect to hear from these good people….ever….again….
January 23, 2014 at 2:57 pm, E David Gallermo said:
I received a request from a “Rick Blevins” to draft a power of attorney. Is this the same thing?
January 24, 2014 at 11:20 am, TimLemieux said:
Not sure. You can forward it to [email protected] if you want us to take a look.