Commercial debt collection scam by Frank Warsame
Description of Potential Fraud:
A lawyer in Ontario and one in Florida have notified us that they have received an email from the purported Frank Warsame 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.
Here is the initial email:
From:
Date: 8 March, 2013 3:49:40 PM EST
To:
Subject: Please is this a case you can handle
Counsel,
I am inquiring about the possibility of your firm representing me in a breach of payment agreement litigation of 340,000.00.If this falls within the scope of your practice get back to me so that we can discuss and I can send the copies of our agreements paper work for the loan to you and any more information’s you may need.
Regards
Frank Warsame
Email: [email protected]
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.
March 11, 2013 at 4:32 pm, Howard Gutman said:
These scams do catch lawyers and should not be underestimated. Typically for commercial collection, they provide the name of an area company, well-drafted and notarized promissory note, as well as a convincing shory of how the money was owed, and now the debtor wishes to pay.
The basic rules are clear.
1. Do not confuse the initial credit to your account of a deposit with actual clearance. A teller cannot tell you a check has or will clear, and checks DO NOT CLEAR within 1-2 days. Instead there is a presumption of clearance within 1-2 days for many checks which obviously fails when the check is dishonored.
2. Tell these suspicious clients that checks, wire transfers, need a minimum of 14 working days to clear.
3. If it’s too good to be true, you know the rest.
March 13, 2013 at 6:09 am, Commercial Law Firm said:
Fraud scenarios have to be cross checked and caught! This is indeed a powerful and smart move!
April 03, 2013 at 2:13 pm, SLF said:
I just received this same email.
April 05, 2013 at 7:51 am, Michelangelo Piccinini said:
Just received one in Italy.
They are making progresses aren’t they !