by FraudInfo

Date First Reported: May 2013

Primary Name Associated: Hiroshi Tanaka

Description of Potential Fraud:

fraud-warning

An Ontario lawyer has notified us that he has received an email from the purported Hiroshi Tanaka of Ota Shinji Leasing Co with regards to a commercial debt collection 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: Ota Shinji Leasing Company Ltd
Subject: Legal Representative
To:
Date: Tuesday, May 14, 2013, 10:50 AM

Attn: Counsel,

On behalf of Ota Shoten Ota Shinji Leasing Company Ltd., we will require your legal service for unpaid invoices by our customers in your country.

Please confirm if you could help us ,I will also need a referral if this is not your line of practice.

Reply back for more details at my direct email: [email protected].

Regards
Hiroshi Tanaka
Dir.(Operations)
Ota Shinji Leasing Company Ltd.
1300,Okayama,Higashi-ku, Niigata,950-0821 Japan
Tel: +81(025) 333 0458
Fax: +81(025) 333 0459
Email: [email protected]
www.ososlc.com

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.