Commercial debt collection scam by John Lawson
Description of Potential Fraud:

An Oregon lawyer notified us that he received an email from the purported John Lawson 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: info [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, June 17, 2013 8:33 AM
To:
Subject: FW: Breach of contact case
From: John Lawson [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, June 17, 2013 5:35 AM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: Breach of contact case
Do you handle breach of contact cases. If you do let us know and our company will be glad working with you in resolving our present legal matter.
Best,
Lawson
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].
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June 19, 2013 at 8:48 pm, Clarissa said:
Our firm has also received the email from John Lawson. We have seen these kind before and we responded to obtain the “company” name that needs legal work. Please note that, as always, the email domain name of the “CEO” or other title they’ve conjured up, is just one letter off from what you find through a google search. In this case, “[email protected]” (correct), became [email protected] (not correct, extra S).
From: Mr. John Lawson [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, June 19, 2013 3:10 PM
To: Clarissa
Cc: John [email protected];
[email protected]
Subject: Re: Breach of contract
Thank you for responding to our email to your firm. Our case is a really straight forward one. We had urgent need of the goods listed in the contract attached and contacted BED BATH & BEYOND INC.as a special order. We contacted them because they had the specific manufacturers of the products we needed. We were given their prices which we found satisfactory and asked to pay a 50% down payment for goods to be delivered and the balance after goods have gotten to its destination.
We did that and paid the down payment , they confirmed that the funds hit their account and up till date no delivery was made. They breached the terms of the contract and we cancelled the order and asked for a refund of the down payment that was made and they have refused to refund us despite all the efforts we made trying to get back our funds without introducing any legal action.
At this point we feel like we have been taken for a ride and have come to understand that words alone won’t bring our funds back which is why we have decided to get the help of a lawyer to enforce the terms of the contract and also help us get our money back.
We have attached to this email copies of all documents we have regarding the said transaction and will like you to review and let us know how you wish to proceed and also let us know if your require anything else. In our country we are required to go into an agreement with any firm we wish to hire and we are also required to pay some legal fees and believe it should be the same in your country. However, if that be the case we would want you to advise on your fees and also have a copy of your firms agreement sent for our review.
We are willing to proceed at once as long as your fees are reasonable. We are also aware that you will need to perform a conflict search. So find details of the company in default below
BED BATH & BEYOND INC.
142 South San Vicente Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90048
We would be glad if you get back to us with a detailed email and response to the questions raised in this email as we wish to resolve this matter as quick as possible.
Regards,
John Lawson
Managing Director
John Lawson Distributors Ltd
Scotshaw Brook House Branch Road Lower Darwen
Darwen Lancs BB3 0PR, United Kingdom
Direct Line:+447035950492
Tel:+254 677 121