Commercial debt collection scam using the name Julian Russ
Description of Potential Fraud:
A lawyer in New York and one in Illinois have notified us that they received an email from the purported Julian Russ looking to retain them with regards to a commercial debt collection.
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 to see other names associated with it. Our Fraud Fact Sheet lists 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:
From: JULIAN RUSS
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Sent: Tue, Aug 13, 2013 10:40 am
Subject: Litigation/Lawyer For Collection Inquiry
—
Hello Counsel,
Please advice if your law office handles Collection/Breach of Contract matters. If this is within your line of practice please revert back to us. We do appreciate a referral if it is not your area of Legal Practice.
Regards,
Julian Russ
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 11, 2013 at 1:44 pm, Rick Geiger said:
Was contacted by the putative Julian Russ…supposedly to collect a local debt
Looked fishy from the beginning… the guy would not speak on the phone