by FraudInfo

Date First Reported: August 2013

Primary Name Associated: Hakan Winberg

Description of Potential Fraud:

fraud-warning

[Updated Sept 2013]

Seven lawyers in the U.S. have notified us that they received an email from the purported Hakan Winberg of Capio AB 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.

There is a real Capio AB company and a real Hakan Winberg whose names are being used without their knowledge.

Here is the initial contact email sent by the fraudster to the lawyer:

From: HakanWinberg HakanWinberg
Sent: Wednesday, August 21, 2013 4:13 PM
To:
Subject: Dear Attorney

Dear Attorney,

Does your firm handle breach of contract matters?. Please permit me to send you the contract agreement for your review so you can run a conflict check. We can be reach on phone and email.

Yours Sincerely,
Håkan Winberg
Chief Financial Officer
Capio AB (the Group)
Lilla Bommen 5
P.O. Box 1064
SE-405 22 Göteborg, Sweden
[email protected]
www.capio.com/en/Start/

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.