by FraudInfo

Date First Reported: August 2013

Primary Name Associated: Jesper Goransson

Description of Potential Fraud:

fraud-warning

Two Ontario lawyers and one in Nova Scotia notified us that they received an email from the purported Jesper Goransson of Peab 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 Peab AB company and a real Jesper Goransson whose names are being used without their knowledge.

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

From: Jesper Göransson [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: August-26-13 9:30 AM
To:
Subject: contract dispute

We seek an attorney who handles breach of contract matters.Let us know if your firm takes such cases.
Thank you

Replying to the email brought this response:

From: Jesper Göransson [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: August-26-13 9:48 AM
To:
Subject: Re: FW: contract dispute

How are you today.

We would like to thank you for your response to our inquiry for legal services.
However,We wish to inform you that we would be needing your firms legal help to assist us with a breach of contract matter and also retrieve funds owed to our company.We ordered goods from Ace Hardware Corporation.and was asked to make a 50% down payment for goods to be delivered to us and that we did and up till date no goods were delivered.We asked for a refund and they made a part payment and after that no other payment was made.We seek legal help from your firm to help us collect these funds owed to our company as we do not wish to go any further with the said transaction.We have made several attempts in the past to collect these funds which all ended negatively.

We are aware that a conflict search would need to be done.Please find below details of the owing company.
Here is the name of our supplier for your conflict check of interest-

Ace Hardware Corporation
4808 University Ave
Des Moines, IA 50311

Attached to this email you will find attached copy of contract,email correspondence and proof of payment for your perusal.We are prepared to pay a reasonable retainer fee for this service as soon as our board gets to review the terms of your engagement.So please have that sent to my attention via email if this is a case you are willing to handle.

What we require from your firm is to Provide legal advice,collect funds owed to us and bring actions in court against Ace Hardware Corporation.if the need be.We look forward to your prompt response.we wanted to also inform you that the said funds owed to us has caused a great strain on our company’s operational capital and we want this issue to be resolved quickly.We would like to know a few things about your firm and also how you intend to handle this case. Find our concerns and questions below.

• Which of the court in the Canada would be appropriate to file for law suits?
• How many matters have you handled in the past years?
• We would like to know your fee structure in details first, as we don’t want any confusion in relating to payments.
• We would also like to know if you will be handling the case yourself as most attorneys hand their cases to junior attorneys.
• What kind of background or experience do you have in this specific area?
• We would like know your means/advice of alternative dispute solution on the case?

However,if you are able to help us with legal services do have your retainer agreement prepared and forwarded to us for proper review of your terms and conditions to enable us know if we can employ your services as time is of essence.

If you have any questions contact me personally anytime by email or call.You would find contact details at my signature block.

Best Regards,

Jesper Goransson
CEO and President
Peab AB
SE-260 92 Förslöv Sweden
TEL:+46 31753 8209
FAX:+46 85090 9550

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.