by FraudInfo

Description of Potential Fraud:

fraud-warning

An Ontario lawyer received a two emails purportedly from FedEx. The emails advise that the courier was unable to deliver a parcel and that in order to pick it up at the nearest Post Office he would need to click a link that would print a receipt.

The lawyer called Fedex who advised that they do not send emails of that nature. No doubt clicking the link would have installed some kind of malware or directed the lawyer to provide financial information. In light of the recent fraud involving malware being used to steal funds from an Ontario firm, lawyers should be wary of clicking links in emails even if they seem to come from legitimate companies. Its worth repeating that no financial institution will email you to ask for your sensitive information.

Here is the text of the email:

From: Manager Moshe Marsh [email protected]
To: lawyer email
Date: February 22, 2013
Subject: Order tracking

Tracking ID: 3623-40749311

Dear Client,

Your parcel has arrived at February 20. Courier was unable to deliver the parcel to you at 20 February 06:33 PM.

To receive the parcel, please, print this receipt and go to the nearest office.

PRINT RECEIPT hyperlink
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.

Categories: Fraud Warnings