by FraudInfo

Date First Reported: April 2013

Primary Name Associated: Eva Harvey

Description of Potential Fraud:

fraud-warning

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An Ontario lawyer notified us that she was contacted by the purported Eva Harvey with regards to a personal injury settlement scam. This is a new scenario involving a dog attack, but the essense of the fraud is similar to other settlement scams we’ve seen, such as employee injury or unfair dismissals. The aim is still to have the lawyer cash a counterfeit settlement cheque and wire funds from the trust account. For a full description of how those frauds work see our Confirmed Fraud Page.

Here is the email:

From: “Eva Harvey”
Date: 9 April, 2013 10:38:49 AM EDT
To:
Subject: LEGAL SERVICE NEEDED
Reply-To: [email protected], [email protected]

Hello, I am writing you from California requesting your assistance to take you/your firm to represent me on my recent case . I was attacked by a Dog recently and a settlement has been agreed to be paid to me for the huge damage. I intend to relocate after the settlement has been made out to your firm on my behalf. Please contact me as soon as possible so I can give you more details.

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.