by FraudInfo

Date First Reported: March 2013

Primary Name Associated: Valerie Zaira

Description of Potential Fraud:

fraud-warning

Two Ontario lawyers have notified us that they’ve been contacted by the purported Valerie Zaira with regards to a to a collaborative family law agreement dispute. This is a fraud we have seen before under several other names and similar scenarios. For examples of other names attached to this kind of fraud see our Confirmed Fraud Page. For an explanation of how this fraud works see our Fraud Fact Sheet.

Here is the initial email:

From: Valerie Zaira [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: March 7, 2013 8:34 AM
To: Recipients
Subject: Dear Counsel,

Dear Counsel,

I wish to file a contempt petition against my ex-spouse for breaching the court’s decree with regards to payment of divorce settlement.

Please advise if you handle such case.

Valerie Zaira

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.