Date First Reported: June 2013

Primary Name Associated: Zaila Haruyo

Description of Potential Fraud:

fraud-warning

A lawyer in Israel notified us that he was contacted by the purported Zaila Haruyo 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:

Dear Counsel,
My name is Zaila Haruyo. I am a contacting your firm in regards to a divorce settlement with my ex husband (Wardley Hayaki) who resides in your jurisdiction.I am currently in Japan. We had a settlement agreement for him to pay $470,000.00 plus legal fees. He has only paid me $120,000.00 since . I am hereby seeking your firm to represent me in collecting the balance from him.
He has agreed already to pay me the balance but it is my belief that a Law firm like yours is needed to help me collect this payment from my ex-husband or litigate this matter if he fails to pay as promised. Please get back to me via my private email ([email protected]) if this is a case you can undertake.
I look forward hearing from you soon .
Warmest Regards,
Zaila Haruyo

Replying to the email brought this response:

Thank you so much for your email. Its always very hard to be able to ascertain when best to call from here because of the time difference and this is a big barrier toward achieving a successful conference call. If it may pleased you to know, in my humbly suggest we communicate via email while I figure out when best to reach on phone due the course of this representation.

My Husband and I had an out of court agreement (Settlement Agreement) for him to pay $470,000.00 plus legal fees. He has only paid me $120,000.00 since; I am hereby seeking your firm’s assistance in collecting the balance from him. He has agreed to pay me the balance but it is my belief that a Law firm like yours is needed to help me collect/enforce payment from my ex-husband Wardley Hayaki or litigate this matter if he fails to pay as promised, My ex lives in your jurisdiction.

I still reinstates my appear to have your firm collect these owned funds on my behalf instead of having him pay directly to me which I am very sure he will not, as I have made several efforts to collect these funds and all yielded no result I will be pleased to provide further information on this matter on request. I expect this to be a non-litigation matter as I have already notified him in enforcing your firm service. Please send me your retainer service agreement fee so I can have a preview and execute.

Please find attached

Best Regards
Zaila Haruyo
9-4-2 Akasaka, minato ku, Tokyo, Japan
+818032131710

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.