by FraudInfo

Date First Reported: January 2014

Primary Name Associated: Michael Calderone

Description of Potential Fraud:

fraud-warning

Two U.S. lawyers have notified us that they received an email from the purported Michael Calderone looking to retain them with regards to a breach of a business loan agreement.

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 other names associated with it , and our Fraud Fact Sheet for a list the red flags of a bogus legal matter that is really a fraud.

Here is the initial contact email sent by the fraudster to the lawyer

From: “Michael C. Caldarone” [email protected]
Date: January 28, 2014 at 4:32:35 AM EST
To:
Subject: Hello Counsel
Reply-To: [email protected]

I am inquiring about the possibility of your firm representing me in
the litigation of a breach of loan payment agreement. If this falls
within the scope of your practice get back to me so that I can send
the copies of our agreements and more information.

Regards,
Michael C. Caldarone
eMail: [email protected]

Here is another variation:

From: [email protected]
Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 04:47:07 +0100
Subject: URGENT
To:

My name is Michael Christopher Caldarone, I am an attorney in California and Madrid Spain California State Bar Number #234009I have a business proposal which is highly confidential and will be of great benefit for me and you, please let me know if you are interested I will forward you my proposal.

Yours sincerely,
Mr. Michael C. Caldarone.(Esq.)
Senior Associate
________________________________________________________
Law Office of Michael C. Caldarone.
Accredited Family Law Specialist / Business Law
Direct email: [email protected]
Tel/Fax; 0034634032861
Address: Calle del Hierro 27, 28045 Madrid, España.

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.