Date First Reported: October 2014

Primary Name Associated: Hu Shunliang

Description of Potential Fraud:

fraud-warning

A Hawaii firm notified us that they received an email from the purported Nagamoto Hu Shunliang of Ma-Shan Iron and Steel looking to retain them with regards to a commercial debt collection.

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 to see other names associated with it. Our Fraud Fact Sheet lists the red flags of a bogus legal matter that is really a fraud.

Here is the initial email from the fraudster to the lawyer:

From: “Maanshan Iron Steel Co. Ltd” [email protected]
Subject: Litigation Request
Date: October 22, 2014 at 2:44:05 PM HST
To: “[email protected][email protected]

Dear Attorney,

My company would like to sue our client for breach of contract and we are looking for a lawyer who has experience in the field of law that can relates to our case. Contact us for more details if you handle such cases.

Best Regards,
Mr. Hu Shunliang
Director of Human Resources,
Ma-Shan Iron & Steel co. ltd,

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. Instructions on how to report a claim are here.

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.