by FraudInfo

Date First Reported: July 2014

Primary Name Associated: Trevor Smith

Description of Potential Fraud:

fraud-warning

Three Ontario firms notified us that they received an email from the purported Trevor Smith of Takeda Pharameuticals 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 sent by the fraudster to the lawyer:

From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, July 28, 2014 11:49 AM
Subject: Company Representative:

Hello,

We wish to contract your esteemed company to act as our company’s representative (intermediary between Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited and its customers in Canada and United States).

If you agree to this affiliation, we will be very glad to discuss our Prospective Partnership as well as other benefits. Please advise if you are interested in partnering with us.

Trevor Smith.
Takeda Pharmaceuticals Europe Limited
Head of Europe and Canada Commercial Operations, Takeda Pharmaceuticals International GmbH www.takeda.com

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.