Separation agreement scam using the name Nishiyo Stryker
Description of Potential Fraud:
100 lawyers in Ontario and the U.S. have notified us that they received an email from the purported Nishiyo Stryker looking to retain them with regards to a collecting overdue payments resulting from a separation 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 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: “Nishiyo Stryker”
Sent 3/6/2014 6:03:38 PM
To:
Subject: **SPAM** *Legal Aid Needed, Please Advise!
Dear Counsel,
I wish to hire your legal service to help me file a petition against my ex-husband
for failure to make court ordered payment for Child Support, Alimony and
Medical Support. Please advise.
Regards,
Nishiyo Stryker
Replying to the email brought this response:
Thank you for your prompt response. Am living in Japan and Jon Stryker (ex-husband) lives in Houston, TX. Due to the time difference (+13hrs EST) it is a little bit difficult to determine the best time to call you. Following our divorce, we agreed under a negotiated settlement agreement which is incorporated, merged into and made part of the court decree for a one-time payment of $1,148,470.00USD for Family support (this includes child support, alimony and medical support). To his credit, he has paid me $214,325.00USD but still owing $934,145.00USD and the due time for completion of payment is over. Thus, I request your legal counsel and representation to enforce the final judgment thereby compelling him to remit the balance owed me. He is aware of my intention to seek legal actions. Attached is a copy of the separation agreement, and Final Judgment and I will be pleased to provide further information on this case on request. I desire to retain your law firm, please forward your firm’s retainer fee agreement so that we can proceed. Thank you and have a pleasant day.
Regards,
Nishiyo Stryker
5-2-1 MinamiSenba Dream Building,
Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka, Japan
Phone: +81 (0) 505 809-8190
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.
March 11, 2014 at 7:05 pm, JK said:
Here is the reply email I received on 3-11-14:
Thank you for your prompt response. Am living in Japan and Jon Stryker (ex-husband) lives in ______________, CA. Due to the time difference (+13hrs EST) it is a little bit difficult to determine the best time to call you. Following our divorce, we agreed under a negotiated settlement agreement which is incorporated, merged into and made part of the court decree for a one-time payment of $1,148,470.00USD for Family support (this includes child support, alimony and medical support). To his credit, he has paid me $214,325.00USD but still owing $934,145.00USD and the due time for completion of payment is over. Thus, I request your legal counsel and representation to enforce the final judgment thereby compelling him to remit the balance owed me. He is aware of my intention to seek legal actions. Attached is a copy of the separation agreement, and Final Judgment and I will be pleased to provide further information on this case on request. I desire to retain your law firm, please forward your firm’s retainer fee agreement so that we can proceed. Thank you and have a pleasant day.
Regards,
Nishiyo Stryker
5-2-1 MinamiSenba Dream Building,
Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka, Japan
Phone: +81 (0) 505 809-8190
March 18, 2014 at 9:31 am, Joseph Lassen said:
I received this scam. One red flag is the documents are purported to be a Japanese’s separation agreement and divorce, but the documents are written in english. Shouldn’t the documents be written in Japanese? (rhetorical question)
Joe
March 18, 2014 at 9:58 am, Rory J Selwyn said:
We have been contacted by Nishiyo Stryker as well. Thank you for you service.
March 19, 2014 at 9:12 am, Mary Jo Szramowski said:
We got identical email this morning. I did some brief research on it because I thought it was odd and came across this website.
March 24, 2014 at 2:53 pm, Elena M. Strehle said:
We have been contacted by Nishiyo Stryker today as well. Thank you for the warning.
March 24, 2014 at 9:13 pm, Lark Ritson said:
I received this “Nishiyo Stryker” email this morning asking for my legal assistance. I am glad to have found your web site warning. Thank you.
March 25, 2014 at 8:21 am, Jared Chamberlain said:
I have also been contacted by this fraudster. The inquiry wasn’t so sketchy, but like other attorneys have reported, the reply after I returned the first email raised a lot of red flags. I can’t block emails on gmail, but I promptly marked it as spam to keep it out of my inbox.
March 25, 2014 at 1:33 pm, Harry E. Cawood said:
We received this e-mail today, along with a copy of the Decree and Separation Agreement AND a copy of her (supposed) Passport. Did a little digging and came up with this website. Thank you, will be reporting the scam.
Harry E. Cawood
Attorney at Law
Mesa, Arizona
March 25, 2014 at 1:41 pm, Modern Warrior said:
Thank you for this post. We are a self defense school (not a law firm) and received an email this week that said:
I wish to file an enforcement petition against my ex-spouse,are you available for such case?
Nishiyo Stryker.
[email protected]
I found it strange that the contact email isn’t the same email it came from, and didn’t recognize the name. I was checking to see if they were a former student who needed help before responding, since we have helped students who found themselves in tough spots before. Now I know its fraudulent. Thank you!
March 25, 2014 at 2:12 pm, G. Dean Foster said:
We were contacted yesterday. I have marked the email as spam.
Thanks for the advice.
March 25, 2014 at 6:17 pm, Jack Martin said:
I got the email too. I actually received a passport photo of “Nishiyo Stryker.
March 26, 2014 at 9:57 am, Victoria Allen said:
We also received an email from “Nishiyo Stryker” this morning. When I saw that the From field had an address from .au domain (Australia) and was entirely different from the address and name at the bottom, we realized it was a scam and didn’t bother replying.
March 26, 2014 at 7:12 pm, Ebony Holden said:
I too have been contacted by Nishiyo Stryker, the passport and “separation decree” were also sent as attachments
March 27, 2014 at 8:16 pm, Paul Brennan said:
I received this same kind of letter from Nishiyo Stryker. I am kicking myself that I sent to her a fee agreement. After I did, I thought that the whole matter was fishy. I mean, a divorce decree from a Japenese Court in English? I decided to check it out and when I did, I came upon your website. Thank god. Boy, was I stupid but at least, I did fall into the hole of that trap.
March 28, 2014 at 2:23 pm, Suzanne Hawkins said:
I too have been in contact with this person. Paul, I too sent her a fee agreement after receiving the final order. I’m in SC.
March 29, 2014 at 12:58 pm, Kendra Hawk said:
I received the inquiry on March 10 followed by the above response. I also emailed a retainer agreement which was emailed back with a signature and a promise to send the retainer check and the official documents by mail. Within a week I received another email that Jon Stryker had been in contact and would be settling the debt in two or three payments as he did not want any court action to be filed. The email instructed me to deposit any funds that were sent in my trust account until further instructions to transfer funds to her. Of course, I was to take my retainer and or expenses out of the first check. I received an Express Post within a week and a certified check for $495,300.00 along with a letter. The letter had no contact information, no letterhead and no signature. It was very generic reiterating what Nishiyo’s email had said. I thought it was odd that the letter had no contact information. I deposited the check and emailed Nishiyo that it had been received and deposited. I received an immediate email response asking me if I could wire her funds the next day. She said she would email me instructions on how to wire the money. She also had already emailed me that one of her children was in the hospital having had emergency surgery and thus she needed the funds. I emailed her back and told her that the bank would take 7 business days to clear the funds and I would be happy to wire her the funds once the check cleared. The same day I received a telephone call from a Quebec number. A man with an accent possibly West African said he was Jon Stryker and asked if I had received the check and if it had been deposited in my trust account yet. He asked me to notify his ex-wife immediately. My bank notified me the next day that the check was fictitious. I emailed Nishiyo to inform her and I have not heard from her again. I was not suspicious that the decree and agreement were in English since Jon Stryker was purported to be American but I was suspicious when I received the certified check with such a generic letter and no contact information. The check was drafted as from the Stryker Corporation. I googled that first and found a corporation in Detroit and a real Jon Stryker, a billionaire in Detroit. I then googled Nishiyo Stryker and found this web site. I wish I had googled her name earlier. I would never have wired any funds without waiting for the certified check to clear. I still feel scammed.
April 01, 2014 at 1:35 pm, Katie said:
Received same email but from a different email address. [email protected]. Two emails came in with Advise in the subject line and “I wish to file an enforcement petition against my ex-spouse for breaching the court’s decree with regards to payment of Child Support, Spousal Support and Medical Support. Advise if you handle such case.” in the body. This morning I received another email this morning with Nishiyo Stryker in the subject line. Nothing in the body.
April 01, 2014 at 11:54 pm, Monica said:
Hello all,
I got the email as well and reported it.
Thanks,
Monica
April 11, 2014 at 12:18 pm, Gene said:
Hello,
I too received this email, which was almost word for word as is stated on this web site. I replied with a short email to test whether it was legitimate. Upon receiving the reply, which appeared to be real with passport, separation agreement and court decree (even in English), I tried to find Jon Stryker and fortunately found this site instead.
I wil report this as well.
Thanks,
Gene
April 11, 2014 at 12:22 pm, Dan L. said:
I also received the same email from Nishiyo, I’m in Québec and the email mentionned that the ex husband live in Québec, therefore, she would be needing my help. The japanese decree was indeed written in English but the official court stamp was in japanese.
The thing that got me thinking was the fact that the child support and alimony mentionned in the decree was in Dollars and not in the japanese currency, i believe it’s in Yen…
Any ways, thank you for clearing my doubts on this matter.
April 11, 2014 at 6:19 pm, Scott said:
I received my scam-mail today. Having previously received an e-mail from “iprimus.com.au” that was a scam-mail I was immediately suspicious. Please note that the name Kylie Hibberd was associated with the email address as well.
April 14, 2014 at 8:09 am, Pel Gur said:
Hello,
I have just received the same mail from [email protected]
Address. I have replied back asking for the related court decision though I got suspicious as the mail sent to my personal e-mail address but not to my firm address. I believe this scams are related with hotmail addresses as I receive this kinds of e-mail from time to time only at my hotmail address which I filled as if I live in USA.
April 15, 2014 at 5:57 pm, Amanda Bradley said:
I just got it about 2 hours ago. Seems the ploy is not working. Reply email is [email protected]
April 16, 2014 at 12:24 pm, Daniel Cappetta said:
I also just received the same scam.
April 16, 2014 at 1:23 pm, Mary said:
I received the spam e-mail from [email protected]:
“Re: Advise
Please advise if you handle Enforcement Issue in Family Law Matter. Nishiyo
Stryker”
April 23, 2014 at 5:14 pm, Susan G said:
I have been receiving the exact same spam email from Nishiyo Stryker-4 times to date. I sent it to spam, since it was in my personal email and not professional email, and we get tons of weird legal spam sent our way. I got curious today about what the scam was-and found this website. Just hit the delete button.
April 23, 2014 at 6:56 pm, Terri Leary said:
Ditto. Couldn’t find a person with that name
locally.
April 28, 2014 at 3:33 pm, Lori said:
I received the same email today as Mary above. “My name is Nishiyo Stryker. Please advise if you handle Enforcement Issue in Family Law Matter.” It didn;t sound legitimate, especially given the sending e-mail address: [email protected]. I am glad I found your website.
April 29, 2014 at 2:24 pm, Caesar said:
Same As above And received a check From Stryker Coporation (note spelling) Check came from an Allen Klenn 569 Skyline Dr Suite 200, Jackson Tn 38301.
April 30, 2014 at 8:31 pm, Mick said:
Same as above. Original email supposedly: [email protected]
The next email came from supposedly: [email protected]
May 04, 2014 at 10:06 pm, Jennie said:
Just got the email. They are getting a little more smart. Now the email is coming from [email protected]. Notice that the last name is spelled incorrectly in the email address. Strangely, the spam message was emailed to an email address issued by my school, and I thought only the school had it. Makes me wonder how the spammers got it.
May 05, 2014 at 11:46 am, Jennifer said:
I have received several such emails from the following addresses:
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
May 06, 2014 at 2:43 pm, Joe Albrechta said:
Just received inquiry from similar name about enforcement of family law matter. appears the scammers are attempting a new tactic. thanks for gathering this info.
May 06, 2014 at 8:21 pm, Amber said:
I recieved this email as well. The e-mail lead me to believe in red flags. So I googled her and found this out. she used the e-mail addresses [email protected] and [email protected]
May 11, 2014 at 10:31 pm, Laura said:
Hello,
I received the same email today:
Hello,
I seek your legal counsel in enforcing a divorce decree (i.e final judgment),
thereby compelling to my ex-husband to remit balance of court ordered payment
for Child Support, Spousal Support and Medical Support. Please advise.
Sincerely,
Nishiyo Stryker
I did not respond back as I noted the email address came from a .au and was no personalized to my Family Mediation firm.
Thank you to the first person who reported this email.
Laura Gray
Executive Director, Separation and Divorce Resource Center Vancouver
May 14, 2014 at 10:19 am, Rebecca Decoster said:
Received email from the same name today, but with new email address – “[email protected]” with not text, only a subject line that reads “Please advise if you handle Enforcement Issue in Family Law Matter. Nishiyo Stryker”. Thanks for the heads up!
May 14, 2014 at 12:54 pm, Bambi said:
Just received this email: “Please advise if you handle Enforcement Issue in Family Law Matter. Nishiyo Stryker ”
Email address: [email protected]
May 14, 2014 at 3:46 pm, JAMES R. WHITE said:
I have received this e-mail and further responses. Have not agreed to do anything and will not at this point. Content is almost identical as others except that Jon Stryker resides in Evart, Michigan. I will not have further contact with the sender
May 17, 2014 at 3:58 pm, Teresa Coyle said:
I started receiving these emails almost immediately after I got the gmail account. It was obviously a fraud. I am a new lawyer and have some time on my hands as I am only working part-time so I started stringing her along. I made sure she understood that I was “new” but that “I really wanted to help her.” After all, her daughter has a heart condition!! I sent her a retainer agreement but she never signed it. She just keeps asking me to accept funds from her “ex-husband” to put into a trust account. I explained to her the ethical problems with that but she just kept telling me how bad she needed my help. I told her to send me a cashier’s check or money order and that is could not be in any other form or I was sending it back. I explained that I felt sorry for her and would create a trust account for her but that I really needed her to sign the agreement as soon as possible. We exchanged a few emails that were “personal” and she decided I was her friend. She told me she would send me some Mikimoto pearls because of “all the help” I was giving her. She asked for me to pray for her daughter. She talked about how her ex was going to “settle out of court” because he can not afford a lawyer (really?? the amounts she spoke of were HUGE!). I ignored all the HUGE red flags after that because she thinks she has got me hooked.
Two days ago I got notice from USPS that I have a “letter” from, get this it’s so funny, Peter Parker !!!! I found this out when I went to see what it was at the post office. I have not accepted the letter but asked the US Postal office for a fraud report document so that I can report her for mail fraud. They told me I would need to see what was sent so I opened it in front of the US Postal employee and wrote an affidavit that I was NOT accepting the letter, just viewing for purposes of reporting a crime. It appeared to be a cashiers check made out to my company from a Japanese Bank. But “endorsed” by a Canadian Bank. The letter was routed through Canada so I don’t know what these guys are doing in Canada. Later I find out that Bank is real, but the cashiers check is not. However, I told her that I got it and had just cashed it. She emailed me back so fast I thought a robot did it!! She asked me for my phone number–I told her it was on my letter head and at the end of my emails. I told her I had no time to talk because I am not in good standing with the Missouri Bar and that I am taking the cash and going to HI. In reality, I am an attorney in good standing and I never cashed anything. The post office is sending all of it to the federal authorities, including my emails.
Being a lawyer is FUN!! I hope the details I have provided can help the authorities get the scammers and provide any other attorney some information to take notice.
Teresa Coyle, St. Louis MO
May 19, 2014 at 11:09 am, Sam said:
Hi Guys!
I’ve received the same letter and also heard the same sob story about the poor child needing heart surgery, etc. Mrs. “Stryker” signed a retain agreement with my office, and we have been waltzing back and forth for three weeks now. Although she wants me to immediately wire the funds from the settlement check I received, I’m waiting for her ex-husband to come up to our office to pay our fee in cash since we do not commingle escrow funds.
I’m having fun trying to scam the scammer, and will let you know of the outcome.
Regards to all, be aware, and don’t stick you necks out for anyone!
Sam
May 19, 2014 at 8:42 pm, Susan Borquez said:
I have received the same email from Nishiyo Stryker stating her ex husband Jon Stryker resided in Camarillo, CA. She indicated he owed her money for child and spousal support, and had received over $200,000 but that he still owed over $900,000. I sent a retainer agreement to her which she signed. She sent me a copy of her passport and support order. I too thought it was odd that the order was in English from a Japanese court. Monday morning I receive an express envelope from Fresno, CA with a cashier’s check drawn on Chase Bank in the sum of $497,500. I was about to deposit it into my client-trust account. I made inquiry at my bank if the check was valid. They called Chase Bank and determined it was a forgery. There were only a few minor differences in determining the check was invalid. The valid cashier’s check under the date states “void after 7 years”. The forgery didn’t have that information. The “pay to order” and “pay” amounts were reversed and the forgery contained an original signature whereas the legitimate check is a stamped signature. The request from the sender was to wire transfer the funds the next day as the checking being a cashier’s check would clear in 24 hours. It seemed odd to me that the sender couldn’t wire transfer the funds himself and that the check was sent from Fresno on a generic unsigned letter as described by others in your blog. The bank told me they had heard of similar stories and that one attorney had actually wire transferred the funds only to have the cashier’s check be rejected as a forgery leaving the attorney out of the money. I then called the DA’s office, fraud unit, and they said there was nothing they could do–just tear up the check. I can’t believe I almost fell for this scam.
May 20, 2014 at 12:02 pm, Kendra Hawk said:
I also sent her a retainer agreement upon her request and it she emailed it back signed. She told me she had not had time to send me the retainer amount because her daughter had emergency surgery for her heart. Then I signed for an envelope at my door and it was a “cashier check” from Jon Stryker in the amount of $495,000.00 and a generic letter from Jon Stryker asking me to take what I was owed and remit the balance to his ex wife. He stressed he wanted to avoid going to court and litigating. I emailed Ms. Stryker and told her I received the check and deposited it in my Trust Account. She emailed back immediately, like she was sitting on the computer and said she would send me instructions to wire the balance, after I take my retainer agreement of course, to her immediately as she was in dire need. I guess they think that the lawyer will be so glad to get their “retainer” amount that they will simply send the balance. First of all, my bank informed me that only $5,000.00 was immediately available and it would take two to three business for the cashier check to clear. I emailed her back and informed her that the funds would take two to three days to clear and once they cleared I would be happy to wire funds per her instructions. She did not email me back and when the bank called the next day to tell me the check was a forgery, I emailed her back and told her the check was no good and she should get back in touch with her ex husband. She never emailed me back and I have not received any more solicitations with the other names I have seen in the blog.
May 21, 2014 at 12:45 pm, Attorney Poynter said:
It’s really sad that I cannot even had a website up without someone trying to scam me via email. I get these kinds of emails pretty frequently. I really hope no one falls for this, which is so clearly a scam. I wish this website would tell me if there is anything I can do to help get this person or people found.
May 22, 2014 at 5:50 pm, Sam said:
I’m terribly sorry to say that any moron (oh, I mean attorney) that wires out a half-million dollars from a trust account before the check clears is just that — a moron (he won’t have his license long either). How hungry can he be with that kind of money in his account? Look, these scammers just sit around in an internet store in Nigeria and send out blanket emails. If one in a million answers, they struck gold. I just love all of these stories they come up with, they are so imaginative. As P.T. Barnum said, there’s one born every minute.
Regards to all, AND BEWARE!!!!!
June 03, 2014 at 11:59 am, Russell said:
Just received a similar e-mail yesterday and sent a reply. This is the response I received. The name was different….Akemi Koch….but the same details as far as past-due support payments, Japanese “court documents” written in English, and a picture of a supposed passport. A big give-away to me was that the signatures do not appear to match the type-written names on the document. Here it is….
Dear Counsel,
Thank you for your prompt response. I am currently living in Japan and Warren Dave Koch (ex-husband) lives in ___________________, North Carolina. It is slightly difficult to reach you on phone as a result of the time difference (+13 hrs EST). Prior to our divorce, we agreed under a negotiated settlement agreement which is incorporated, merged into and made part of the court decree for a one-time payment of $933,380.00USD for Family support (this includes child support, alimony and medical support). To his credit, he has paid me $363,500.00USD but still owing $569,880.00USD and the due time for completion of payment is over. Attached is a copy of the separation agreement and Final Judgment. Thus, I request your legal counsel and representation to enforce the final judgment thereby compelling him to remit the balance owed me. He is aware of my intention to seek legal actions. I desire to retain your law firm, please forward your firm’s retainer fee agreement for review and possible appending of signature. I will be pleased to provide further information on this case on request. Just so you know, i share in the thought of payment of retainer fee prior to commencement of work. Thank you and have a pleasant day.
Regards,
Akemi Koch
23 Kogyo Danchi,
Monden-machi Aizuwakamatsu-shi,
Fukushima Japan 965-8502
+81 (0) 505 809-8290
June 11, 2014 at 2:32 pm, Douglas Graham said:
I’m with Teresa Coyle on this – scamming the scammers is fun. I’ve noticed this, though: the emails and attachments are generally pretty crude, but the checks are works of art. I received one drawn on the account of an Ohio healthcare service company of good reputation. For fun, I sent a copy of the check to their comptroller. She called me back and said their bank had received several, and had actually paid one because it appeared to be authentic. “But it was only for a little over $100,000” she said.
I’ve started collecting these checks because they’re real works of art. I have four now in a frame on the office wall – each very different. I suspect that these scammers don’t make the checks themselves – they appear to be the work of professional forgers. The scammers probably buy them individually from the actual forgers.
Doug Graham
June 18, 2014 at 9:41 pm, mark andrew said:
got it today. knowing full well its a scam, let’s play with them. if anything, i’ll get a nice wall hanger trophy check. LOL there must be some really uninformed counsel to fall for this. and the scammers don’t google their own work? they want to play? bring it!
June 19, 2014 at 10:41 am, Douglas Graham said:
I have one of Nishio’s checks, and it’s very nice – cashier’s check drawn on PNC Bank for $497,900.