Business debt collection scam using the name Shinji Akiyama
Date First Reported: February 2015
Primary Name Associated: Shinji Akiyama
Description of Potential Fraud:
A California firm notified us that they received an email from the purported Shinji Akiyama 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: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Shinji Akiyama
Sent: Thursday, February 05, 2015 12:11 PM
To:
Subject: Debt Collection Matter
Dear Paul M. Porter,
Pardon me for any inconveniences, if at all, that this mail may cause you but I require your assistance in recovering a debt owed to me by a business associate of mine, Mr. Martin Carter, in the amount of $1,850,000. The debt was as a result of a loan he obtained from me which was used in executing some construction work sometime in 2012. The loan was for 24 months with an interest rate of 8.75%. The capital and interest were supposed to have been paid by October 15th, 2014 but Mr. Carter has only paid $192,000.
So, I seek your advise and possible legal representation against Mr. Carter who is based in California in collecting the debt. Please advise if this is something you can handle for me so that I can provide you with the relevant document pertaining to the matter.
Kind regards,
Shinji Akiyama
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 are an Ontario lawyer who suspects 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.
What can you do to help put a stop to the fraud attempt? You can simply stop replying to the fraudster’s emails or inform them that you suspect fraud and will not act on the matter (or will take no further actions on the matter). You can report the fraudsters email addresses to the email hosting company. If you have a fraudulent cheque you can destroy it or send it to the fraud department of the financial institution, which may wish to see it. In Canada, you can report the fraud to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.
We are often asked if it is worthwhile to report the fraud attempt to the police in the hopes of helping catch the fraudsters. You can certainly report the fraud to your local or federal law enforcement agencies, but unfortunately it is often difficult, expensive and time consuming for them to attempt to shut down these online fraud perpetrators (though there are some successes).
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.
February 23, 2015 at 4:21 pm, Nick said:
I received the same message, practically word for word via our website.
Shinji Akiyama +81345207345 [email protected] Hello, Pardon me for any inconveniences, if at all, that this mail may cause you but I require your assistance in recovering a debt owed to me by a business associate of mine, Mr. Martin Carter, in the amount of $1,850,000. The debt was as a result of a loan he obtained from me which was used in executing some construction work sometime in 2012. The loan was for 24 months with an interest rate of 8.75%. The capital and interest were supposed to have been paid by October 15th, 2014 but Mr. Carter has only paid $192,000. So, I seek your advise and possible legal representation against Mr. Carter who is based in Utah in collecting the debt. Please advise if this is something you can handle for me so that I can provide you with the relevant document pertaining to the matter. Kind regards, Shinji Akiyama
May 13, 2015 at 3:19 pm, Pam said:
We have also received an email almost verbatim. He has changed the name to Takeo Higashi.
Rich Portal [mailto:[email protected]: Pardon me for any inconveniences, if at all, that this mail may cause you but I require your assistance in recovering a debt owed to me by a business associate of mine, Mr. Martin Carter, in the amount of $1,850,000. The debt was as a result of a loan he obtained from me which was used in executing some construction work sometime in 2013. The loan was for 24 months with an interest rate of 8.75%. The capital and interest were supposed to have been paid by January 15th, 2015 but Mr. Carter has only paid $192,000.
So, I seek your advise and possible legal representation against Mr. Carter who is based in Utah in collecting the debt. Please advise if this is something you can handle for me so that I can provide you with the relevant document pertaining to the matter.
Kind regards,
Takeo Higashi