by FraudInfo

Date First Reported: January 2015

Primary Name Associated: Naoki Nakano

Description of Potential Fraud:

fraud-warning

Three Ontario firms notified us that they received an email from the purported Naoki Nakano of Akiyama International 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: Akiyama International [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, January 09, 2015 11:33 AM
Subject: Conflict Check

We would like to retain your firm to help us in the process to review
proposed transaction contract agreement for acquisitions or purchase of
businesses and creation of contracts for acquisition (merger) and
general corporate matters, insurance transactions performs a broad range
of corporate governance and insurance code work and civil
litigation/collection.

A referral will be welcomed if this is not your area of practice. If you
are interested we shall forward you the company information and letter
of intent.

Best Regard,

Naoki Nakano
Akiyama International
34-11, Takara-cho 2-chome
Katsushika, Tokyo
ZIP 124-0005
Tel: (03)3693-5191
http://www.akiyama-international.com
EMAIL: [email protected]

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.

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.