Description of Potential Fraud:

fraud-warning

Four U.S. firms notified us that they received an email from the purported Zakuro Xenah-Ukita of Zhung Hua Construction Corporation looking to retain them with regards to making a large commercial purchase.

This appears to be a 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 purchaser (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 email received by the lawyer:

From: Zhung Hua Construction Corporation Ltd [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, October 27, 2015 9:27 AM
To:
Subject: Attorney Required

Zakuro Xenah-Ukita is my name, Executive Vice President/ Head of Sales of Zhung Hua Construction Corporation Ltd. I am contact you after long internet search for very good attorney who can represent our company in sell equipment business with client in your state because our Hong Kong lawyer cannot work in the USA (We are seller; client is buyer). Please advise if your firm do sales /purchase transactions and agreement.

A referring from you will be greatly thanked if this is not your area of practice.

Due to language blockage and time difference, communication via e-mail will be most best for us at this time.

Regards,
Zakuro Xenah- Ukita
Executive Vice President/ Sales Head
Zhung Hua Construction Corporation Ltd
19/F, China Harbour Building,
370-374 King’s Road, North Point,
Hong Kong.
Tel : +852 2887 8322
Fax : +852 2512 4270
E-mail: [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.

If you have been successfully duped, please immediately notify LAWPRO as there may be a claim against you.

For more immediate updates on fraud and claims prevention, subscribe to the email or RSS feed updates from LAWPRO’s AvoidAClaim blog.

Fraud Fact SheetMore 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.