Divorce settlement fraud using the name Anita Pirez
Description of Potential Fraud:
Two Ontario firms notified us that they received an email from the purported Anita Pirez looking to retain them with regards to a collecting overdue payments resulting from a separation agreement.
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 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 Cybercrime and Bad Cheque Scams 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:
CONTACT INFORMATION
Name: Anita Pirez
Phone Number: 917-265-9458
Email Address: [email protected]
Mailing Address: 210 Central Park W Apt 16K, New New York, 10024
My name is Anita Pirez.I am contacting any firm in regards to a divorce settlement with my ex husband Mr Steve Pirez.who resides in your Country.
We were based in United States,and i am still currently in United States.We had an out of court Agreement (Collaborative Law Agreement) for him to pay me the sum of $180,450.00 plus legal fees.
He has only paid me $44,000 since then.I am hereby seeking your firm to assistance in collecting the balance from him.He has agreed already to pay me the balance but it is my belief that a Law firm like yours is needed to help me collect payment from my ex-husband or litigate this matter if he fails to pay as promised.
Kind regards
Anita Pirez
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]. We use this information for the warnings we post on AvoidAClaim. We do not disclose the names of firms that have provided us with information.
Ontario Lawyers - Call LAWPRO
If you are an Ontario lawyer acting on a matter that you suspect might be a fraud, call LAWPRO at 1-800-410-1013 (416-598-5899). One of our Fraud Team members 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, 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. 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 it is drawn upon. 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).
What if the fraud has been successful?
If you have been successfully duped, please immediately notify LAWPRO as there may be a claim against you. See the LAWPRO website for instructions on how to report a claim.
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. To proactively prevent trust account shortfalls and malpractice claims, LAWPRO encourages firms to teach their lawyers and staff about fraud and how to recognize fraud attempts.
February 06, 2019 at 7:42 am, Francisco Rico said:
I had the same problem here in Spain! Same text for the email. Very well developed, I must admit, as they keep answering me my emails (LOL).
They even sent me passport pictures, obviously conveniently “retouched”.
Well, if you need some strategic partner here in the South of Spain, just contact.
Best regards!!!
February 15, 2019 at 5:54 am, Tim Drubbel said:
Our firm (Roelofs & Drubbel advocaten in the Netherlands) also received the bogus email from “Anita”. After googling the name I was made aware of the scam. We did not reply.
Keep doing the good work!
regards,
Tim A M Drubbel, Llm
March 27, 2019 at 11:53 am, Fernando said:
Hello! The same thing happened to me in Spain twice. The first time the e-mail came from Anita Pirez (who even sent me a passport and the divorce agreement) and the second time, today, from Carolyn Acosta.
Luckily I suspected when he tried to send me a check.
Greetings from Barcelona (Spain).
April 03, 2019 at 4:58 am, Reuters Solicitors said:
Hello! My law firm received her email yesterday morning. She sent me her passport and the divorce agreement and she asked for help in order to claim the money is dued by her ex husband. After that, she told me that she needed my name, personal details, telephone number and address so his ex husband can post me a cheque to clear the debt with her. Luckily, we have just found this page and we have realized that it is a FRAUD!
April 06, 2019 at 1:20 pm, Liam M. Nolan said:
This same email is in circulation apparently to all members of the Law Library (Bar of Ireland) here in Dublin.
April 19, 2019 at 2:25 pm, José Mariano Sierra said:
I recived the cheque two days ago. It appears a legal document. In any case I’d send the money before receive the money. What is the fraud? Kind regards.
April 23, 2019 at 12:28 pm, Dr. Derk Janßen, Attorney at law said:
At the end of January 2019 I got a letter via email and „Anwalt.de.“
The same text from“Maria Suarez“with a copy of a passport from „Anita Pirez“ from PIKEVILLE Ky USA.
The first check coming in here was stolen.
I reported it to „Mrs. Suarez“.
Two weeks later a second check came in. Stolen again.
Both checks from Northern Ireland.
Today I gave the name of the lady to google.
And was reading the whole story…
Our law office is in Hannover/Germany
With best regards
Dr. Janßen
May 29, 2019 at 10:06 am, Michael A. Berghofer, LL.M., Rechtsanwalt / Attorney said:
My Munich (Germany) based law firm received the very same email by “Maria Suarez” of Pikeville, KY, allegedly currently “on assignment in Dublin, Ireland”.
The email is an exact replica of the one quoted above, including the amounts allegedly due and paid, typos and syntax errors.
Having asked for a more information and a passport copy, we received a copy of a “Collaborative Law agreement”, but no passport.
Insisting on a passport copy, we received a copy of (alleged) USA Passport No. 578292967 today, which on first sight seems genuine.
Further research on the internet found us this site and a timely insight that we are dealing with fraudulent activity.
Best regards,
Michael A. Berghofer, LL.M.
June 27, 2019 at 7:09 am, Pablo said:
Same mail here in Barcelona, luckily I suspected, since I don’t have any contact client in the USA, googled the name and found your page. Thanks a lot!!
July 09, 2019 at 1:27 pm, UNAI GOMEZ said:
I have also got this email in North Spain.
I have asked them to pay me in advance 300 dollars and they insist, so I re-ask them to put the 300 dollars in my account in order to start working their case.
July 09, 2019 at 2:38 pm, Handan said:
what can i do, when i send this person an power of attorney and she/ he signed it?
what will happen next?
i believed this person..
i am from germany, trier, and i got a email from that person, too.
July 12, 2019 at 5:29 am, Marco Calabrese said:
Such Maria Suarez is writing to me for a divorce case in Italy. The mere fact that she is addressing me as Dear, without a name made me suspicious and after reading this I will not respond. The question is: why all these Mexican names?
Ciao Marco Calabrese
August 20, 2019 at 12:04 pm, Guénard said:
I am a French lawyer and I received the same email in France. Sincerely, Mathilde.
September 09, 2019 at 4:30 am, CARMEN ROJAS said:
I´ve just received the same email signed by María Suárez. in Almería (Spain), I suspected and I search on the web.
Thank you for the warning.
Dear,
My name is Maria Suarez. I would love to be represented in a pending divorce/payment recovery case by you. I am married to Mr. Steve Suarez who resides in your jurisdiction.We had an out of court Agreement (Collaborative Law Agreement) for him to pay $180,450.00 plus legal fees.He has only paid me $44,000 since. Do let me know so I send to you the necessary documents to proceed with.
Sincerely
Maria Suarez
September 23, 2019 at 6:06 am, Marta Ribeiro said:
I received also the same email, with the same text in Portugal, but the sending email is diferent ([email protected]).
Thank you for post this fraud.
Best Regards,
Marta
October 21, 2019 at 6:40 am, Abraham said:
Amsterdam, October 21st 2019. And another name pops up; she also names herself Linda Diaz. Same email, different name. The email is send BCC so it appears to be a email list which it was send too.
November 10, 2019 at 6:25 pm, ANDREA BRODIE said:
This person just sent me an email trying to buy a horse of mine (same name, email, phone number). I am assuming this person operates in many realms…..
”
Name : Anita Pirez
Email : [email protected]
Phone Number : 9172659458
Message : Greetings to you,i do have a client who is interested in buying your horse,.Get back to me with the net price and with its present condition.”
January 06, 2020 at 6:50 pm, Bojan Hojnik Lawyer said:
The person who send me a mail is Linda Diaz from USA. She send me divorce agreement and ask me to reoresent her to claim the money from ex husband who live in my. Country. She didnt sign my letter of representation, but today I received cheque by post. Today I receive her mail:
Dear Bojan,
Thank you so much for the update. Yes, a cheque of 29,000 GBP was sent from my ex husband. Kindly go to your bank and deposit the cheque and please try and confirm from your bank the exact day the amount on the cheque will be credited into your account so that we can proceed with the wire transfer. Actually, I will visit my uncle who resides in Europe in a week time. I will be expecting to hear from you as soon as you deposited the cheque.
Regards,
Linda.
January 20, 2020 at 10:33 am, Justas said:
Received an email from her just in different name, now it is Linda Diaz.
Her email sent to our company was as follows:
” Hello,
My name is Linda Diaz . I am contacting your firm in regards to a divorce settlement with my ex husband Michael Diaz who resides in your Country. We were based in United States, but i am still currently in United States. We had an out of court Agreement (Collaborative Law Agreement) for him to pay $180,450.00 plus legal fees. He has only paid me $44,000 since. I am hereby seeking your firm for assistance in collecting the balance from him. He has agreed already to pay me the balance but it is my belief that a Law firm like yours is needed to help me collect payment from my ex-husband or litigate this matter if he fails to pay as promised.
Sincerely,
Linda Diaz.”
February 18, 2020 at 1:35 pm, Melinda said:
I had this happen using the name Steve Pirez. Passport and check sent.
February 27, 2020 at 10:08 am, Hansen said:
I am a lawyer in Hamburg and have got the sama e-mail in January and February from “Maria Suarez”. In both cases I tried to answer her to send me more informations and documents. But both replies cpuld not have been sent because of a wrong e-mail-adress.. So I could not get in touch with her.
M. Hansen
May 18, 2020 at 5:14 am, FERNANDO said:
Hello
Our Balearics based law firm received a similar email from “Maria Suarez” related to collecting money as part of a “Collaborative Law agreement” sent from [email protected].
“Maria Suarez ” asked us for our adress to instruct her husband to send us a cheque payable to us in order that we transferred her the money after retaining our fees.
We received afterwards a cheque under our name sent from Ireland.
Having asked for more information and a passport copy, we received a water bill with an adress at 10 Creighton St, Dublin Docklands, Dublin, D02 VX03, Ireland, (Tel. +353 20 914 9509 from Ireland) and copy of a USA Passport No. 578292967, which on first sight seemed genuine but with a surprising stereotyped american “barbie” woman that distrusted us.
Further research on the internet helped us to realise that they were attempting some fraud.
June 08, 2020 at 10:40 am, THOMAS Guy said:
I (lawyer from Luxembourg (Europe) got the same mesage, first from Linda DIAZ in April 2020, then from Maria SUAREZ, this time with a copy of her US passport and a collaborative Law Agreement in June 2020.
Thanks for the warning
July 06, 2020 at 6:32 pm, Italian lawyer said:
Hi everyone, l received a similar email from L.Diaz. She told me she had a collaborative law agreement and she claimed her husband was in Italy and later in the UK. She asked to sign power of attorney but she refused to pay the initial fees. She also asked my details claiming her former husband intended to send me a cheque of 29.000 gbp for her. She didn’t send me the requested documents. Be careful, if you suspect something is wrong ask her to attend the local consulate and put her request and authorize you to receive the funds in front of the notary…and pay your fees first…she won’t come back
April 07, 2021 at 6:17 am, RA Dr. Christoph Friedrichs said:
If identical with Anita Pirez etc. she is now “working” under Magdalena Michalska.
So:”Same address in Dublin! Same procedure as last year , James”.
April 07, 2021 at 6:19 am, RA Dr. C. Friedrichs said:
If identical she is now “working under M. Michalska.
I guess: “Same procedure as last time, James!”
July 16, 2021 at 4:47 am, Oliver Spies said:
We just received the same e-Mail from Magdalena Magdalena Michalska – and we are a pure IP law firm in Germany 😉
August 31, 2021 at 8:56 am, MARTA CLARO MARQUES said:
We just received the same e-Mail from Magdalena Magdalena Michalsk, in Portugal law firm.
July 24, 2023 at 2:45 pm, Chiara Mastrovincenzo said:
I received the same email today in Italy.
Subject of the e-mail: “ARE YOU A LAWYER?”, signature of the e-mail: Mrs. Camila Diego.
I replied generically what she needed and she sent me the same email. Only the names change: Camila and Pedro Diego.
Before answering her again, I searched for her and her e-mail address on google, Facebook, Linked-in but I didn’t find anything that convinced me.
Only by inserting the text of the e-mail on Google did I get back to this page.
Thanks for the valuable reports!