Commercial debt collection scam by Blair McKinley of Mazco Medical Services
Date First Reported: February 2012
Primary Name Associated: Blair McKinley
Description of Potential Fraud:
Lawyers in Ontario and the U.S. have told us they’ve received emails from the purported Blair McKinley with regards to a commercial debt litigation scam. As with similar fraud attempts there appears to be a real company webpage provided, though the phone number is different and a non-business email address is provided. The debtor company would also appear to be a real company. For examples of other names attached to this kind of fraud see our Confirmed Fraud Page. For an explanation of how this fraud works see our Fraud Fact Sheet.
The initial email is very short:
From:
To: lawyer name
Reply-To:
I need a Business attorney ASAP.
Lawyers who respond get this reply and collection of documentation.
From: Blair Mckinley [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, February 14, 2012 2:17 PM
To: lawyer
Subject: Re:
Dear Stephen,
Thank you for your response and taking time to look into our case.let me start by introducing the company which i work for which is Mazco Medical Healthcare Ltd.We are a UK company supplying quality Medical equipment, medical supplies products & Surgical Equipment. Find Below details of the borrower:
Lincare Inc.
5813 WESTCREEK DRIVE
FORT WORTH, TX 76133
The Borrower is a company we have know for 3 years and we have done business with in the past, without any issues.They have only paid $438,000.00 out of a total $850,000.00 the balance is still outstanding till this day. We are in constant contact with Paul G. Gabos who is our contact person and Chief Financial Officer of Lincare Inc in United State, even though he has promised that they would pay the balance, I think the threat or possibility of litigation would serve as a catalyst to make them pay sooner rather than later.
We are prepared to pay a reasonable retainer or collection costs for this service as soon as I get an engagement letter from your firm. I expect this to be a non-litigation collection from the borrower but we are prepared to litigate this matter if Lincare Inc is not ready to pay the balance owed on the loan agreement. Please send me your engagement letter for my boards review to enable us proceed with this issue against Lincare Inc.
We want to also let you know that this loan that we gave to Lincare Inc has caused considerable strain on our company’s operational capital.Below are a few question we would like to know about your firm.
• What kind of background or experience do you have in this specific area?
• How many matters have you handled in the past years?
• We would like know your means/advice of alternative dispute solution on the case?
• We would like to know your fee structure in details first, as we don’t want any problems relating to payments.
I can be reached at +44-7597424703 during working hours UTC(Edinburgh),would be waiting to hear from you.
Best Regards
Blair Mckinley
C.E.O
Mazco Medical Healthcare Ltd
22 Broomloan Place Glasgow,
Lanarkshire, Scotland.
United Kingdom G51 4JR
CELL:+44-759-742-4703
FAX:+44-7005-800-127
http://www.mazco.co.uk
McKinley Mazco Promissary Note
McKinley MAZCO PAYMENTS
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.
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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.
February 25, 2012 at 12:31 am, Brian B. said:
I’m a CO general practitioner. Mr. McKinley contacted and is in the process of retaining me on behalf of Mazco. Whoever is running this scam returned a signed signature page to my fee agreement but no money has changed hands. In my last email to “Blair”, I emphasized that representation does not begin until my initial retainer had been received. That was about 48 hours ago and I haven’t heard anything since.
I feel very foolish now, but as stated in your alert; everything looks very official. The fictitious debtor has a CO Springs address. At any rate I’ve saved all docs and am happy to do whatever I can to help you catch this/these crooks.