Fraud Prevention
Real Fakes: What To Do If You’ve Been Impersonated
LAWPRO has received several reports of fraudsters impersonating lawyers. Fraudsters will use a lawyer’s identity to deceive the public, clients and prospective clients, other lawyers, or third parties into sending money, such as a retainer fee or transaction-related funds. In other cases, the impersonator is using the lawyer’s identity to engage in the unauthorized practice… Read More »
Categories: Fraud PreventionNew Fraud Scheme: Insurance Settlement Funds
A new fraud scheme involving insurance settlement funds has a familiar end: the cheque is no good. The scheme commences when fraudster approaches a lawyer, usually with no previous relationship, asking the lawyer to review settlement documents, provide ILA, and receive the settlement funds into the lawyer’s trust account. To make the fraud attempt more… Read More »
Categories: Fraud PreventionNew Cybersecurity Threat from AI Searches: The Rise of Phantom Squatting
AI doesn’t just hallucinate case law, it hallucinates website domains too. In a new and growing form of digital attack, hackers use AI agents to query search engines to get the most common hallucinated sites. A bad actor then registers the hallucinated domain and creates a convincing website at that address. The next time that… Read More »
Categories: Fraud Prevention, TechnologyWhen banking credit is good and bad: how to avoid transaction reversals and shortfalls
Did you know that Payments Canada statistics indicate that 99% of all deposits in a bank account are credits and not good funds? The Canadian banking system works on trust and therefore provides an immediate credit that reflects the value of any funds being transferred or deposited. However, that credit needs to be processed and… Read More »
Categories: Fraud PreventionWhen a Law Firm Gets Hacked: A Case Study in Cybersecurity Risks and Recovery
As cyberattacks become increasingly sophisticated and prevalent, law firms are emerging as targets due to the highly sensitive nature of their data and pools of money. Law firms can hold a wealth of confidential data, including client identities, case details, and proprietary legal strategies, making them prime candidates for cybercriminals seeking to exploit this valuable… Read More »
Categories: Fraud PreventionVerify the withdrawals from your accounts
LAWPRO has received claims from lawyers who fell victim to fraudsters diverting and depositing cheques meant for their clients. In two cases to date, lawyers issued cheques to their clients as part of their professional services. However, in both cases, an identical amount was withdrawn from the lawyer’s trust account but payable to a third… Read More »
Categories: Fraud PreventionHow to ensure you have secure funds
[Updated August 2025] Article highlights: 1.For funds to be truly irrevocable, you need a PCRN. Anything else is a risk. 2.Financial institutions that have adopted the Uniform Treatment of Wire Payments have agreed to treat “On-Us” funds (e.g. when the payee and the payor are at different branches of the same financial institution) as irrevocable… Read More »
Categories: Fraud PreventionAre you ready for the Law Society’s new client ID requirements on January 1, 2024?
As of January 1st, 2024, the Law Society of Ontario requires lawyers who only meet with clients virtually to verify their clients’ identity online by authenticating their identification documents, or using an alternate, approved verification method. This ends the emergency virtual-verification measures that permitted verification through simply viewing identification documents online. The virtual authentication of… Read More »
Categories: Fraud Prevention