Fraud Prevention
Fraud warning from the Law Society of BC regarding fake client payment instructions
The following is from an August 6, 2019 warning from the Law Society of BC. Similar attempts to divert funds have been reported in Ontario as well. Fraudsters continue to target BC lawyers “If you are about to pay out trust funds and your client’s payment instructions change, stop and ensure that the change is… Read More »
Categories: Fraud PreventionBeware email with CONVEYANCE ASSISTANCE NEEDED that has malware attached
An Ontario lawyer reported getting the following email. After replying to it, another email was received that included a pdf document that supposedly had the details of the real estate transaction. In reality the pdf contains only a link to what appears to be a Microsoft OneDrive account, but is actually a link that contains… Read More »
Categories: Fraud PreventionLaw Society of Alberta fraud warning about “GSKS Law Firm”
The Law Society of Alberta has received a report about a business, “GSKS Law Firm”, purporting to be a law firm. The business operates a website at http://gskslaw.com. The individuals associated with the business are falsely holding themselves out as members of the Law Society of Alberta and are reaching out to individuals to offer… Read More »
Categories: Fraud PreventionPaying attention to the fraud behind the curtain: Don’t get fooled by spoofed email addresses
We have written previously about the dangers associated with email spoofing and phishing schemes, where fraudsters will send fabricated emails purporting to be from a trusted colleague or third party in an effort to trick a lawyer or staff member into clicking on a dangerous link or downloading a dangerous attachment. These fraudulent schemes continue… Read More »
Categories: Fraud PreventionU.S. Federal Trade Commission releases cybersecurity resources for small businesses
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has just released cybersecurity resources for small business. They were developed after the FTC hosted roundtables to ask business owners what they needed to deal with the threat of cybercrime. While not specifically aimed at law firms, the cyber issues and dangers they face are often the same as any… Read More »
Categories: Technology, Fraud PreventionThe new Fraud Fact Sheet for Real Estate
Fraudsters are continuing to successfully dupe lawyers and law clerks using ID impersonations, property flips, value fraud, phishing scams, and more. Real estate frauds can be simple scenarios or sophisticated ones. The matters look legitimate and the fraudsters are convincing. There may even be two or more people collaborating on both sides of a transaction… Read More »
Categories: Real Estate, Fraud PreventionFraudsters impersonating firms to divert real estate deposit funds
In the article “Danger: When a hacker emails you instructions in the name of your client” we warned lawyers to be aware of the danger of fake emails from the client attempting to redirect funds in a real estate purchase. In a new twist on this scam, a firm informed us that their client was… Read More »
Categories: Fraud PreventionBe aware of an invoice phishing attempt
A number of Ontario lawyers have reported receiving a phishing attempt that tried to entice the recipient to click on a link which likely will attempt to install malware or direct the user to a suspicious site. When hovering over the link, the site displayed is phenixsportsmensclub.com/intuit. The emails all have a number of similar… Read More »
Categories: Fraud Prevention, Risk Management & Claims Prevention