Fraud Prevention
Beware of funds transfer frauds over the holidays – BC firm defrauded for six figures
The Law Society of British Columbia published the following warning to its members on December 15, 2017. A BC law firm has fallen victim to the sophisticated “phony direction to pay” social engineering fraud. Here’s what happened. The perpetrators hacked the firm’s computer, and then monitored the firm’s email traffic for some time before making… Read More »
Categories: Fraud PreventionALIA Alert on spear phishing “direction to pay” scams (we are seeing these in Ontario too)
See below for text of an Alert sent today by Alberta Lawyers Insurance Association. We are seeing similar scams targeting Ontario lawyers. We encourage Ontario lawyers to be vigilant and follow the precautions in this Alert. ALIA has received additional reports of fraudulent emails being sent to lawyers in Alberta and other jurisdictions. In these… Read More »
Categories: Fraud PreventionFraudsters continue to target lawyers and their staff in relation to trust funds
See below for a fraud alert circulated by the Law Society of British Columbia today. We are seeing similar fraud attempts in Ontario. Fraudsters continue to pose as individuals working in law firms or as clients or clients’ lenders, all with the goal of tricking lawyers into transferring trust funds to them. A number of… Read More »
Categories: Fraud PreventionRecognizing the red flags of real estate scams involving corporate identity theft
Frauds targeting real estate lawyers are getting ever more sophisticated. LAWPRO has seen several attempted frauds involving corporate identity theft. The properties involved may be commercial or residential, but are always owned by a corporation. How these frauds work These frauds start with the fraudsters changing or stealing the identity of corporate property owners. This… Read More »
Categories: Fraud PreventionRECO issues public advisory regarding John Van Dyk
The Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) is warning members of the public not to engage in real estate transactions with John Van Dyk, of Chatham, Ontario. Neither he nor his company J. Van Dyk Realty Inc. are registered to trade in real estate. In order to trade in real estate in Ontario, salespersons and… Read More »
Categories: Fraud PreventionRecent increase in spear phishing emails targeting Ontario firms
LAWPRO is seeing an increase in spear fishing email frauds targeting lawyers and law firms. The spearfishing messages we are seeing are very sophisticated. They include information personalized for the firm. Spear fishing messages are created to appear that they are from senior partners or management and they are being sent to senior financial staff…. Read More »
Categories: Fraud Prevention“Retainer deposit” phishing emails target firms with a PDF containing a link to malware
A number of Ontario firms have reported receiving emails from an overseas firm advising that a retainer deposit has been made, which includes a pdf document that supposedly contains the payment details. In fact the pdf has a link built into it that will likely instal malware on the computer of the person who clicks… Read More »
Categories: Fraud PreventionOntario lawyers target of fake Ministry of Government and Consumer Services Complaint
An Ontario lawyer has reported to us that he received a “business complaint” that is purportedly from the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services. While the email address displayed as the sender says “Ministry of Government and Consumer Service”, the email is actually from [email protected]. This is clearly not an Ontario government email address. And… Read More »
Categories: Fraud Prevention