Risk Management & Claims Prevention
Prison sentence for fraudster who targeted lawyers in bad cheque scams
We were recently made aware of a September 2013 news release from the FBI, stating that a lawyer-targetting fraudster had pleaded guilty and received hefty fines and a prison sentence. Nice to see a victory in the struggle against online scams. The number of law enforcement agencies involved shows how international these scams are, and… Read More »
Categories: Fraud PreventionFive good reasons to avoid “legalese”
The funny thing about legalese – unnecessarily complex or archaic legal language – is that the closer you get to it, the less visible it is. Most lawyers find that they occasionally use words that can confuse or alienate non-lawyers. The arguments for replacing archaic legal terms with plain language are familiar to most of… Read More »
Categories: Communication ErrorsFive client types to watch out for – there be dangers in these relationships
This article by Kathleen Waters, president and CEO of LAWPRO, originally appeared in the August 23, 2013 issue of The Lawyers Weekly published by LexisNexis Canada Inc. Fraud attempts come in many different forms. Some schemes (often the more transparent ones) rely on a “volume” approach: target as many lawyers as possible in the hope… Read More »
Categories: Fraud PreventionBeware heavy-handed collection calls by fraudsters impersonating Ontario lawyers
An Ontario lawyer has reported to us that fraudsters have impersonated his firm in order to make threatening collection phone calls to members of the public on behalf of a loan company. The name of the fake firm closely resembles the real firm name, and the callers make reference to the town the real firm… Read More »
Categories: Fraud PreventionpracticePRO Resourec: Managing the Lawyer/Client Relationship
Lawyer/client communication-related errors are the biggest cause of malpractice claims. By cost and count, more than one-third of LAWPRO claims involved this type of error. Most claims arise out of fundamental failures in the lawyer/client relationship – failures such as inadequate client-case screening, poor communication and insufficient systems, trails and record-keeping. The Managing the Lawyer/Client… Read More »
Categories: Biggest Claims RisksLAWPRO Magazine article: 15 Tips for Preventing Identity Theft and Online Fraud
Cyber criminals and identity thieves want to steal your personal information to commit fraud. They may try to get a credit card in your name or to access funds in your bank account. On top of directly losing money, your credit status can be damaged and it can take a great deal of time and… Read More »
Categories: Fraud Prevention, TechnologypracticePRO Resource: Creating strong passwords
The following is an excerpt from practicePRO’s Managing the Security and Privacy of Electronic Data in a Law Office booket. Creating “strong” passwords Create passwords that are harder to guess or figure out. These are called strong passwords and they are more difficult for password-cracking tools to determine. Password-cracking software uses one of three approaches:… Read More »
Categories: Fraud Prevention, Legal TechnologyCyber crime example of the importance of reconciling your trust accounts each month
This article appeared in the September 2013 issue of TitleNews. An escrow company holds real estate closing funds in trust in the same way a law firm in Ontario would. Cyber Criminals Steal More Than $1.5 million from California Escrow Company. California-based Efficient Services Escrow Group was shut down by the state after cyber criminals… Read More »
Categories: Fraud Prevention