Beware the fraudsters – Part 3

In my previous blogs I discussed CEO fraud and vishing as two types of scams which your legal practice could fall into the trap of. In this update I look at a further scheme that legal firms should be aware of.

Take a quick look down the list of scams which appear on the Solicitors Regulation Authority website and you’ll see a recurring topic. There are false websites set up to look like a real legal firm’s website, and people purporting to be from legal firms when they’re not. In the last three months, 20 scams have been highlighted.

A recent example is a website which has been cloned from the website of a genuine solicitor firm. As you would guess, the fake ‘legal’ firm is not regulated or authorised by the SRA. It’s a bogus set-up.

There are even instances where fraudsters have written letters and emails using an actual named employee of a legal firm, thus tricking clients and prospective clients into thinking that the communication is genuine.

Finally, fraudsters have used letterheads of current legal practices to write to people claiming they owe them money. The details they give are all false but are worded in a way which makes it plausible that a debt that needs paying actually exists.

The SRA provides helpful guidance about scams, which is available on their website.

Need help?

If you’d like to discuss this with us in more detail, please contact me or a member of our Legal team. Call 0330 024 0888 or email enquiry@larking-gowen.co.uk

Martin Bugg