Email scam targeting lawyers in bogus collection case
March 25, 2009 - An email scam targeting attorneys has been reported
by a Wisconsin lawyer.
Thomas Kubasta of Kubasta, Rathjen, Rickford & Lorenson, LLP in
Wautoma received on Jan. 26 an email purportedly from “Martin J.
Arbus,” a New Jersey lawyer. In the email, “Arbus”
explains that he represents a Chinese company trying to collect $558,205
owed in the state of the email recipient. “Arbus” says that
he is only licensed in New Jersey and so he seeks local counsel.
Kubasta said that the named Chinese company and “Martin J.
Arbus” actually exist and the email appeared to be a legitimate
solicitation.
After agreeing to participate in the debt collection, Kubasta said
that he received an email on Jan. 29 purportedly from the Chinese
company “client.” In that email, the “client”
discloses the name of the alleged debtor so that Kubasta can run a
conflict check before entering into a retainer agreement. The
“client” predicts that once the alleged debtor is told local
counsel has agreed to assist, the alleged debtor will likely pay up
“to avoid legal action and litigation.”
Kubasta said his next contact was in the form of a cashier’s
check received by his office around March 10. The check –
supposedly for the amount owed by the debtor – was a fake. The
hope of the fraudsters was that Kubasta would deposit the check and then
disburse funds from a client account to “Arbus” before
realizing the check was worthless.
Fortunately, Kubasta did not play along.
Internet research turned up a Jan. 21 article on Law.com reporting this to be an
international scam targeting attorneys. Lawyers in Texas, Oklahoma,
Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, California, and the Virgin
Islands have received the email, according to the article.
The Law.com article stated that the real Martin Arbus is a municipal
attorney in New Jersey. “The fake emails seem to have been sent to
lawyers who do mediation work, and at least one person who contacted
Arbus was a nonlawyer mediator,” the Law.com article said.
“Arbus handles alternative dispute resolution, as do both New
Jersey lawyers who called him after receiving the fake emails,”
the article continued. “That leads Arbus to believe the names
might have been obtained from a roster of mediators.”
Keith Sellen of the Office of Lawyer Regulation advises any lawyer
who receives this type of email to exercise caution and only disburse
funds from an account after the check is actually honored.
“Anytime a person wants their money really quickly, it’s
time for a lawyer to reflect and do some due diligence,” Sellen
said.
Lawyers in receipt of such an email should also contact appropriate
law enforcement, he added. The Trade and Consumer Protection division of the Department of Agriculture
receives complaints of internet fraud at 1-800-422-7128 or (608)
224-4953.
Related story: Sophisticated scams target attorneys
By Alex De
Grand, Legal Writer, State Bar of Wisconsin
