Six different Honolulu Law Firms Targeted in schemes with reported losses exceeding $500,000. The recent scam begins with email contact from a prospective client overseas. The defrauders have been requesting that the wire transfers be sent to bank accounts in south Korea, Taiwan, and Canada. No wire transfers should ever be sent to clients as refunds until the initial payment from the client has fully cleared the banking system.
Six different Honolulu Law Firms Targeted in schemes with reported losses exceeding $500,000. The recent scam begins with email contact from a prospective client overseas. The defrauders have been requesting that the wire transfers be sent to bank accounts in south Korea, Taiwan, and Canada. No wire transfers should ever be sent to clients as refunds until the initial payment from the client has fully cleared the banking system.
Six different Honolulu Law Firms Targeted in schemes with reported losses exceeding $500,000. The recent scam begins with email contact from a prospective client overseas. The defrauders have been requesting that the wire transfers be sent to bank accounts in south Korea, Taiwan, and Canada. No wire transfers should ever be sent to clients as refunds until the initial payment from the client has fully cleared the banking system.
Honolulu Law Firms Targeted in Financial Crime Wave
Charlene Thornton, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Honolulu Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is cautioning Honolulu’s legal community to be on alert for fraud schemes focused upon local attorneys. Over the past six weeks, the FBI has received reports of six different Honolulu law firms targeted in schemes with aggregate reported losses exceeding $500,000. The recent scam begins with email contact from a prospective client overseas seeking legal representation in a civil law matter, such as a divorce. The client sends the law firm a cashier’s check for a legal fee retainer in an amount far exceeding industry standards. When the law firm informs the client that he/she has overpaid the retainer, the client requests a wire transfer refund to a foreign account. After the law firm sends the wire transfer refund, the firm learns that the cashiers check retainer was counterfeit, and the law firm sustains a loss in the amount of the refund wire transfer. The defrauders have been requesting that the wire transfers be sent to bank accounts in South Korea, Taiwan, and Canada. It is likely that these bank accounts are simply “relay accounts” designed to serve as the initial stop before the money moves onward to other locations. The FBI has seen variations on this scheme in the past focused upon individuals selling items on CraigsList. This is the first time that Honolulu’s legal community has been specifically targeted by defrauders using this particular scam. Law firms and other professional service providers are cautioned to be on high alert when dealing with clients who come forth via the internet. Furthermore, no wire transfers should ever be sent to clients as refunds until the initial payment from the client has fully cleared the banking system. The Honolulu FBI will be working with FBI personnel in U.S. embassies overseas and with foreign law enforcement authorities to identify the defrauders.