Some debt collection law firms have apparently been targeted by counterfeit check scammers. Here is the scam:
The pitch is simple: An Asian company says it’s seeking a law firm to collect delinquent accounts in the United States.
Once the parties sign a retainer agreement, the company forwards a check allegedly from a past-due account. It asks the law firm to process the check, since it’s handling all the company’s U.S. accounts.
After the firm deposits the check, it deducts its fee and wires the remainder to the Far East. Then the check is discovered to be counterfeit.
The firm is left on the hook to the bank for the money it spent from the account.
While individuals have reason to be suspicious when a relative contacts them about laundering a deceased king’s missing fortune, law firms are always being contacted by potential clients with legal problems. The brilliance of this scam is that nothing is really out of the ordinary. Although the law firms certainly know better than to distribute trust funds before waiting for the check to clear.
[via the Plain Dealer]
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