Legal Impersonators and Scams

Some con artists make a practice of using the good name of legitimate businesses to further their fraudulent activities. They contact their potential marks using the name of reputable law firms, attorneys, barristers, lawyers, solicitors, etc. They often reference the actual physical address of the legal professional they are illegally impersonating, but include their own contact phone number and email information. Some even go so far as to set up "dummy" websites with the legitimate law firm's information but the scam artist's own contact phone numbers and email addresses. By impersonating actual lawyers, these scammers attempt to boost their credibility with their potential victims. It can be difficult to identify these people due to their use of actual lawyers and law firms.

Learn about some known Legal Impersonator Scams below.

Letters Sent with an HG.org Logo by Fake Lawyer Ramon Pérez in Portugal

We are gathering information about a scam using the HG.org logo. The letters are sent by a fake lawyer office Ramon Pérez in Portugal and are posted in Valencia, Spain. The scammer requests 50-50 split on €7.5 million left in an account. If you receive this type of letter, please contact HG.org as soon as possible. More About this Scam - Similar Scam Letters

Illegal Impersonation of Geni & Kebe SCP and Gabriel Geni

 Geni & Kebe is a legitimate law firm practicing in Dakar, Senegal.

Scammers have been using this law firm name as well as variations of the name to swindle unsuspecting victims. Most well-known is the use of "Gen & Kebe-Law Firm Attorneys". They have even set up a dummy website to dupe their potential marks. This website includes information about the legitimate Geni & Kebe law firm and their lawyers, with the actual office address, but their own email address and phone number. On their About Us- Law Firm Overview page in the Practice Areas section they have included links to our HG.org directories displaying the listing for our legitimate law firm subscriber.

These con artists generally send emails to their potential victims, referencing a "Miss Dora Bemba" claiming and offering substantial sums of money for assisting in transferring an inheritance or some variation of this theme.

Geni & Kebe is in no way associated or affiliated with these claims, schemes or offerings. 

Texas Bar Association and Law Firm Impersonator Scammers

• Con artists impersonating lawyers from law firms in the Houston and Dallas, Texas areas are contacting individuals claiming that they have knowledge of debts owed and aggressively demanding payment.
• Scammers have been calling bar association members and asking for payments of dues. These individuals claim they are from the bar association and that the lawyer's bar car is expiring and membership dues must be paid immediately.
• Unsolicited email requests for legal help collecting money or judgments. These con artists sometimes use identities stolen from actual professionals when making these requests.
• Use of a stolen identity to entice an innocent third-party realtor in a real estate transaction for a purported overseas client.
• Scam artists impersonating law firms issuing fake checks in an attempt to collect fees to clear said check.

Metromix - Xpress Legal Scam

A mail order scam group recently used the Metromix name and is contacting people telling them they've won a rewards program prize and will be given a check for thousands of dollars. This is a SCAM.

Alert - The scammers then send their "winner" a counterfeit check from Coppermark Bank, directing them to cash it and to pay taxes on the money they've won. Next, they ask their "winner" to send them money via Western Union to pay the tax bill. In reality, the check the scammers send for deposit is returned a week later as a fake check and the deposit is reversed. By this time their "winner" has already sent the scammers the tax payment and have lost their money.

Should you receive any similar "prize" notification with Metromix's name on it, please do not respond. Do not cash the scammers' fake check, and under no circumstances should you send them any money. The authorities have gotten involved to catch these scammers. If you receive a scam letter or have related questions, please contact us at privacy@metromix.com. Copyright from Metromix - Joe Rago 

Additional Information about the scam:

The phone numbers of the scammers are 1 416 732 6310 in Ontario, Canada, 1 845 738 5655 and 206-350-9182.

They refer as Metromix Marketing Sweepstakes Division

They list themselves as:

Bruno Rosenburg or Paul Reynolds (President)
Maria Hall
Wayne Tomlison
Dean Sutton

Shopper's Voice Consumer Research Centre is another scam organized by the same people http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/shopper039s-voice-consumer-research-centre-c261088.html

Attorney Trust Account Scams

These fraudulent schemes target lawyers, law firms and the banks where the attorneys hold their client trust accounts. There are variations on these schemes, but ultimately, the attorney's trust account is used to accomplish the con.

Scammers contact the attorney via e-mail (usually from an overseas "client" or "attorney") that typically involves the claim of delinquent collections, a purported real estate transaction, or a similar matter that requires the receipt of funds into an attorney's trust account. Within days of receiving the funds and depositing them to the trust account but before the check has cleared, the lawyer is asked to wire funds from the account. The lawyer only finds out later the check is fraudulent when the bank returns the check and the scammer has already debited the lawyer's trust account.