Attorneysfirst
Uploaded on Apr 27, 2024
Scammers are increasingly targeting lawyers by sending forged emails to law firms, their clients and/or to financial institutions, instructing that funds be wired to accounts controlled by the scammers. The scam typically involves a compromised email account (which can be the lawyer’s, the client’s or even the bank’s) which scammers are monitoring to uncover pending transactions requiring an outlay of funds - such as a real estate purchase, a loan, or the settlement of a lawsuit. At the appropriate time, when the parties are expecting a request for funds, the hackers will send wire instructions to the party holding the funds requiring that the funds be sent to the hackers’ account. The funds are immediately swept from the account, and the hackers disappear. The emails usually originate from an address that appears to be from a legitimate sender, but uses a similar, but slightly altered domain name. Sometimes the scammer will request a change to previous wire transfer instructions after a request has already been made, or suddenly require that funds be transferred by wire when the original agreement was to pay by check. To help prevent clients from falling victim to one of these scams, lawyers should educate clients about wire fraud scams and consider using warnings in their email signature lines such as: WARNING - FRAUD ALERT: Hackers are targeting the e-mail of parties involved with real estate transactions, business transactions and settlements in attempts to distribute fraudulent wire instructions. If you receive an e-mail appearing to be from our office requesting that you wire, or transfer funds, confirm all wiring instructions by phone directly with our office before transferring funds. Be certain you are speaking with someone from our office when confirming wire instructions. VERIFY OUR TELEPHONE NUMBER FROM A SOURCE OTHER THAN THE PHONE NUMBER ACCOMPANYING THE E-MAILED WIRE INSTRUCTIONS. For more AttPro Alerts and additional risk management resources, please visit Attorney Protective Risk Management.
Wire Fraud Prevention Tip
Wire Fraud Prevention Tip
Scammers are increasingly targeting lawyers by
sending forged emails to law firms, their clients
and/or to financial institutions, instructing that
funds be wired to accounts controlled by the
scammers. The scam typically involves a
compromised email account (which can be the
lawyer’s, the client’s or even the bank’s) which
scammers are monitoring to uncover pending
transactions requiring an outlay of funds - such as
a real estate purchase, a loan, or the settlement of
a lawsuit.
At the appropriate time, when the parties are expecting a request for funds, the
hackers will send wire instructions to the party holding the funds requiring that the
funds be sent to the hackers’ account. The funds are immediately swept from the
account, and the hackers disappear. The emails usually originate from an address that
appears to be from a legitimate sender, but uses a similar, but slightly altered domain
name. Sometimes the scammer will request a change to previous wire transfer
instructions after a request has already been made, or suddenly require that funds be
transferred by wire when the original agreement was to pay by check.
To help prevent clients from falling victim to one of these scams, lawyers should
educate clients about wire fraud scams and consider using warnings in their email
signature lines such as: WARNING - FRAUD ALERT: Hackers are targeting the e-mail of
parties involved with real estate transactions, business transactions and settlements in
attempts to distribute fraudulent wire instructions. If you receive an e-mail appearing
to be from our office requesting that you wire, or transfer funds, confirm all wiring
instructions by phone directly with our office before transferring funds. Be certain you
are speaking with someone from our office when confirming wire instructions. VERIFY
OUR TELEPHONE NUMBER FROM A SOURCE OTHER THAN THE PHONE NUMBER
ACCOMPANYING THE E-MAILED WIRE INSTRUCTIONS. For more AttPro Alerts and
additional risk management resources, please visit Attorney Protective Risk
Management
Attorneys First Insurance
36310 US 19 N.
Palm Harbor, Florida 34684
727-799-4321
727-559-2999
[email protected] &
[email protected]
https://attorneysfirst.com/
Comments