Posted on 03/06/2010 5:44:06 AM PST by deport
NEWS 8 INVESTIGATES
DALLAS — Clever con games apparently aren't just the stuff of movies.
Three Texas lawyers were all targets of a sophisticated scheme using distance, the Internet and the quirks of American law to steal money. While two of them escaped, one did not.
It started with a cashier's check over $100,000. It was the most enticing piece in a con game designed to deprive ethical lawyers of their money.
"It's funny," said Raul Loya, an attorney. "You would think that lawyers would be smarter, but it's funny they fall victim."
All three attorneys lived in different cities and worked at separate firms, but they all got the same e-mail purporting to be from prospective clients in Hong Kong.
"I got back, I looked at the check, looked authentic [and] deposited the check," said Sheldon Goldstein, an attorney......
The fake company has a web site and an officer signs a contract with the lawyer for his services. Documents arrive via courier.
Then, in each case, a check arrived for over $100,000. Goldstein told the company his retainer was only $3,000.
"She wrote back and said just take out your $3,000 and send me the balance," he said.
That was exactly what he did..........
........A secret service agent told him he wasn't the only one.
"He's got several law firms involved with over $23 million that have been taken away from," he said.
end snips
Video at link
(Excerpt) Read more at wfaa.com ...
(snort)
I average three of those emails a week. I just hit “spam” and they’re gone. I had to do that with the Viagra ads for several months but now they just don’t show up any more. Maybe they’ve figured out that I’m female.
I don’t see how this is bad news.
Greed can sometimes bite you in the a**.
You can't con an honest man.
lol
Oldest trick in the book just a different slant.I love it,lawyers getting scammed.Priceless.
This sounds so unlikely. This is the oldest scam in the history of the web.
This sounds so unlikely.
You’d think so but apprently greed has no limits as to who will succumb. I got the same thing a few years ago when my daugther was trying to sell a car online. They wanted to ship the car to Europe, pay her a big fee for handling the shipping, etc. Told them to have their rep where the shipping was to be done from to bring cash in $100 dollar bills and they could arrange the shipping. Never heard another word.
Whatever happened to “Trust, but verify”?
There is no honesty among thieves
“You can’t con an honest man.”
Fully agree with that sentiment. My problem is a naive person getting scammed. A casual friend of mine, a woman in her early fifties with three grown children, has been corresponding with someone supposedly from Ghana. He apparently has led her to believe if she goes over there, they will marry and she will be taken care of for the rest of her life. She is largely indigent, unable to work because of a disability. She talked a lot about this guy, who is half her age and supposedly non-observant Muslim. I had concerns but figured what harm could it do? I warned her about scams and let it go.
But last Sunday, when I picked her up for church, she explained what a hassle she had the day before selling off her gold jewelry and sending the funds (more than $300) to Ghana. Seems it needed to go by Western Union and, “shoot, I lost my birth certificate and passport, can you send it in the name of my uncle?” When I asked her why she sent him money, she said he was going to pay for her airline ticket to Ghana and she wanted to help out however she could. I gave her a stern warning that she was likely be scammed but I have little hope she will see it. She’s a sweet lady but lonely and desperate for someone to care for her.
Less money going to DNC Campaign Headquarters...
In Texas state races that is probably true for sure. A few years back lawyers were the major finance machine for democrats here.
ethical lawyers
Yeah, like current generation “conservative patriotic dems”.
Any lawyer dumb enough to fall for this transparent scam, has no business representing real clients.
Everything I've read strongly suggests that lawyers,public paycheck-recipient unions (I refuse to call them "employees") and the Peoples' Liberation Army are the three biggest RAT contributors *nationwide*.
Sad story really. But the fact remains, she’s not being honest with herself. Prayers for your friend.
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