Now You Have to BOLO for the Fake Client Too
It can be exciting to work with new clients who are starting businesses or former clients who have a great new project that they’re working on. That’s always a good feeling to have.
Unfortunately, that new client sometimes comes with more than legal problems.
On June 9, 2023, I received an email notification that someone had sent me a form submission through my website. Basically, the email was letting me know that someone had filled out my online form to ask about hiring me to provide legal services. Using the form, the prospective client submitted his name, email address, telephone number, and reason for the inquiry.
One of the first things I look for is to see whether the person needs assistance in an area of law that I practice. Sometimes, people will contact me about issues that I don’t handle. Other times, the prospective client that might reside in another state. Well, I’m only licensed in North Carolina. So, for both of those, that’s a no for the client.
It can be exciting to get new clients.
Except when the new client isn’t really a new client.
Then there are the fake clients that I have to be on the lookout for which brings me back to the June 9th email.
Dear Attorney,
I found your contact info in a bar directory online. Does your firm handle business / lease agreements? Please send me a referral if this is not your area of practice.
I will appreciate your response at your earliest convenience.
Thank you,
Name Redacted
Vice President
I responded back to the prospective client by asking…1) what type of business do you have and 2) where are you located?
While I waited for the client to respond, I checked out a few things:
The person stated that they found me in a bar directory online. Most people who find me online find me through Justia’s online directory, and the email comes directly through Justia. This person didn’t state what the directory was. This wasn’t really a red flag. It’s just part of the vetting process information.
The person’s telephone number was in California. That’s a long way away from where I am. Again, this isn’t necessarily a red flag. It’s something to consider.
The email ended with a signature stating that this person was a Vice President of the company but there was no company listed.
The email that was provided was a gmail account. By now, the flags are starting to add up.
The person responded to my email as follows:
Good day,
Thank you for getting back to me regarding my potential legal representation request. I want you to draft a commercial lease agreement between my company and (Company Name Redacted).
which is located in your state. We are negotiating the terms for a lease agreement for their upcoming contract. They are looking at the possibility of leasing my (information redacted) for a 12 months duration.
We will require your services for the following:
Draft the lease agreement
Review the required documents for the lease
We will handle negotiations. We may need your advice on the legal part if the need arises.
The total value of the transaction will be around $3,400,000 which will be handled by my company. We were hoping to kick this off the second week of Aug 2023, due to the COVID-19 outbreak we are uncertain about the closing date. I will provide you with our previous lease agreements which we have used in the past to make things move as fast as possible.
Send me a retainer agreement based on your hourly rate, I believe you will not exceed 20 hours on the whole project. My week is looking tied, we can schedule to discuss after I have reviewed your retainer agreement, and once we are set to have you start drafting the lease agreement. I look forward to hearing from you and working with you on this project. Let me know if you have any questions.
Lessee Conflict:
(Name of Company Redacted)
(Company Address Redacted)
Regards,
(Name of Vice President)
Vice President
(Name of Real Company Listed Here Redacted)
(Street Address of Real Company Listed Here Redacted)
(City, Town, and Zip Code Listed Here Redacted)
(Telephone Number Listed Here Redacted)
At this point, I now had a lot more information to determine whether this was a red flag, and it was certainly starting to look that way.
First, I contacted the real company. Yes…I called them up on the phone after Googling the name. It turns out that they had received several calls regarding emails like this. This phone conversation confirmed that this was a fake client.
Second, the Vice President’s company was located in Ohio. So, it made no sense for them to be contacting me since I don’t practice law in Ohio.
At this point, I should have just deleted the email, but I didn’t. I sent the fake client a response as follows: “Well (name redacted)...I called Yadkin Well Company. They stated that you are sending emails to attorneys all across the country and that this is a scam.
I never heard back from the “Vice President.”
Stay vigilant when working with people who contact you. It’s different if a prospective client is referred by someone that you know and trust. But in those cases where you don’t know someone who has contacted you online, you should be wary and vet the person before deciding to work with them.
Featured Picture Credit: Photo by Arno Senoner on Unsplash