Fraudsters enjoy the holiday season as much as everyone else — and they exploit it. With reduced staff and increased distractions, this time of year presents ideal conditions for fraud. Lawyers continue to be targeted. Before paying out funds in any matter, verify that the payment instructions your firm received by email are legitimate through direct phone or in-person contact with the instructing party using a trusted number. Use a checklist for every payment.
Traditional red flags — such as a change in payment instructions, spelling mistakes or reference to a foreign bank — are rarely seen. Today’s sophisticated fraudsters break in and monitor communications, waiting for opportunities. They sometimes get in at the front end by providing the initial payment instructions. Secondary verification of all payment instructions is therefore essential.
If you will be away from the office, arrange for a competent lawyer to supervise your practice and provide the lawyer and staff with your contact information. Ensure that everyone complies with the anti-money laundering obligations in the Law Society Rules Part 3, Division 11 – Client Identification and Verification and BC Code rule 3.2-7. Further, staff may not deal with trust funds, except in accordance with the Law Society Rules Part 3, Division 7 – Trust Accounts and Other Client Property. Ensure you and your staff are aware of different scams, including the bad cheque scam (which has recently targeted a number of lawyers). We also recommend reviewing the names and ruses that fraudsters, posing as real clients with real legal matters, have used in attempts to dupe BC lawyers to pay money out of trust..svg)