FBI warns law firms about counterfeit check scheme

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has issued a Public Service Announcement concerning a counterfeit check scheme in which fraudsters target law firms engaged in collections work by deceptively contracting their services to ultimately defraud them. The FBI said the scheme may focus on any type of representation where a lawyer is hired to assist in the transfer or collection of money, e.g. real estate, collection matters, collaborative law agreements in family matters, etc. This scenario continues to be replayed as part of a sophisticated scam that targets collections lawyers and the scope is constantly evolving.

In general, said the FBI, the scheme involves a phony debtor sending a fraudulent check to a collections law firm to satisfy a non-existing debt, and the law firm wire transferring all or part of the check to its client -- the party behind the scheme. The law firm's bank charges the deposited check back to the law firm when it learns it was fraudulent, and the law firm is left with the loss.