The State Bar of Arizona sent out a warning about a scam that is going around. Scammers are calling people who have retained lawyers. The fake Caller ID shows that it is the lawyer calling. The scammers tell the clients that they owe money to the lawyer. The scammers provide a toll-free number for the clients to call and make the bogus payments. Keep in mind that it is not very hard to find out who has hired a lawyer.
A cursory search of public records will often provide this information. If you have hired one of those firms that advertise all the time on television, be particularly wary. It seems to me this scam is going to work best for law firms that have thousands of clients. Most of the giant advertising law firms have almost no real contact with their clients. This would further aid the scammers. If you ever get a call that purports to be from your lawyer asking for money, double or triple check to make sure. Keep in mind that your lawyer is not likely to ask you to call some 800 number to make a payment. Call your lawyer directly and let him or her know what has happened. You can also report the attempted fraud with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at http://www.ic3.gov.
