Fraudsters are becoming bolder. Today my colleague Adam Goodman received a cheque payable to him in the amount of $145,000 via mail with a brief note seeking legal assistance on a family law matter. The envelope had no return address. The only contact information was an email account and a foreign address. The sender asked Mr. Goodman to deposit the funds into his trust account and deduct his fees before wiring the remaining balance overseas.

Obviously, the cheque was fraudulent. Mr. Goodman contacted the supposed issuer, a local non-profit organization, and confirmed that it was bogus. The organization said that they had received several inquiries regarding such cheques and they had reported the incidents to the authorities. Apparently at least one attempt was made to cash the bad cheque.

Concerned, Mr. Goodman has forwarded the details of the incident to the lawyers’ insurance company, LAWPRO. A fraud advisory is expected to be issued shortly.

For further details, visit Mr. Goodman’s blog at www.aglawblog.ca.

Adam Goodman is a lawyer practising in North York, Ontario, Canada. Visit his website at www.aglaw.ca.