Delinquent Money Collection Scam

I don't have headers, an attorney forwarded this to me:

Dear Counsel,

I am sending this email as a mutual introduction.Mr Pinyan Kwak is the Managing Director of ASCENT[HK] IND\'L CO.,LTD. ASCENT [HK] IND\'L CO.,LTD. is specialized in manufacturing various GOLF and ELECTRONIC products. The domestic factory is located in Fuyong Shenzhen China, close to Fuyong ferry port and international airport
ASCENT, golf items include: muti-function score counters, putting sets, auto-return cups, divot tool accessories and golf gift sets. The electronic items mainly include WOOD FRAME RADIO and CLOCK series.


ASCENT [HK] IND\'L CO.,LTD. is owed payment on a shipment that they made to a customer here in the US in July 2007.The company is now seeking advice and possible representative in litigation against the non-paying companys,
I can not handle this matter at this moment because it is not in my jurisdiction, I have represented this company in the past. This matter is in your jurisdiction; contact Mr. Pinyan Kwak if you are interested in representing his company. Below his is contact information as
follows:

Pinyan Kwak

Building A, Aoshide Industnal park, Fuyuan 1st Road,

Heping Village, Fuyong Town, Shenzhen, China.Zip code: 518103

Tel: 86-755-82117290

Fax: 085-28691781

[email protected]



I encourage you contact him and open communication to see if this is a situation where you can work together.

Sincerely,

Law Office of Cookson, Kenneth
[email protected]

Also, a reply forwarded to me:

We have reference from Allen Wilson and we are thankful for your willingness to look into our case. Guizhou Aerospace Wujiang Machinery & Electricity Equipment Co.,Ltd. is a medium-sized enterprise invested and established by Zunyi Jiangnan Aerospace Science and Technology Co.,Ltd.. We request your representation to enable us collect a debt owed to us by a delinquent customer. We do appreciate your time in reviewing our request and. we are willing to work with you to achieve our goal, as the importance of your services cannot be over emphasized.

I understand the importance of retaining your services accordingly and we shall provide necessary documentation .We understand your request for more information and we will not relent in providing information as they deem necessary. We are of the opinion that once our presence is established in your state via a legal representative our customer will have no option but comply with payment request to avoid legal action and litigation.
We believe that a normal scenario will require a telephone call or demand letter from you to our delinquent customer if your services is retained. We believe that litigation should be applied as a last resort as we intend to preserve the relationship we have with our customer after payment is made. We do not intend to resort to litigation unless all other options are exhausted but we will like the comfort of knowing that the option is available and letting our customer know that litigation may be enforced if the option becomes necessary.
We understand the concept of running a conflict check that is why we are providing our delinquent customer located in your state for your conflict check and to enable you present to us your retainer agreement for your services.


Company Name: North Coast Electric Company

Address: 600 S 56th St Ste 18,

Chandler, AZ 85226-4208





This particular customer owes approximately USD$540, 700.00 and the payment is past due as our regular sale agreement requires customers to effect payment not later than 30 days upon delivery or legal action maybe enforced if payment delay exceeds 90 days. Delivery for this customer was made in February of 2007 and our calculation shows that payment is about thirty months late. The customer confirmed delivery of shipment in good condition. It will be very helpful if we receive your standard retainer agreement this week. This will enable our board decide on the conditions of your retainer
We thank you for your business as we look forward to your prompt response; I look for to a fruitful business relationship.
Sincerely,

Singh Richhpal
120-3, Space Truck Works,
Dalian Road, Zunyi,
Guizhou, China P.C:563003
E-mail:[email protected]
Tel:+86 755 82117290 Fax:+08 528 691781

[AlanJones]

Just to show how good the fake cheques that these scammers are producing, here is one I've just received.



The company that the cheque is aparently from (Above & Beyond Label LLC) is a legitimate company and are not involved in the scam.

Note: This cheque was obtained using unidentifiable email and mailing addresses. These people are criminals and you should not communicate with them using your real life details.

[AlanJones]

Here's another one, which was received in my scambaiting email account, so they are obviously not as organised as some of the others who have lists of lawyers.

From Sinopec Legal Team Sun Jun 14 00:50:11 2009
Return-Path: <[email protected]>
Authentication-Results: mta405.mail.re4.yahoo.com from=cox.net; domainkeys=neutral (no sig); from=cox.net; dkim=neutral (no sig)
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Message-ID: <20090613205011.DSEIX.67099.imail@eastrmwml28>
Date: Sat, 13 Jun 2009 20:50:11 -0400
From: Sinopec Legal Team <[email protected]>
Reply-To: [email protected]
Subject: Your Legal Service Is Needed
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
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After a careful review, we decided to contact you to represent our company in North America, Sinopec Co,Ltd We deal on crude oil and raw materials and export into the various continents.We would require your legal representation for our North American delinquent Customers.
We are of the opinion that a reputable attorney is required to represent us in North America in order for us to recover monies due to our organization by overseas customers, and as well follow up with these accounts. In order to achieve these objectives a good and reputable law firm like yours will be required to handle this service. We understand that a proper Attorney Client agreement must be entered into by both parties.
This will be done immediately we receive your letter of acceptance.
I await your response via email at: [email protected]
Mr.Su Wensheng
Company Legal Advicer,
Sinopec Company Limited

Another scam email using a debt collection scheme:

From: Chang Lim [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Wednesday, June 24, 2009 7:29 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Claims representation

Attention Counsel,

We are major importers of electronic components based in Los Angeles
California with a breach of sale contract case against a customer
amounting to $494,375.00 as a result of unpaid balance.

It will be a privilege to have your firm represent us for collection of
said balance.

Your prompt response to our request will be most helpful to enable us
ascertain your availability.

Treat as urgent.

Sincerely,

Chang Lim
Chang Lim Importer
1019 South Harvard Boulevard
Los Angeles CA, 90006
[email protected]

The domain used here, changlimimporter.com, is fraudulent and has already been listed for entry into the database of fraudulent sites and to be reported to its hoster.
Thank you to the reader of the forum who forwarded this to me.

Attorneys are still being targeted by these scammers, and yes they are getting even more brazen. I asked for specific information so that I could perform a conflicts check and this is the reply I received. (Note: I've redacted the name of the the legitimate company that was alleged to have breached the contract, but left in the name of the legitimate Asian company that is undoubtedly completely unaware it is being named in these emails. The domain name rtexco.com was only recently registered, is not the domain name used by the legitimate company, and the CEO of the legitimate company is named William but his last name is not the last name provided in this email.

From: [email protected]
To: "LAW FIRM"
Subject: RE: ATTORNEY REQUISITION
Date: Thu, 25 Jun 2009 23:23:19 +0000

Attn: "Attorney"

Thank you for your earnest response.Let me start by introducing my company. Ruey fa Tex Co Enterprise, is a private-owned company founded in 2002. Its is one of the largest Textile company in Taiwan, as well as a fabric producing company, its authorized to cooperate with foreign individuals and partners for Textile and fabric importation and exportation in the Asia regions and other parts of the world. Headquartered in Taipei County. We export and Import some of our products in North America, South America, Africa, Europe and parts of Asia.

We request your representation to counsel us in litigation and enable us collect a debt owed to us by a delinquent seller.

We do appreciate your time in reviewing our request and we will do everything possible to insure a smooth and hitch free business relationship. We are ready to work with you to achieve our goal as the importance of your services cannot be over emphasized.

We understand the importance of retaining your services accordingly and we will provide all necessary documentation and information in that regard. We understand your request for more information and we will not relent in providing information as they deem necessary.

We are of the opinion that once our presence is established in your state via a legal representative our seller will have no option but comply with payment request and accompanied with legal action and litigation will push for the accounts to be paid attention to effectively.

We believe that a normal scenario will require a phone call or demand letter from you to our delinquent seller if your services is retained. Although we believed that litigation should be applied as a last resort as we intend to preserve the relationship we have with our seller, since delivery is not made, we think otherwise. Though, we do hope not to resort to litigation unless all other options are exhausted but we will like the comfort of knowing that the option is available and letting our seller know that litigation may be enforced if the option becomes necessary.

We understand the concept of running a conflict check that is why we are providing our delinquent seller located in your state for your conflict check and to enable you present to us your retainer agreement for your services.

This particular seller owes approx. $600,000.00 and the delivery is overdue as our regular purchase agreement requires seller to effect goods not later than 30 days upon payment or legal action may be enforced if delivery delay exceeds 90 days. payment for this seller was made in February of 2009 and our calculation shows that delivery is about Five Months late.

It will be very helpful if we receive your standard retainer agreement before noon on Friday your time. This will enable our board decide on the conditions of the retainer in our next board meeting.

We thank you for your business as we look forward to your prompt response.

Sincerely

Mr. William Rueyfa
President and General Counsel
Ruey fa Tex Enterprise co.Ltd
E: [email protected]
W: http://www.rueyfa.com

Welcome to Scamwarners.

(Note: I've redacted the name of the the legitimate company that was alleged to have breached the contract,

It's up to you, but naming them here means that search engines will pick it up and possibly warn other potential scam victims who research the name.
Any who arrive her as a result will know it isn't responsible for the scam.

This was sent to me by a reader of the forum. The domain has already been passed to a site killer at 419Eater.

From: Dennis Hebei [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, June 25, 2009 11:34 PM
To: [email protected]
Cc: [email protected]
Subject: Claims
Importance: High

From: Dennis Hebei
Hebei-Hung Machinery Ltd
NO.118 Huashan Road Maanshan
Anhui 243013, China.
[email protected]
[email protected]
www.hebei-hungmachinery.com
Telephone: +86-2131003629
Fax: +86-2161638301

Dear Barrister:

We pleased to contact you to handle case on our behalf. Before I go any
further it is proper for me to introduce myself, I am Dennis Hebei of
Hebei-Hung Machinery Ltd, China. We are a registered machinery business
entity with its corporate headquarter in Quazhong, China. The management
of company will be honoured to have your firm represent us in handling
our
case, if there another way that more appropriate way to contact you,
please advise us. If we require to fill a new client in-take form, we
shall gladly to so.

In order to achieve our objectives, we will like your good self /your
firm
to represent us as well as help us to handle this breach contract on our
behalf. We understand that a proper attorney- Client agreement must be
entered into by both parties, as we have been advised by our local
counsel
to seek legal service in the jurisdiction of the case immediately, to
avoid statue of limitation. This we intend to do immediately we receive
your letter of acknowledgement of this mail. Also we would like to know
the minimum size of foreign collection you undertake. You are most
welcome
to visit our website to intimate yourself about our company / who we
are.

You can advise us what is required from us to draw a proper letter of
engagement that can be mailed, email or fax to us. We will like to
commence talk with you on how to go about this breach of agreement, as
soon as we receive your acknowledgement letter of this mail. Indicate if
your current work load will allow you to undertake this representation.
If
you are not available to represent us at the moment, so we can seek
another counsel. Please feel free to contact me if you have questions,
concerns or the authenticity of this mail.

P.S: urgent response to this inquiry is required.

Sincerely,

Dennis Hebei

Hebei-Hung Machinery Ltd
NO.118 Huashan Road Maanshan
Anhui 243013, China.
[email protected]
[email protected]
www.hebei-hungmachinery.com
Telephone: +86-2131003629
Fax: +86-2161638301

Thank you Jillian. I am working on that one ^^^ right now.

GettingWiser, do you happen to have headers for the one you posted above?

From: [email protected]
To: "LAW FIRM"
Subject: RE: ATTORNEY REQUISITION
Date: Thu, 25 Jun 2009 23:23:19 +0000

I am going to investigate and try and get this email-only domain shut down. A header would be very helpful with that. You can take out your identifying information in the header and just post it up here in this thread or if you prefer, you can send it to me in a PM.

The registrant details for this domain are certainly sketchy and likely fraudulent:

Domain Name: RTEXCO.COM
Registrar: GODADDY.COM, INC.
Whois Server: whois.godaddy.com
Referral URL: http://registrar.godaddy.com
Name Server: NS37.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
Name Server: NS38.DOMAINCONTROL.COM
Status: clientDeleteProhibited
Status: clientRenewProhibited
Status: clientTransferProhibited
Status: clientUpdateProhibited
Updated Date: 20-jun-2009
Creation Date: 20-jun-2009
Expiration Date: 20-jun-2010

>>> Last update of whois database: Sat, 27 Jun 2009 23:04:51 UTC <<<

Queried whois.godaddy.com with "rtexco.com"...

Registrant:
john phillips
415 washington ave
terrace park, Ohio 45174
United States

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: RTEXCO.COM
Created on: 20-Jun-09
Expires on: 20-Jun-10
Last Updated on: 20-Jun-09

Administrative Contact:
phillips, john [email protected]
415 washington ave
terrace park, Ohio 45174
United States
4168301941

The phone number 4168301941 is a cell phone:

(416) 830-1941
Type: Cell Phone
Location: Toronto, On, ON

Why would a registrant in Ohio, USA have a Canadian cell phone number?

The address is a nice residental address in the US: http://www.bing.com/maps/default.aspx?encType=1&where1=415+Washington+Ave%2c+Terrace+Park%2c+OH+45174-1031&FORM=MIRE

Highly suspicious that they have anything to do with a company in Taiwan. Possibly the scammers have simply hijacked a legit person's contact details.



For others who might do a search and find this thread, the legit contact information for this company and the correct email address is:

Company? RUEY FA TEX ENTERPRISE CO.,LTD
Tel? 886-2-85228162~3
Fax? 886-2-85228161
Address? 8F-1, NO.109, SEC.1 JHONG-SHAN RD., SHIN-JUANG CITY, TAIPEI COUNTY 242, TAIWAN
E-mail? [email protected]

[AlanJones]

Another one sent by a reader of the forum

Return-Path: <[email protected]>
Received: from rly-mb09.mx.aol.com (rly-mb09.mail.aol.com [172.21.131.167])
by air-mb07.mail.aol.com (v123.4) with ESMTP id MAILINMB074-d284a3342679d;
Sat, 13 Jun 2009 02:08:46 -0400
Received: from ww10.hosting.zimcom.net (ww10.hosting.zimcom.net
[66.42.206.55]) by rly-mb09.mx.aol.com (v123.4) with ESMTP id
MAILRELAYINMB094-d284a3342679d; Sat, 13 Jun 2009 02:08:39 -0400
Received: (qmail 14238 invoked by uid 48); 13 Jun 2009 02:05:45 -0400
Date: 13 Jun 2009 02:05:45 -0400
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
To:
Subject: We are Seeking civil /corporate legal representation
From: Fu Wei <[email protected]>
Reply-To: [email protected]
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
X-AOL-IP: 66.42.206.55X-AOL-SCOLL-SCORE:0:2:277759936:93952408
X-Mailer: Unknown (No Version)

This is an official requisition for your legal consultation services on

Behalf of Angang Steel Company Limited



We are based in China and South Korea our principal activity is

manufacture and sale of iron and steel products. The production process of

the Group mainly comprises cooking, sintering, iron smelting, steel

smelting and rolling. The principal steel products come in four major

categories: steel sections, wire rods, medium or thick steel plates and

train wheels and tyres. It imports machinery and raw materials and exports

steel products. It is also involved in the planning and designing of

automation system, metallurgical, construction and environmental

protection projects. Other activities include purchase, production, sale

and transportation of slag products and provision of related consultation

and technology services.



We are presently incapacitated due to international legal boundaries to

exert pressure on our delinquent customers in USA and we request for your

services accordingly. Due to some accounts in North America not fulfilling

their contractual obligations with regards to the current economic

down-turn seriously affecting businesses in the United States, We are

currently looking to appoint a legal representation in the United States

to ensure that our delinquent or past due accounts are settled and

represent our company in the collection or possible law suit.

We are incapacitated by distance logistics to directly commence

litigations directly in such cases but our company cannot continue to

absorb the continued losses from unpaid accounts. Below are the services

we hope your organization can help us with:



1. Provide consultation and legal advice on delinquent payments.



2. Receive the said fund of past due accounts and keep in a trust account

on our behalf until requested by our company.



3. 80% of payments from North America are used for the purchase of raw

material, you will be instructed on how and when to disburse to our
suppliers and

supply us with monthly print statement of how much was collected and
subsequently

disbursed.



We got your contact information from the USA lawyers Directory as a

result of our search for a reliable firm or individual to provide legal

services as requested. After a careful review of your profile as well as

your qualification and experience, we are of the opinion that your are

capable and qualified to provide the legal services as requested. Please

accept my sincerest appreciation on

Angang Steel Company Limited, in

advance for your willingness to render your services as we look forward to

your prompt response to our request.

Fu Wei





Angang Steel Company Limited



No.437 Yuanshan Road, anshan lianoning, China

[AlanJones]

Another one received from an attorney

----- Original Message ----- From: "Mr Eric Lee" <[email protected]>
To: <undisclosed-recipients:>
Sent: Tuesday, June 09, 2009 1:59 PM
Subject: Delinquent account services in USA.



This is an official requisition for your legal consultation services on behalf of Tenluxe Co., Ltd.







We are based in Taiwan and our principal activity is manufacturing cotton yarn,mixed spinning yarn, chemical fiber yarn, embryo cloth, RTW clothes and knitwear.Other activities include constructing, leasing and selling residential and commercial buildings and provision of investment services We are presently incapacitated due to international legal boundaries to exert pressure on our delinquent customers in USA and we request for your services accordingly.






We got your contact information from the state of USA lawyers Directory as a result of our search for a reliable firm or individual to provide legal services as requested. After a careful review of your profile as well as your qualification and experience, we are of the opinion that your are capable and qualified to provide the legal services as requested.Please accept my sincerest appreciation on behalf of Tenluxe Co.Ltd,in advance for your willingness to render your services as we look forward to your prompt response to our request.Thank you.






Eric Lee
Managing Director

Here is one I received today.

From - Wed Jul 01 08:23:11 2009
X-Mozilla-Status: 0001
X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000
Return-Path: <[email protected]>
Delivered-To:
Received: 1 Jul 2009 15:22:53 -0000
X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.2.4 (2008-01-01) on blade6
X-Spam-Level: **
X-Spam-Status: hits=2.7 tests=RCVD_NUMERIC_HELO,RDNS_NONE,SPF_HELO_PASS
version=3.2.4
Received: from unknown (192.168.1.107)
by ....; 1 Jul 2009 15:22:53 -0000
Received: from unknown (HELO ns1.thaiskyhost.com) (122.155.1.246)
by ... t with SMTP; 1 Jul 2009 15:22:52 -0000
Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1] helo=172.163.15.33)
by ns1.thaiskyhost.com with esmtpa (Exim 4.67)
(envelope-from <[email protected]>)
id 1MLzJa-0002xP-49; Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:53:30 +0000
Received: from phpmailer ([172.163.15.33])
by 172.163.15.33 with HTTP (UebiMiau);
Wed, 1 Jul 2009 12:53:30 +0000
Date: Wed, 1 Jul 2009 12:53:30 +0000
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
From: "Matila Manufacturing Pte Ltd." <[email protected]>
Reply-to: "Matila Manufacturing Pte Ltd." <[email protected]>
Subject: Dear Counsel,...Mutual Introduction-Possible Representation
Message-ID:
X-Priority: 3
X-Mailer: UebiMiau [PHPMailer version 1.70]
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
Content-Type: text/plain;
charset="tis-620"
X-SpamCop-Checked: 122.155.1.246 172.163.15.33

Mutual Introduction-Possible Representation

Dear Counsel,

I have previously sent you an email; please confirm the receipt of this mail
due to the urgency of this matter. If you are not in position to represent
us at the moment kindly advice immediately. After a careful review, we
decided to contact you to represent our company in North America. Matila
Manufacturing Pte Ltd is a manufacturing company in Asia We would require
your legal representation for our North American delinquent Customers.

We are of the opinion that a reputable attorney is required to represent us
in North America in order for us to recover monies due to our organization
by oversea customers, and as well follow up with these accounts. In order to
achieve these objectives a good and reputable law firm like yours will be
required to handle this service. We understand that a proper Attorney Client
agreement must be entered into by both parties. This will be done
immediately we receive your letter of acceptance.
Awaiting your swift Response.

Sincerely,
Patrick William
Robert Weng.

Sent to you using Uebimiau Webmail version 3.11
Developed by Dave and Todd at http://www.manvel.net and http://www.tdah.us

An update on [email protected]:

The email is no longer working:

confidence rating: 0 - Bad address
error : RecipientRejected - Mail server rejected the email address.
canonical address: <[email protected]>

550 sorry, mail to that recipient is not accepted (#5.7.1)

And there is a GoDaddy parked page on the site:

http://www.rtexco.com/

At this point, without further evidence, this is as dead as it will get.

Just a heads up for anyone surfing in here and wondering if they've got the scam.

Be aware that there are many gangs using this scam method so even if you don't see any exact matches here but the general modality is the same, let the alarm bells ring. Like any scam, if it's successful, other gangs pick up on it, tweak and use it for their own ends.

Also be aware that many of these gangs are using phone calls and multiple extension phone lines to authenticate the scam.
Just because the person who answers doesn't sound like a male African, don't be lulled into a false sense of security!

A law firm has gone public with their experience so I'll post it here. Otherwise, we would never do this. There have been some arrests in Korea so things are looking up.

http://www.abajournal.com/weekly/bradle ... _than_400k

Bradley Arant Reportedly Scammed Out of More Than $400K

Posted Jun 11, 2009, 09:39 am CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss

Updated: Bradley Arant Boult Cummings fell victim to a sophisticated debt collection scam, to the tune of more than $400,000. But its quick reporting of the crime has led to the arrest of suspects.

The Nashville Post (sub. req.) reported yesterday that the law firm wired more than $400,000 to the foreign bank account of a scammer posing as a client. Lawyers at the firm believed the funds were covered by a check it had deposited—a check that turned out to be phony.

The law firm says it quickly reported the scam to the FBI, leading to the arrest of suspects and the freezing of the funds. "It was an elaborate criminal plan on many levels," Bradley Arant managing partner John Grenier said in a statement released to the ABA Journal. The firm quickly reported the crime, leading to "the apprehension of the suspects in this scheme and the freezing of the funds."

The Tennessee Bar Association sent a blast e-mail Wednesday warning about the scam. It works this way, according to the story:

A target law firm gets a referral from someone posing as an out-of-state lawyer to enforce a simple contract dispute or to collect a debt from a local corporation. The law firm agrees to represent the “client,” a foreign corporation.

The law firm sends a demand letter, the debtor forwards a check, and the law firm deposits the check in its trust account. It then wires the money to the bank account of the foreign client, after keeping part of the sum for fees and costs.

“Things fall apart,” the TBA says, “when the bank on which the check is drawn notifies everyone that the check is a counterfeit fraud—by which time it is too late to stop the wire transfer, and the law firm's client trust account is now out the proceeds.”

Other lawyers contacted by scammers have said the “clients” often identify themselves as real overseas companies with online websites. In one instance a phony check had a fake 800 number for Citibank with an automated line that tells inquirers their checks are legitimate.

Grenier said in the statement that the scam was elaborately planned. "This was a complex international fraud scheme where the criminals assumed the identity of a legitimate overseas company and asked for help collecting a debt from a legitimate U.S. company whose identity they had also assumed, leading to the transfer of funds to a bank in Asia," he said.

"The scheme also included counterfeit cashier’s checks, phony introductions from U.S. counsel, assumed identities of real staff at actual companies, and fraudulent automated funds verification systems."

The statement says Bradley Arant is working to have the transferred funds returned to the firm. "It is important to note that no client funds are at risk."

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings is the product or a January merger between Bradley Arant Rose & White and Boult, Cummings, Conners & Berry.

Updated on June 12 to include Grenier's statement.

Hello. I am an attorney on the West Coast, and I just received an email from "Eric Lee, Managing Director of Tenluxe Co. Inc.", based in Taipei. The scam is exactly as described by others on this thread. I have simply ignored the email, but I did want others to know that this particular scam is "alive and well" at this time. Interestingly, Tenluxe Co. Inc. is a legitimate company, and it is based in Taipei, but it does not have anybody named 'Eric Lee" in its management. Just thought that I would let you all know. Thank you for your efforts on this web site!

Regards