Delinquent Money Collection Scam

HI pgill and welcome to ScamWarners!

I am so glad you didn't fall for this scam. Many people have, as you can tell.

Would you still have the email that you were sent? It would be really great if you could post it up here, with headers if possible. It would them help others who are researching these scams and would then make the format googeable. As you can see here: Clicky just googling "Eric Lee, Managing Director of Tenluxe Co. Inc." brings up several references, mostly here at SW. It would be good to see what email address they used to send this scam email to you.

You can delete out your personal details in the headers and the email.

A lawyer forwarded me this that was left on his website, the IP is Nigerian:

name = Chin Kwo
org = Tecknology (H.K.)Co Ltd.
country = Japan
email_from = [email protected]
Additional comments = Attention: Counselor

We, the management of Toho Tecknology (H.K.)Co Ltd., require your legal representation for our North American Customers. We are of the opinion that the ability to consolidate payments from North America will eradicate delays due to inter-continental monetary transaction between Asia and North America . We understand that a proper Attorney Client Retainer will provide the necessary authorization and we are most inclined to commence talks as soon as possible. Your consideration of our request is highly anticipated and we look forward to your prompt response / request to us at [email protected] with the following information,

Your Names:
Name Of Your Firm:
Address:
Country:
State:
Phone Number:

Sincerely
Chin Kwo
[email protected]
How did you hear about the site? = Search engine or tool
Site content = Very impressed
REMOTE_HOST: 78.138.3.238

I'm not sure if this business really exists, but it doesn't really matter. If they do, they aren't involved in this scam. Note the use of free email accounts, and the "undisclosed-recipients". Nobody looks for legal assistance by mass-mailing lawyers.

From: Mr. Alex Morgan [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Sunday, July 12, 2009 4:11 PM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: Dear Counsel,

Dear Counsel,

I am sending this email as a mutual introduction. Mrs Patricia Wong is the
Managing Director of Higrade(Qingdao) Moulds & Products Co., Ltd.

Higrade(Qingdao) Moulds & Products Co., Ltd. is a manufacturer and supplier
of
steel, coils and transformers. Higrade(Qingdao) Moulds & Products Co., Ltd.
is owed payment on shipments that they made to customers here in the US
from June 2008. The company is now seeking advice and possible
representation in litigation against the non-paying companies in your
state. I can not handle this matter at this point because it is out of
our jurisdiction. I have represented this company in the past, therefore
I am assisting them in finding an attorney in the required state.

Kindly contact Mrs. Patricia Wong if you are interested in representing
them. Below is her contact information as follows:

Patricia Wong
Higrade(Qingdao) Moulds & Products Co., Ltd.
[email protected]

I encourage you to contact one another to see if this is a situation where
you can work together. Should you have any questions please contact my
office at the below noted information.

Sincerely,
Alex Morgan, Esq
[email protected]

Hi Arnold!

You are right; Higrade Moulds is a legit company, has nothing to do with this scam, and is located here on the web: http://www.higrademould.com/.

Domain Name: HIGRADEMOULD.COM
Registrar: HICHINA ZHICHENG TECHNOLOGY LTD.
Whois Server: grs.hichina.com
Referral URL: http://www.net.cn
Name Server: DNS11.HICHINA.COM
Name Server: DNS12.HICHINA.COM
Status: ok
Updated Date: 17-jun-2008
Creation Date: 10-apr-2007
Expiration Date: 10-apr-2010

These scammers have previously set up a fake website, impersonating this company, with a very similar-looking webname and directly stealing the content of the legitimate webpage. One example is http://www.higradesmould.com/, however, as you can see, it has now been suspended by the registrar/host for fraudulent activity.

Domain Name: HIGRADESMOULD.COM
Registrar: DIRECTI INTERNET SOLUTIONS PVT. LTD. D/B/A PUBLICDOMAINREGISTRY.COM
Whois Server: whois.PublicDomainRegistry.com
Referral URL: http://www.PublicDomainRegistry.com
Name Server: NS1.SUSPENDED-DOMAIN.COM
Name Server: NS2.SUSPENDED-DOMAIN.COM
Status: clientDeleteProhibited
Status: clientHold
Status: clientTransferProhibited
Status: clientUpdateProhibited
Updated Date: 06-jul-2009
Creation Date: 21-apr-2009
Expiration Date: 21-apr-2010

I am certain they have set up other fake webpages that we are not yet aware of.


To anyone who has been contacted by these or other scammers:

As has been mentioned before, many of these scammers will go to great lengths to appear legitimate. So just because there is a webpage for a company, even a decent-looking one, even if the contact information is NOT a free email provider like gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc, does not mean you are in contact with the real company.

If you have been contacted by these scammers, just stop replying and they will go away. If you have received a check from them, do not cash it! Either destroy or take to your bank or police with the emails. And any information you can provide to prevent other attorneys being scammed would be appreciated. Please feel free to post up any emails you have received here in this thread, send them directly to ScamWarners, or if you prefer, you can PM them to me or another Scam Warner/Scam Advisor noted in this thread.

Return-Path: <[email protected]>

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Date: Mon, 27 Jul 2009 7:23:28 -0400
From: "Mr Eric Xu (Managing Director)" <[email protected]>
Reply-To: [email protected]
Subject: Delinquent account services in USA.
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Priority: 3 (Normal)
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X-SpamCop-Checked: 68.230.240.6 68.1.16.126 7.8.2.1 172.18.18.217 66.90.104.63

This is an official requisition for your legal consultation
services on behalf of Hangzhou G & L Industry 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 Hangzhou G & L Industry Co., Ltd,in advance for your willingness to
render your services as we look forward to your prompt
response to our request.Thank you.

Mr Eric Xu
Managing Director
Hangzhou G & L Industry Co., Ltd.

The Higrade(Qingdao) Moulds & Products Co., Ltd. referred to in the scam below is a genuine company. The real contacts details for this company can be found here. The scammer is piggybacking or fraudulently linking his scam to a legitimate organization.

Return-Path: <[email protected]>
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[192.168.1.40])
Date: Wed, 15 Jul 2009 01:58:49 -0500 (CDT)
Subject: Legal Advice Needed
From: "Donald Martins ESQ" <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Reply-To: [email protected]


Dear Counsel,

I am sending this email as a mutual introduction. Mrs Angela Wei is the
Managing Director of Higrade(Qingdao) Moulds & Products Co., Ltd.

Higrade(Qingdao) Moulds & Products Co., Ltd. is a manufacturer and supplier
of steels, coils and transformers. Higrade(Qingdao) Moulds & Products Co.,
Ltd.is owed payment on shipments that they made to customers here in the US
from June 2008. The company is now seeking advice and possible
representation in litigation against the non-paying companies in your state.
I can not handle this matter at this point because it is out of our
jurisdiction. I have represented this company in the past, therefore I am
assisting them in finding an attorney in the required state.

Kindly contact Mrs. Angela Wei if you are interested in representing them.
Below is her contact information as follows:

Angela Wei
Higrade(Qingdao) Moulds & Products Co., Ltd.
[email protected]

I encourage you to contact one another to see if this is a situation where
you can work together. Should you have any questions please contact my
office at the information below.

Sincerely,
Donald Martins
[email protected]

Another concerned member of the legal profession has alerted us to this latest delinquent money collection scam.

The legitimate domain for Suzhou Kaiyuan Group appears to be szkaiyuan.cn
The domain szkysteel.com mentioned below has only been registered for one year beginning 07 Oct 2008. I will ask our site killers to take a closer look at this.

Return-Path: <[email protected]>
Received: by 10.210.129.20
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:25:45 -0700
Subject: Request For Legal Assistance
From: Chua Yumin <[email protected]>
X-AOL-IP: 209.85.219.169 <- Gmail IP masks the actual senders’ location

Please read attached file

The content of the file shown below

From: Mr. Chua Yumin.
Legal Representative/Owner
Suzhou Kaiyuan Group
Address: 26-28F, Gold River Building,
No.35, Shishan Road, New District,
Suzhou, Jiangsu province, China.
Website: http://www.szkysteel.com

Dear Counsel,

This is an official request for legal representation on behalf of Suzhou Kaiyuan Group. We are marketing and manufacturing cold/hot rolled coils, hot rolled plate, GI, EGI, PPGI and stainless steel.

We are presently incapacitated due to international legal boundaries to exert pressure on our delinquent customers and we request for your services accordingly. We got your contact information from the Online 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 you are capable and qualified to provide the legal services as requested.
On behalf of Suzhou Kaiyuan Group, Please accept my sincerest appreciation in advance for your willingness to render your services as we look forward to your prompt response to our request. Kindly, contact me throught this email: [email protected]

Thank you.
Mr. Chua Yumin.
Legal Representative/Owner,
Suzhou Kaiyuan Group
Website: http://www.szkysteel.com

The one year registration suggests a fake site, but if it is, the scammer has a convincing email address available.
But he's using a free Yahoo address instead, which is usually an indication that any quoted website is genuine. The scammer can spoof an email so it seems to have come from a real website's email address, but he doesn't want replies to go to it. So the email will include a fake email address such as Yahoo.

Thanks Peta for bring it to the attention of the site killers.

At this time, without more information, http://szkysteel.com/ appears to be a legitimate website of this company. If anyone has any other information that can might give additional information regarding this site, please feel free to post or send via PM to any warner/advisor posting in this thread.

That was what I was trying to say above. If a scammer had set up http://szkysteel.com he's surely email victims from [email protected].
There's no point in a scammer using a free Yahoo address when he has a fake website.

^^^ I know you were saying that, Arnold. But sometimes, scammers are weird, right?

I wish they would send email from scammer@whatever.com. It might slow them down a bit!

Another scam attempt under the "Delinquent Money Collection" theme brought to our attention.

Return-Path: <[email protected]>
Received: from [196.220.6.118] <- IP resolves to Nigeria
Date: Sat, 1 Aug 2009 00:08:09 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Badadare .U" <[email protected]>
Subject: REQUEST FOR A LEGAL ASSITANCE


Branch office:
37-45 Crest Road, Stone Chair,
Shelf, Halifax HX5 7LN
+447045790480
England.

Dear Counsel,

This is an official request for legal representation on behalf of Hangzhou Iron & Steel Group Company. We are iron and steel company with principal business in steel manufacturing and trading.

We are presently incapacitated due to international legal boundaries to exert pressure on our delinquent customers and we request for your services accordingly. We got your contact information from the Online 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 you are capable and qualified to provide the legal services as requested.
On behalf of Hangzhou Iron & Steel Group Company, Please accept my sincerest appreciation in advance for your willingness to render your services as we look forward to your prompt response to our request.


Thank you.
Mr. BADADARE .U.
Branch manager,
Hangzhou Iron & Steel Group Company
England office.

Another one - the first I've seen claiming to be from a UK business. A real one whose identity is being used by the scammer.

It's a redirect phone number so the scammer could be anywhere in the world. The fax number does belong to the company, so I can only think that the scammer is relying on the victim not faxing anything.

iprimus.com.au is an Australian webmail provider (among other things). Either they remove the sender's IP address from emails, or the scammer is also in Australia. The first seems more likely, and I'm trying to find out.

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Date: Tue, 7 Jul 2009 01:16:29 +0100
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
From: [email protected]
Subject: RE: COUNSEL
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-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, July 06, 2009 5:16 PM
Subject: RE: COUNSEL

Voith Fabrics Stubbins Limited
Stubbins Vale Mill
Stubbins Vale Road
Bury, Lancashire BL0 0NT
United Kingdom
Phone :+44 703 597 1723
Fax : +44 1706 283401


Attention Counsel;
Top of the day to you Attorney,Our company has decided to contact your
Law firm as regards a debt collection issue with some of our indebted
customers
within your region.Our company,Voith Fabrics Stubbins Ltd is a manufacturing
company in United Kingdom.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 to achieve
these objectives a good and reputable law firm like yours will be required
to handle this service.Please contact us for more details and We understand
that a proper Attorney Client agreement must be entered into by both
parties.please
do confirm the receipt of this mail due to the urgency of this matter.If
you are in the position to represent us at the moment kindly advice
immediately.

Sincerely,

Mr.Chen A. Yu
General Manager
Voith Fabrics Stubbins Ltd
Phone: +44-703-597-1723

Another version of a debt collection scam email:

From: Lee Chang [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, August 06, 2009 3:49 PM
Subject: Please Work with Us (Good Offer)?

Name: Lee Chang
Company Name: City: hongkong State/Country: China heshibang
Email Address: [email protected]

Attention : Counsel

We the management of Henan Shibang Heavy
Industry Machinery Co.Ltd, China require your legal representation for our
Customers. We are of the opinion that the ability to consolidate
payments from Austria will eradicate delays due to inter-continental
monetary transaction between Asia,United States,Europe and Austria. We understand that a proper
legal Client Retainer will provide the necessary authorization and we are
most inclined to commence talks as soon as possible.Your consideration of
our request is highly anticipated and we look forward to your prompt
response.

request Sincerely,
Lee Chang
Zhongyuan Road and West Fourth Ring Road intersection 200 meters north, Zhengzhou, China..

And yet another. Notice the subject line of "a recommendation from a friend" but the friend is never named. Notice that the text is almost identical to the email in the post before this one.

This paragraph is used, almost identically, in both and likely in many other versions of the email:

We are of the opinion that the ability to consolidate payments from America will eradicate delays due to inter-continental monetary transaction between the Asia and America. We understand that a proper Attorney Client Retainer will provide the necessary authorization and we are most inclined to commence talks as soon as possible.

From: Denise Young [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Thursday, August 06, 2009 8:11 PM
To: xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: A recommendation from a friend

Jasmine Chemical Co., Ltd
RM12,jinjuyuan,Nanfengxincheng,Baozhou
Road,Quanzhou,Fujian,
China Quanzhou
Fujian 362000 China

Attention: Counsel,

We the management of Jasmine Chemical Co., Ltd , require your legal representation for our American Customers. Jasmine Chemical Co., Ltd , a manufacturer and supplier of chemical, we are been owed payment on a shipment that we made to a customer in America in June 2008 and now seeking advice and possible representation in litigation against the non-paying company.


We are of the opinion that the ability to consolidate payments from America will eradicate delays due to inter-continental monetary transaction between the Asia and America. We understand that a proper Attorney Client Retainer will provide the necessary authorization and we are most inclined to commence talks as soon as possible.

Your consideration of our request is highly anticipated and we look forward to your prompt response.

Sincerely,
Denise Young,
Managing Director.