by bill_b3llo
Thu Oct 30, 2008 1:26 pm
There is a prolific scam going on now that involves law firms collecting money owed to Asian companies. The scammers are targeting Law Firms, and using verifiable company names.
The firms are asked to collect overdue payments from real companies who the scammers give fake contact info for, and then receive a counterfeit check drawn on that real company's account. They are then asked to take a percentage and wire the rest to a bank in Korea.
I know of one firm who has lost $158,000 on this one already. The scam company is Rising Sun Ltd of Hong Kong, and the CEO is Hakuchi Samurai. The supposedly delinquent company is Crown Royal Ventures.
I'm putting this here so hopefully a google search will turn up something. Surely, a law firm would do some research, but who knows.
Here's the initial reply to the law firm when they respond. The web site they mention is only a few months old, and most likely a fake. The scammers are well versed in legal and business terms, and use documents that can obviously fool a law firm. This is one of the best scam groups I've seen.
BTW, lawyers are not the easiest people to warn, trust me.
The firms are asked to collect overdue payments from real companies who the scammers give fake contact info for, and then receive a counterfeit check drawn on that real company's account. They are then asked to take a percentage and wire the rest to a bank in Korea.
I know of one firm who has lost $158,000 on this one already. The scam company is Rising Sun Ltd of Hong Kong, and the CEO is Hakuchi Samurai. The supposedly delinquent company is Crown Royal Ventures.
I'm putting this here so hopefully a google search will turn up something. Surely, a law firm would do some research, but who knows.
Here's the initial reply to the law firm when they respond. The web site they mention is only a few months old, and most likely a fake. The scammers are well versed in legal and business terms, and use documents that can obviously fool a law firm. This is one of the best scam groups I've seen.
BTW, lawyers are not the easiest people to warn, trust me.
Good morning to you and thank you very much for your prompt response, I would have the opportunity to talk to you sometime but thought you should know what we are looking for by email which enables me present/express my case better than telephone due to my accent and English but that we are very optimistic that this relationship will be beneficial to both parties. You may view our website http://www.risingsunhk.com to intimate yourself about our organization. Rising Sun Ltd was established in June 1973, we are one of the fastest growing manufacturing companies in Asia; we are into Products & Business Design & Production, and Sales of Small Soldering, Equipment, Mini Solder, Desolder, and Various Tools.
After a careful research, we have been able to establish that delinquent or past due accounts running over US$1,863,650 would have been settled if we had a reputable lawyer/firm representing our organization in collections or possible law suit. We have these accounts around the United States and we are happy to know that you have registered attorney around the country.
We can say this authoritatively; a friend tried it in Europe and his delinquent account has been reduced to a significant extent, hence we are taking same step. To give you a better understanding of what your responsibilities will be as our legal representative, it is important that you know some difficulties we are faced with presently with our customers in North America; a lot of customers don’t fully fulfill their obligation in terms of payment.
I thank you for indicating in your response your interest in knowing more about our corporate needs and one of it been collecting/recovering payments from delinquent accounts owed to Rising Sun, we are ready to work with you. However, beside your hourly billing/expenses and retainership, we have percentage for you based on the mode of settlement or collection, just to show we are eager to have payments from these clients with delinquent accounts.
We are incapacitated due to international legal boundaries to exert pressure on such clients or commence litigation in such cases. We have recently put in measures to avoid instances like this, as it cost us lot of money in recovering these accounts, at times these account are written off as bad debt. At this moment it will not be proper for me to provide you with list of delinquent accounts until there is client–attorney engagement/relationship. Below are the areas we would require your expertise.
1. Provide consultation and legal advice in cases of customers with delinquent payments based on agreed amount per hour or percentage.
2. Receive the said funds of past due account and keep in a trust account on our behalf until the funds are required by our company and also maintain the running of your expenses.
3. 65% of payments from that region is used for the purchase of raw material for production and outstanding payments due our suppliers, you will be instructed on how and when to disburse, at the end of the month you shall supply us with details of how much was collected and disburse for us to reconcile our accounts.
We suggest that cases of clients with delinquent payment will be billed on a case by case bases, however let us know your retainer fee or charge for any funds recovered on behalf of Rising Sun I do hope this is acceptable to you. Upon receipt of your letter of engagement and resume, our board will sit and go through the terms contract you have written, before a final decision to retain your services or not. I will await your update on how we may proceed.
Accordingly it is imperative that you respond immediately as time is of the essence and we are poised to utilize your services with immediate effect. We are currently planning of establishing a sales office officially in the U.S in the nearest future, you can assist in working out the legal modalities/frame work for us. Please accept my sincerest appreciation for your willingness to render your services, as we look forward to your prompt response to my email. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me personally anytime by email. Please send me a retainer agreement ASAP which should include your costs and other charges.
Best Regards.
Hakuchi.
Last edited by bill_b3llo on Wed Dec 17, 2008 8:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
