Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan urged the public to remain vigilant for COVID-19 scams that are targeted through emails, texts, phone calls, and in one case, in person. In the recent in-person scam, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said men claiming to be Houston Public Works employees gained access to a couple’s home by alleging water...… Continue Reading
Update 7/14/2020: We received reports of two more scams. A Texas attorney was notified that someone was impersonating them. An Arizona resident was contacted by the Foreign Asset Control to inform him he was appointed a law firm to represent him in a matter in Mexico. This law firm included the Texas attorney, though the law
Update 2/5/20: We received reports from two more attorneys who received the same scam as the one we reported on January 27, with slight variations in the emails they received. The emails were also from Compass Upstream Services, LLC out of Austin, TX, soliciting help in drafting an equipment lease agreement but were were from a
The Office of the Attorney General warned Texans on Thursday about a reported scam where callers are falsely claiming to be staff members of the OAG’s Crime Victim Services Division. The scammers are attempting to obtain personal and financial information from the people receiving the calls. An OAG news release about the scam reports that...… Continue Reading
Updated 9/18/2019: We received a report of another scam. An attorney received an email from a scammer using the name of a law firm from Texas but with an email using a domain address from Australia: bully34351@tpg.com.au. The email states that the attorney is being sued by the scammer’s client, must download a link to find out the
Update 6/24/2019: We received a report of another scam. An attorney was contacted by a scammer who requested to retain the attorney’s representation for a dog bite case. The scammer claimed they were bit by a dog, that the dog’s owner had agreed to pay a settlement for medical expenses, and that the dog owner had
A Texas attorney, who recently relocated to Missouri, was contacted by a scammer seeking the attorney’s bank information. The scammer sought the information in the guise of a method of payment for the attorney to act in the settlement of a defaulted loan. The attorney was contacted from a Gmail account belonging to “James D...… Continue Reading
Last fall, a Texas attorney was contacted through Martindale-Hubbard to assist in potential bankruptcy representation for a Nova Scotia, Canada-based company, which was seeking funds owed from a Houston-based firm. It was a sophisticated scam—and quite different from usual ones in the following ways: (1) the first check the scammer sent was a valid check...… Continue Reading
Texas attorneys continue to be targeted by online scammers. Throughout 2017, there were several attempts to coerce people into sending money while claiming to work for real law firms. In a recent rash of scams, websites have been designed to mirror firms’ very real pages. But there are giveaways—and resources for verifying the not-so obvious...… Continue Reading
An email scam that uses false notifications of disciplinary actions is targeting members of the State Bar of Texas. Several Texas attorneys have reported receiving an email claiming a grievance was filed against them and that they have 10 days to respond. The email invites them to “click here” for more information. The email is … Continue Reading
