An interesting message recently appeared in the comments-for-approval section of the Precedent website:
Attention Counselor.
I am Jennifer J. Bakhyuzen. I am contacting this firm in regards to my settlement with my separated husband (Jamal R. Bakhyuzen) who resides in your jurisdiction.
I am currently on assignment in Asia . We had an out of court agreement (Collaborative Law Agreement) for him to pay $848,900.00 plus legal fees. He has only paid me $184,000.00.
I am hereby requesting your firm to assist in collecting the balance from him. He is willing to pay me the balance but I would appreciate if your office handles the collection process from my ex Husband to avoid further delays or litigate this matter if he fails to pay as promised.
Sincerely,
Jennifer J. Bakhyuzen.
3A, Jalan wawasan 16 Taman
Perindustrian Sri Gading
83300 Batu Pahat, Johor,
Malaysia .
Tel: 6010217045
Dear Jennifer: Thanks, but no thanks. Sincerely, Precedent.
This message is a classic “advance-fee” or “419” scam, but targetted specifically at the legal community. A nearly identical message was referenced by Jeff Gray in a Globe Law Page feature he wrote this past summer.
Schemes like this are on the rise, according to LawPro [PDF]. To aid lawyers in indentifying and fighting fraud, the practicePRO website has collected all of its fraud-prevention information on one page. But we thought, for anyone who hadn’t seen a lawyer-specific advance-fee fraud message before, that posting it might also be helpful.