Lawyers: Would You Fall for These Common Scams?

My firm gets the majority of our clients through Google. This means that we have to carefully screen potential clients to ensure they are legitimate.

Here’s a common scam we get at least once a week through our website, along with some red flags to note:

🔹The potential client (PC) wants to sell a piece of large equipment (usually construction equipment or medical equipment), or their severance wasn’t paid by their employer.

🔹The PC asks in the first communication for our rate and a copy of our retainer agreement.

🚩Red Flag: PC’s want to speak with us first, and screen us, before getting rate information or a retainer agreement.

🔹The PC’s communication contains multiple spelling and grammar errors.

🚩Red Flag: Spelling + grammatical errors is just one factor that could indicate fraud, but sometimes people are just bad spellers or typing quickly.

🔹The PC is supposedly a Chief Medical Officer or other C-level suite employee, but is emailing from a gmail address.

🚩Red Flag: If the PC is currently employed by a reputable organization, they will not be using a gmail address.

🔹The PC’s description of services needed includes parentheses.

🚩Red Flag: The use of parentheses to insert equipment names or company names indicates the scammer is copying and pasting from a form.

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⚖️Some other ways to combat potential client fraud and protect yourself:

Don’t accept wire transfers from new clients.

Always insist on an up-front retainer, if it's typical in your legal practice.

Always speak with the client on the phone or ideally via Zoom or in person if you feel something is off.

When in doubt, trust your gut. If something seems off, decline representation.

What potential client scams have you seen? Any tips you can offer to other lawyers to avoid scams?