Starts out innocent:Dear Attorney,
This is my second enquiring, Please respond
I am seeking legal representation from your law firm regarding a
breach of Settlement agreement with my former employer due to the
injury I sustained while working for them. I need Proper legal advice
and assistance to know the best way to handle this issue. If this is
your area of practice, please contact me to provide you with further
Information.
Regards,
Lian Chen
My response:
Lian,
I have absolutely no experience in this practice area. It would be a stone's throw away from malpractice for me to take on a case of this complexity. I wish you the best of luck.
- My Name
Seems like that response would put someone off, right?Dear Sucker
Thanks for your prompt response. First I must thank you for picking up the consideration to represent me; My name is Mr. Lian Chen I am a Chinese American l lived in USA for 26 years, I’m contacting you regarding my injury compensation with the company I was working for in WA USA (GLOBAL EQUIPMENTS LTD.). I worked with this company for Nine years as an equipment operator. On 13th February 2010, l had an accident in the company yard when l was operating the crane equipment that finally leads to my disability as present. I then decided to relocate to my country for proper bone treatment July 7, 2010.
We had an out of insurance settlement that he will pay me the sum of $298,750.00 for my disability by the end of the year (December, 2010) but till this minute I am writing this mail to you, I have not received any money for my compensation as agreed. it is my belief that a Law firm like yours is needed to help me make collection or litigate the matter if he fails to pay as agreed. Attached herewith is the agreement that was duly signed by both of during inception of our transaction and copy of my passport as a proof of identification.
I do understand that a proper Attorney client agreement must be entered into by both parties which will demand a retainer fees, but l will prefer you to work on contigency bases on funds collected from my former company due to my present situation. I expect you to draw up an agreement to this effect if it is acceptable with you.
Your consideration of my request is highly anticipated, and I look forward to your prompt response.
I get emails asking me how I am so sure that these are email scams. It is not that hard when you have seen enough of them. You start to catch the spots where they have cut-and-paste. For example, in the email above, take the following sentence and paste it into google:
"it is my belief that a Law firm like yours is needed to help me make collection or litigate the matter if he fails to pay as agreed."
See? Not that hard. What phisherman lack is even a remote sense of imagination. They have been working this hustle for four years now with only slight variations.