Alerts

Warning: Correspondence misusing the name of Daniel Richard Marks and the SRA

23 December 2022

Email correspondence from someone falsely purporting to be from 'Mr Daniel Richard Marks' of the SRA, regarding the recovery of lost investments.

What is the scam?

A member of the public has received an email from an individual falsely purporting to be 'Mr Daniel Richard Marks' from the SRA. The email is understood to have been sent from the email address 'daniel.m@solicitors.tech' and the email signature contained the name and the SRA number of a genuine solicitor.

The email correspondence asked the recipient to provide bank statements of transactions, agreements the recipient had signed and account statements in relation to reporting investment fraud, supposedly as a connected step to starting the recovery process.

Any business or transaction through the email address of 'daniel.m@solicitors.tech' is not undertaken by a solicitors' practice, the SRA or an individual authorised and regulated by the SRA.

Is there a genuine firm or person?

The SRA authorises and regulates a solicitor called Mr Daniel Richard Marks, whose SRA ID number is 20324, however he is not employed by the SRA.

The genuine solicitor is believed to not be connected to the communications referred to in the above alert.

What should I do?

When a firm's or individual's identity has been copied exactly (or cloned), due diligence is necessary. If you receive correspondence claiming to be from the above firm(s) or individual(s), or information of a similar nature to that described, you should conduct your own due diligence by checking the authenticity of the correspondence by contacting the law firm directly by reliable and established means. You can contact the SRA to find out if individuals or firms are regulated and authorised by the SRA and verify an individual's or firm's practising details. Other verification methods, such as checking public records (e.g. telephone directories and company records) may be required in other circumstances.