Scams round-up
Overview of scam activity
Our round up highlights the latest high-risk scams for both members of the public and solicitors.
We want to help people make well-informed choices about using legal services. As well as supporting solicitors to help keep their firm safe.
In the last three months, from 1 November to 31 January 2021,we have published 56 scam alerts. This is a decrease in the scam alerts that we published in the previous three months.
We have set out below a summary of the different platforms that have been used in these scams.
Recent scams
Inheritance/Entitlement to money
4 alerts in 3 months.
Examples include:
Emails/Phishing/Malware
26 alerts in 3 months. Examples include:
Bogus Websites
17 alert in 3 months. Examples include:
Other: for example, telephone calls or documents
9 alerts in 3 months. Examples include:
What you should do
Members of the public
- You should check any unexpected correspondence received is genuine (particularly correspondence asking you to provide personal information, funds or informing you of new bank details), by contacting the law firm directly by reliable and established means.
- You can contact us to find out if a solicitor or law firm are regulated and authorised by the SRA.
- You may also need to independently verify details, such as checking public records (e.g. telephone directories and company records) in some circumstances.
Solicitors and law firms
Here are some useful resources to help keep your firm safe.
- Read our priority risk on information security and bogus firms.
- Get practical help from our 'In the shadows: Risks associated with bogus firms' report.
- Our latest report on information security includes advice on how firms can keep cyber-secure.
Last updated: 2 February 2021 | Next update due: 4 May 2021