Lawyers also are targeted by debt collectors

It gives us a great assurance though unintentional to find that even the lawyers are made fools by debt collectors. Amazingly true but a lot of debt collection scams are targeted at lawyers.

Lending credence to their scam activity debt collectors give an official and fair picture of their operations. They give perfect email addresses, office addresses with perfect seeming legal documents. They have websites with a great design and content that you can visit. In a nut shell it is difficult to find they are fake. These scamsters have real bank on the counterfeit check that they use.

The scam is like a very well directed play with all the action planned to the smallest detail and before you realize money is completely moved from your bank account. These people pose to be lawyers and call you for a fake case from toll free numbers which will further lend to building your belief.

Typically, an individual lawyer or firm receives an email or snail mail from someone representing a seemingly legitimate company, often claiming to be based in Asia. The scammer explains that he has a client or clients in (or near to) the lawyer's country who owe money to his company for goods or services.

After some email exchanges the scammer agrees to the terms and charges requested by the lawyer and signs a contract to retain his or her services to contact the supposedly delinquent client and collect payment.

The role of the delinquent client is played by the scammer himself, or an accomplice. Upon receiving an email or phone call from the lawyer, the "client" agrees to pay the contested charge(s) in part or full, with a certified cashier's check.

The scammer then instructs the lawyer or collector to deposit the check in his own bank, deduct his legal fees from the total, and then send the remainder by wire transfer to a bank account. This cashier's check that the lawyer deposits is fake and never materializes into money and is declared fake by the bank after some time. But, in the meantime, your bank account is cleaned of its funds.

These scams can be avoided if you follow the following steps. First of all no matter how serious the case may seem, always verify all the details the scammer gives you. Due diligence always pays. Verify if the company he quoted is genuine, if genuine find if the transaction is genuine and can be taken ahead. Find if the phone number is legitimate by following with the telephone service providers. Search for the bank details given on the check over the Internet to hit the actual branch it is signed on. You may verify the credentials of the scammer's bank account through the branch's listed number. Scammers often use stolen checks that they alter instead of counterfeiting. This scam is very difficult to find out because banks declare such checks as genuine. Only when the charges appear on the actual owner's account this scam cannot be unearthed. No matter how long such scams take to be found, these can be traced back to the fraudster who will be brought to court and punished. The last but not the least piece of advice is never send money to the "client"unless you are sure of his credentials.