7 On Your Side finds new scam targets lawyers

We've heard of con artists claiming you've won a sweepstakes or that you've been chosen to be a secret shopper. Now the same kind of scam is hitting another group -- attorneys. 7 On Your Side has this warning about the latest version of an old con.

Con artists are always thinking up new ways to get you. We've seen it with online dating, fake job offers and now a phony lawsuit. It seemed so real that it nearly cost a local attorney a lot of money.

Berkeley attorney Richard Korb figured an email from a Ms. Akemi Koch was just another plea for legal help. Korb said, "She had a Japanese divorce decree that she wanted to enforce here in Alameda County."

The e-mailer says her ex-husband owes her $933,000 in a divorce settlement. He's only paid half of it. And while she is in Japan, her ex is over here in Berkeley.

"And so she wanted to know if she could obtain my services to enforce this judgment," Korb said.

It seemed logical, especially when she said here are the Japanese court documents -- a divorce decree and a separation agreement. She gave a copy of a document she said this was her passport.

"I looked at the documents. I looked at the email. I emailed her back and said thank you very much," Korb said. He sent her a retainer agreement and told her he had to speak with her by phone. "Enforcement of a foreign divorce decree is not a routine matter, it's not so simple."

She replied saying she was traveling and couldn't find time to talk by phone. However, her ex-husband had just agreed to cooperate and pay the money.

"She said what I'd like to do is, I'd like to arrange to have him send you the money to hold in your trust account," Korb said.

Korb insisted they speak by phone, but the elusive client replied that her daughter had fallen deathly ill. She needed the money from her ex-husband right away.

"A few days later, I receive a Federal Express envelope. Inside was a cashier's check, a Chase Bank cashier's check in the sum of $497,000,"

A note inside the envelope told Korb to deposit this check, subtract his attorney fees, and wire the rest to Akemi Koch.

"Several flags went off. Number one, someone who had never spoken to me, suddenly sends me a cashier's check for $497,000. It didn't pass what I would call the smell test," Korb said.

He took the check to police. Sure enough it was a phony and so are these supposed court documents and that passport.

If Korb had deposited the worthless check and wired back money, it would have been his own cash going directly to the scammers. An Internet search shows dozens of lawyers have received the very same phony plea for help from the phony Akemi Koch. That's why Korb contacted 7 On Your Side.

"I could have stood to lose a lot of money. So I think the public needs to be made aware," Korb said.

I can't say it enough. If you receive a check in the mail you did not expect, and you're asked to wire some of it back, it's almost certain to be a scam. The only thing that changes from one scheme to another is the story the con artist tells you to set you up. This time, it was a phony legal case. Don't fall for it. Call me instead.