Legal fraud increase shows that the traditional way is still the best

It is always alarming for legal professionals when we hear stories of crooks that have muddied our industry’s good name with their murky behaviour.

However, whilst the internet and email has added to all our lives it has also given fraudsters of all types a great opportunity and the legal profession is not insulated.

In the past few weeks, BBC Radio 4 included a piece in the programme ‘You and Yours,’ which told of how scams and reports of fraud had doubled in 2014 from the previous 12 months.

The piece focussed primarily on a man who lost £175,000 when buying a flat due to being duped by what he thought was a legitimate solicitor who had been found on the Law Society’s Find a Solicitor website.

The conman had communicated through emails and had stolen the identity of a solicitor as part of his plan in this scam.

The innocent solicitor in question, who is based in the North West, only found out weeks later when he started receiving irate emails.

It transpired his details on the Law Society Website had been altered, and his email address pushed customers into the bogus firm’s hands.

This case has been alerted to law firms to ensure we are vigilant. However, at Dale & Newbery we believe through our blog we have an opportunity to show that this story demonstrates that the face to face way of dealing with legal matters is still the best.

Word of mouth still remains far and away the best source of new business for good law firms and that’s why we at Dale & Newbery are still thriving. It’s also why many organisations with reputations prosper.

The message of this story is don’t take chances with legal services. The modern world has provided rich pickings for villains and much of the police’s work now involves cybercrime.

It may be 2015, but at times the old ways are still the best. We believe this tale illustrates this with some clarity.