DLA Piper has become the latest law firm to be targeted by cyber criminals, following a wave of email scams to have hit several top firms in 2019.

According to a statement by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), emails falsely claiming to have come from two DLA Piper lawyers were sent out after a third party's systems were compromised.

The scammers created fake email addresses in the names of two DLA lawyers – head of U.K. asset finance Alan Cunningham and asset finance associate Anna Middlebrook.

Emails seen by the SRA were sent from fake addresses “[email protected]” and “[email protected]”. The SRA added that “payment was then made into a fraudulent bank account”.

DLA Piper, Cunningham and Middlebrook all confirmed to the SRA that they are not connected to the emails.

A spokesperson for DLA Piper said: “We are aware of a recent scam involving the use of email addresses purporting to be from the firm. We have worked with the SRA to raise awareness of the scam and ensure that email addresses can be easily verified.

“Anyone receiving a suspicious email should not reply to it and should delete it, or contact us directly if there is any ambiguity over its authenticity.”

Other recent targets include Linklaters, which faced three separate incidents in the space of a few months. Clifford Chance saw its U.K. managing partner impersonated by scammers in April while, that same month, fraudsters used Addleshaw Goddard's name in a scam that targeted a client of the firm's using a fake account.

Facing similar scams this year were Macfarlanes, Clyde & Co, Herbert Smith Freehills, Simmons & Simmons and Penningtons Manches.