Scammers Target Host of US and UK Firms Amid 'Heightened' Lockdown Risk
Firms including Morgan Lewis and CMS have been targeted by scams.
May 20, 2020 at 05:27 AM
4 minute read
Four U.S. firms are among a group of legal practices that have been targeted by scammers since the start of the coronavirus crisis.
Shearman & Sterling; Debevoise & Plimpton; Morgan, Lewis & Bockius; and Latham & Watkins have all been subject to a range of scamming attempts, according to information published on the U.K. Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) website.
Other firms such as CMS, Blake Morgan and Winckworth Sherwood have also been targeted by fraudsters. In total, 23 separate scam attempts have been recorded by the SRA since the start of the U.K.'s coronavirus lockdown March 23.
One scam involved a fake website for the U.S. firm Morgan Lewis. The false website domain was under the name of "Morgan & Bockius" and contained lawyer profiles from another U.K. regional law firm, Anthony Collins.
Content including news posts, blogs, awards and biographies was lifted from the Anthony Collins websites, as well as partner telephone details. However, email addresses were redirected to "@morganbockius.com."
The SRA confirmed that it did not regulate a firm called "Morgan & Bockius," and that both Morgan Lewis and Anthony Collins confirmed no connection to it themselves.
According to a cybersecurity partner at a U.K. firm, the scale of coronavirus-related phishing across multiple business sectors has been very significant.
"From an individual point of view, people have switched over to a different environment and a different way of working—and so might be more vulnerable to an email phishing scam," he explained.
Another corporate partner at a U.K. firm said a number of suspicious emails had been received by the firm in which the sender offered money or compensation due to the pandemic.
According to Britt Endemann, head of data governance at compliance consultancy firm Forensic Risk Alliance, the risk of cybercrime has been exacerbated by the pandemic.
"Issues of connectivity and security are much more heightened in the time of the coronavirus," he said. "Corporates have been forced to move their workforce online and quickly adapt operations to a new remote landscape of virtual collaboration and remote work sites, which heighten exposure to cyber threats, regulatory compliance scrutiny and other significant enterprise risks."
The majority of scamming attempts were email impersonation frauds, where cybercriminals pretend to be a lawyer or someone acting on behalf of the firm in order to divert payments from clients.
One phishing scam targeting CMS also involved telephone impersonation, where scammers pretended to be a partner in the firm's corporate department.
Blake Morgan was another firm subject to website impersonation in April, according to the firm.
"Sadly, website cloning has become increasingly common across the legal sector in the last few years as fraudsters have become more sophisticated and gained in confidence," a spokesperson for the firm said.
"In April this year, we were made aware of a false website put up in our name and took immediate action to notify the SRA and put a warning notice on our website. No client of ours has been affected by the scam, and if anyone does receive any communication from the site, we ask they report it to Action Fraud."
Earlier this month, a report by a cybersecurity firm found that detailed and potentially sensitive information from 190 law firms was left "exposed" on an open database platform.
|
Read more
Data From Hundreds of Law Firms Left 'Exposed' On Open Platform
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllAs Uncertainty Continues Over PGA Merger, LIV Golf Hires Entertainment Industry Veteran as Legal Chief
Ted Olson, Legal 'Titan' and Former US Solicitor General Who Argued Bush v. Gore, Dies
Trending Stories
- 1Senate Democrats Advance 4th Circuit Pick Ryan Park’s Nomination
- 2Judge Rejects Meta’s Plea to Send FTC Antitrust Suit to Trash Heap
- 3How Have You Fared in 2024? Share Your Insights in the Managing Partners Survey
- 4Court Rules Mere Conduit Defense Not Suitable for a Motion to Dismiss
- 5Ironclad Officially Launches New Gen AI Assistant Jurist
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250