SRA urges consumers buying legal services to be ‘scam aware’
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is supporting Scams Awareness Month, run by Citizens Advice and Trading Standards, by warning people about bogus solicitors who clone genuine firms to obtain money by deception.
The SRA regulates solicitors and providers of legal services in England and Wales in the public interest and takes action against solicitors who breach their Code of Conduct. However the regulator has seen an increase in this new trend over the past two years and has set up regular update alerts on bogus firms on the consumer section of its website.
This type of scam can take a number of different forms:
- cold-calls using a bona fide firm's name which appear to originate in the UK, to try and obtain details from people in relation to claiming back PPI, or to offering to make a Personal Injury claim often where there are no grounds for a claim to be made.
- unsolicited emails and letters appearing to be from a bona fide law firm but asking for payment in advance, or an "administration charge”, in return for the release of monies supposedly held by a recognisable bank or government authority.
Key things to watch out for are:
read full article here: http://www.sra.org.uk/sra/news/press/scam-aware.page