Fake emails sent to law students offering LPC funding
Regulator says neither firm name nor name given on the email is authorised or regulated
Fraudulent emails are being sent to law students who have finished their law degree offering partial funding for the Legal Practice Course (LPC).
The emails are being sent by a company calling themselves True Personal Injury Solicitors, who claim to be a government body.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) says that Kingston University raised the alarm on the emails, but the regulator could not confirm whether law students from Kingston have been exclusively targeted.
It is believed the data for the emails were sourced from Facebook and Kingston says its systems were not breached.
In the email, the recipient is asked to provide details about the course they are enrolled on, with the claim that funding for part of the course fees can be arranged. It appears that the scam works by asking the reader to send a proportion of their fees to the sender of the scam email, with the false claim that the email sender will contribute the remaining amount to the course provider.
The SRA was informed by Kingston University of the false emails, which were sent using the email address Gov-uk@consultant.com and signed by a Matthew Mccormak which states that he is a consultant solicitor at True Personal Injury Solicitors.
The SRA has confirmed that it does not authorise or regulate an individual called Matthew Mccormak, nor does it authorise a firm with the name True Personal Injury Solicitors.
True Solicitors LLP is however a firm based in Newcastle. Their actual email address is office@true.co.uk. The firm has said it has no connection with the fraudulent emails and does not employ anyone named Matthew Mccormak.
The SRA has asked for due diligence in cases where a firm's or individual's identity has been copied/cloned.
The regulator asks that if you receive correspondence claiming to be from the above firm/individual, or information of a similar nature to that described, you should conduct your own due diligence by checking the authenticity of the correspondence by contacting the law firm directly by reliable and established means.
The SRA says that to find out if individuals or firms are regulated and authorised by the SRA and verify an individual's or firm's practising details. Other verification methods, such as checking public records (e.g. telephone directories and company records) may be required in other circumstances.