Several Counterfeit Canadian Dollar Bank Drafts Negotiated by ON, AB and QC Lawyers

The Royal Bank has advised us that several counterfeit Canadian dollar bank drafts have been negotiated by lawyers (4 in Ontario, 3 in Alberta and 1 in Quebec). These drafts are drawn on RBC transit 05142 003 and are payable to individual lawyers. The subject line on all 8 drafts indicates “Rowland Webster”. They are dated April 12 and 13, 2012, and are in the amount of $325,850. They indicate Royal Bank of Canada, Mississauga ON on the top left corner of the draft. RBC’s investigation indicated that these drafts were given to the lawyer as payment on a debt collection.

The name Rowland Webster has been used as the debtor name on a loan collection fraud previously reported to LAWPRO. The fraudster client in this case was purporting to be Barbara Duckett. See this AvoidAClaim post for more information on the Barbara Duckett fraud. RBC did not provide the fraudster client name used on the above frauds.

How to handle a real or suspected fraud

If you have been targeted by this frauds, please forward any of the emails and supporting documents that you have received to fraudinfo@lawpro.ca.

If you are an Ontario lawyer and suspect you are acting on a matter that might be a fraud, call LAWPRO at 1-800-410-1013 (416-598-5899). We will talk you through the common fraud scenarios we are seeing and help you spot red flags that may indicate you are being duped. This will help you ask appropriate questions of your client to determine if the matter is legitimate or not. If the matter you are acting on turns out to be a fraud and there is a potential claim, we will work with you to prevent the fraud and minimize potential claims costs. Non-Ontario lawyers should call their insurer.

If you have been successfully duped, please immediately notify LAWPRO (our your insurer) as there may be a claim against you.