Scam

Could I beeeeee Matthew Perry of Simmons?


Fraudsters pretending to be lawyers from Simmons & Simmons created a hoax by telling people they had won the lottery. 

The con-artists, claiming to be from Simmons & Simmons, called members of the public to tell them that they'd won the American or Canadian lottery and that they had 15 days to claim their prize, the SRA revealed in a scam-alert.

At least one of the calls was from an individual claiming to be called 'Matthew Perry' of 'Simmons & Simmons LLP'. The SRA said it "authorises and regulates several genuine solicitors called Matthew Perry" and "it is believed none of the genuine Matthew Perrys have any connection with the telephone calls". And presumably the actor who played Chandler in Friends is also in the clear. Presumably. 

“Simmons & Simmons is aware of these lottery related scam calls to the public using the Simmons & Simmons name," a spokesman for the firm told RollOnFriday. 

"We have notified the SRA and we continue to keep them informed," the spokesman added. "Our website has also been updated to include this particular scam alert. Where we have been contacted directly by members of the public, we have been responding to them to confirm that the call is not genuine and that Simmons & Simmons has no involvement in these matters.”

In the SRA's scam round-up, it publishes various scams that have occurred in the legal profession. Over a three month period in the latest round-up it recorded 56 scam alerts, which included a fraudster requesting bank payments using a fake email address of a Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner partner. 

In another recent matter, a homebuyer lost £640k after being tricked by a fraudster who impersonated their conveyancing solicitor. Other scam-artists in the past have had less luck.


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Comments

Anonymous 12 November 21 09:07

"Where we have been contacted directly by members of the public, we have been responding to them to confirm that the call is not genuine and that Simmons & Simmons has no involvement in these matters"

 

People actually called S&S to check? Really? Sounds like those people deserve everything they get (or, rather, don't get). 

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