Be alert if attempting to do business with a PETER BUMA, purportedly from Canada, regarding a collection matter. It’s a scam.
His goal is to try to get you to pay out trust funds before they are cleared.
Remember not to pay out trust funds until they are cleared.
This type of scam has been going on for a while. Someone tried to hit our firm with it last year. The Virginia Bar posted a warning about it in 2009.
My boss decided to screw with the guy for a while thinking that he might be able to get enough information for the US Attorney’s office to take an interest. They sent what purported to be a Cashier’s check to our office. We took it to the supposed issuing bank who confirmed it was a fake. We strung along the scammer for a while while he demanded the funds before stating it was a fake and letting him know it was referred to the authorities. Sadly, the US Attorney’s office wasn’t too interested in pursuing it especially since the firm hadn’t suffered any losses.
According to this article…
Check the ethics rules in your jurisdiction.
I suppose it might work once in a while, but most lawyers I know have to wait for the check to clear because they don’t have any funds.
I called the California State Bar to talk about it and they said one attorney disbursed the uncleared funds and got taken for $80,000.
My own personal loss in connection with such scams is about 20 minutes time.