Getting one over.

Today's post is going to be a little weird (off topic), but consider it a public service announcement....

I don't know what it is about human nature, but there are always people in this world who feel that they need to get one over on you. 

Case in point, I was contacted by a company in China who wants to hire me as an attorney for a dispute with a company in the US.  I do a lot of internet law so that, in and of itself, isn't that strange.  They signed the retainer agreement but haven't paid me my fee.  Odd, but certainly not the first time that it's happened.

But then it started to get weird.  (Well, weirder anyay...)

Without my involvement at all, the other company is sending me a letter about how they're willing to settle.  And then, all of a sudden sending me a check via FedEx.  No notice, just a check.  I wasn't in my office yesterday to receive it, but I would guess that it's a check for a VERY large sum.

Uh huh.  

And the "client" would like for me to put the check in my account, take my pittance of a fee and wire him the rest. 

Oh, sure.  You've got to be kidding me.  The problem is that they picked someone who's been practicing internet law before there was such a thing.  I've heard of every scam that's ever been run on the Internet.  Well, maybe not EVERY scam, but more than most people.

Actually, their bigger mistake was trying to perpetrate a publicly traded company in the US.  They did the right research.  The person that claims to be from that company even picked someone within the company who is a real person.  Unfortunately, they used a URL that looks like the company, but is easily identified as not. 

I also independently verified the email address of the person that they are claiming to be (and emailed him at that address to ascertain for sure that he was NOT the person who contacted me). 

Their other mistake, is that this is not the way that publicly traded companies do business.  It just isn't.  Executives don't negotiate settlements.  Legal departments do.

The point is this...

The thing that these scammers prey on is greed.  The way that they get over on you is if you get greedy. 

Thankfully, I'm not. 

I'll report it to the authorities and cooperate in catching these guys.  Because I would prefer that these guys not catch the next person in their scam. 

But they'll always be someone else.  It's human nature.

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