The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) in the United Kingdom issued a public warning about emails from fake lawyers demanding Bitcoin payments. These emails threaten to release damaging videos if Bitcoin payments are not made, claiming to have copied individuals’ personal data. The SRA emphasizes the need for individuals to remain vigilant against the spread of such scam emails.
Fraudulent Emails From This Address
According to information published on the SRA’s website, the fraudulent email comes from “[email protected]” and claims to have copied all of the recipient’s personal data. These emails threaten to release damaging videos if Bitcoin payments are not made. Additionally, the emails contain a link to a Bitcoin wallet that may include malware, further endangering recipients’ information.
The fraudulent emails misleadingly use the name “Patrice Joyce” and claim to be associated with the legitimate firms Attwaters Solicitors and Attwaters Jameson Hill Solicitors. However, the SRA confirmed that there is no authorized or regulated lawyer named Patrice Joyce. The misuse of a real lawyer’s name and the firm’s reputation shows the lengths scammers will go to deceive their targets.
The SRA clarified that any business or transactions conducted through the “@attwaters.co” email domain are not associated with the legitimate firms. The legitimate firms’ email domains end with “@attwaters.co.uk” or “@attwatersjamesonhill.co.uk”. Additionally, the real lawyer known as Manjot Kaur Henchie, whose name was misused in the fake email, confirmed that neither she nor her firm is connected to the scam email.
Measures to Prevent Fraud
The regulatory body advises individuals receiving such suspicious emails to exercise due diligence before taking any action. This includes directly contacting the law firm through reliable means to verify the email’s authenticity and checking the SRA’s records to confirm the authority of the individual or firm. These steps are crucial to protect against falling victim to such scams.
The SRA’s warning is not an isolated incident but part of a broader email extortion scam model. In 2019, a similar scam targeted website owners using Google‘s AdSense program, with scammers demanding Bitcoin to prevent a supposed attack that would result in the suspension of AdSense accounts.
In 2020, New Zealand law enforcement warned about a cryptocurrency scam where fraudsters claimed to have information about victims’ online pornographic activities and demanded Bitcoin ransom to keep the information private.
