With the rise of e-commerce, digital fraud attempts are becoming increasingly common. Scammers are using progressively more sophisticated and cunning methods to defraud individuals and companies in a range of ways.

Shemay Lee recently represented a longstanding corporate client who fell into the hands of scammers. The company received an email bearing a strikingly similar address as that of one of its vendors. The scammer introduced himself as a senior representative from the vendor. The email contained the same names and footer as those whom the company had dealt with previously. It also provided an electronic funds transfer form and a void cheque to the client.

The scammer indicated that the vendor had been having issues with their original bank account and had therefore opened a different account with the same bank. He requested the funds be redirected to the new account. Believing the email had come from a trusted client, the company sent a very significant sum of money to the scammer’s bank account before realizing the email was fraudulent.

Not knowing the scammer’s identity, MacKenzie Fujisawa commenced an action against “John Doe” and the scammer’s bank in the Supreme Court of British Columbia and quickly froze the money in the scammer’s bank account. We then obtained an order that required the bank to disclose all information it had regarding the identity and contact information of the scammer as well as transaction details. From the information provided, we were able to properly name the scammer as a party to the action and obtain an order requiring the bank to pay out the funds in the scammer’s account directly to the client.

This is only one example of the escalating number of cases involving digital fraud in today’s society. Shemay has extensive experience acting for those who have been defrauded and has successfully recovered stolen money for clients in a number of cases.