We suspect a family friend is being scammed... long story

[BeeGT]

Since Christmas a family friend I'll call Jo, a widowed lady, 70s, has been subject to various attempts at being befriended by an aquaintance I shall call Sara. Sara knows Jo because she nursed Jo's husband before he passed away. She's since been suggesting trips together and also including several requests for financial help. These have been deflected, resisted and refused. Calls of a pestering nature have been made to this elderly lady's home and her cleaner intercepted one of them and has asked them to stop.

From nowhere, Jo has received a solicitors letter titled "civil injunction pre-action letter" which makes reference to the solicitor's client (Sara) being subject to false statements and allegations, claiming distress and upset for herself and her family's mental health and well being, etc etc. it basically threatens court proceedings if the false allegations don't stop.

The letter doesn't appear to be 100% legitimate, although It does have a genuine law firm's logo and contact detail on the letterhead. The content of the letter includes several typos, repeated phrases and poorly worded sentences. It offers no evidence and does not invite a meeting or a response. Our thought process is that this is a falsely created letter seeking to worry a vulnerable lady so that when the next 'solicitor's letter' arrives, presumably offering a settlement figure, Jo will simply want it all to go away and she might pay.

Is this a common attempt to scam/extort some money? Does this sound familiar to anyone?

If the letter is followed up with another, what would be the likely next step for Jo? Citizens Advice, a lawyer of her own, the police or just ignore it?

Thanks

[JamieBeeston]

coyft said:

Phone the solicitor and ask if it is a genuine letter.

Exactly this, and then if not, invite them to read said letter and then leave it with them to handle.

Nothing to be lost in this approach.

[BlueHave]

'civil injunction pre-action letter'

Maybe it's just me but that doesn't sound like a title a legitimate solicitor would use.

I'd probably get someone you know with a legal mind to write back on behalf Jo.

[eldrich]

Call the solicitor, if it was from them ask them to tell the other party to stop harassing your friend with false allegations. If it was not from them ask them if they would like to have a word with the other party to stop using their name to harass your friend.

if they request it in writing then put it in writing making sure you do not say anything false.

[98elise]

Can you post a scan of the letter. There are lawers on PH who would probably rip it to pieces is seconds if it's not legit. Non solicitors trying to write legal sounding documents would be obvious.

As has been said, call the solicitors ASAP and send them a copy of the letter. They will not be happy if someone is using their name in a scam.

If it's been faked then pass it to the police.

Edited by 98elise on Wednesday 1st August 08:06

[BeeGT]

Thank you for responses so far, I will call the solicitors today and update this post this evening. It's either A) a false letter in which case we'll let the solicitors decide what action they wish to take or B) it's a genuine letter, simply poorly written, but which contains false allegations and requires our friend to seek some professional advice

[Julietbravo]

I read a couple of weeks ago about something similar. Turns out the letter was from a clerk who worked at the solicitors and had access to headed paper. Letter referred to company, clerk lost job.

[roadsmash]

I have seen a solicitor’s letter like this in the past (badly written, poor grammar etc). My solicitor advised that most likely, the opposition’s firm knows full well their client is creating a storm in a teacup, has a slim chance of winning the case, and therefore either write the letter up very quickly or pass it to the firm’s paralegal to write up, who does it equally as quickly, with no real care or attention.

Once you confirm the letter is real, I’m confident it will be (on the basis I find it hard to believe a carer is likely to impersonate a law firm - of course I may be wrong), Jo will need professional advice, and I’m sure it will then be dealt with very swiftly.

[roadsmash]

After re-reading, I note that Sara may not be a carer, and just helped Jo’s husband on a personal level.

This does open up the possibility of a fraudulent letter, but I still think this is ballsy.

Do keep us updated OP.

[Ru78]

Can I suggest you Google the solicitors telephone number, don't just use the one on the letter... if false its possible they have thought to put their own or a disposable phone number on there...
Good luck.
Ru

[guindilias]

Was the envelope franked, or did it have a stamp on it? Most reasonable sized solicitor's offices will have a franking machine - I know mine does!

[4x4Tyke]

Who was the letter actually sent to? Jo or the cleaner?

Provide some immediate reassurance to Jo. She is not responsible for anything the cleaner may have said. She is also entitled to pursue her own life without interference. If Jo has clearly rejected the contact and it continues, she may be able to make a complaint under stalking laws. An enquire with the non-emergency number would be prudent. If you consider Jo to be potential vulnerable then point this out in during the call, it can trigger intervention by specialist teams. The Police can check for any past bad faith acts by Sara in this regard.

Fake 'official' letters seem to be a common phenomenon amongst the certain groups of social media morons.

Certainly enquire if the letter is genuine. I can see a telephone enquiry fobbed off under data protection. I would do it by letter to the managing partner not a phone call. You could prepare a letter yourself for Jo to sign, or ask her to sign an authority for you to respond.

If the letter is fake, they will not like it one little bit and are quite likely to pursue the issue from their own self interest. If the letter is real you've just increased Sara's costs. Deny the allegation out right in simple accurate/specific words, don't get all clever or wordy. Admit nothing, make no claims, just ask questions about the letters veracity/content.

If the letter is real, then go to professional advice, you can check Jo's legal aid entitlement

https://www.gov.uk/check-legal-aid

Edited by 4x4Tyke on Thursday 2nd August 12:44

[Durzel]

As a side issue, are you certain that Sara does not have a key to Jo's house from her days nursing her husband? You presumably are not in a position to supervise Jo 24/7 and head off this attention she is receiving.

I wonder whether or not there would be any mileage in getting her phone number changed. BT ought to do it for free if informed about the harassment.

[PAULJ5555]

This must happen alot, im sure some of these carers/cleaners are just in it for a payday.

[Rude-boy]

Durzel said:

As a side issue, are you certain that Sara does not have a key to Jo's house from her days nursing her husband? You presumably are not in a position to supervise Jo 24/7 and head off this attention she is receiving.

I wonder whether or not there would be any mileage in getting her phone number changed. BT ought to do it for free if informed about the harassment.

Sensible.

Now await hearing what the OP has to say tonight after speaking to law firm. It is possible that a badly worded letter with typos ca escape a firm (certainly emails can have them when it is not specific legal wording, but a letter like that should not have any such mistakes, or if any perhaps one ultra minor one like th not the.

Personally i would be inclined to have respond in writing to the firm with a copy of 'their' letter to the effect of:-

"Dear Sirs,

Please find enclosed a copy letter which has recently been received by my elderly relative whom it has been addressed to purporting to have originated at your firm.

If required i can provide you with a letter of authority signed by my relative authorising me to deal with this matter on their behalf but in the first instance please can you respond to my relative specifically confirming that either this is a genuine letter, in which case she will take legal advice and respond to the baseless accusations contained therein, or alternatively confirm that the same did not originate from your firm.

If the latter happens to be the case, as i and my relative suspect, we will have no option other than to draw the letter to the attention of the Police and are sure that you may also be interested in lodging a complaint with them as we are aware of the damage to your profession that can be caused by people attempting to assume the identity of law firms and solicitors.

Yours faithfully, "

(PS the above not checked for typos )

[tinnitusjosh]

Rude-boy said:

Personally i would be inclined to have respond in writing to the firm with a copy of 'their' letter to the effect of:-

"Dear Sirs,

Please find enclosed a copy letter which has recently been received by my elderly relative whom it has been addressed to purporting to have originated at your firm.

If required i can provide you with a letter of authority signed by my relative authorising me to deal with this matter on their behalf but in the first instance please can you respond to my relative specifically confirming that either this is a genuine letter, in which case she will take legal advice and respond to the baseless accusations contained therein, or alternatively confirm that the same did not originate from your firm.

If the latter happens to be the case, as i and my relative suspect, we will have no option other than to draw the letter to the attention of the Police and are sure that you may also be interested in lodging a complaint with them as we are aware of the damage to your profession that can be caused by people attempting to assume the identity of law firms and solicitors.

Yours faithfully, "

Don't send this. No point threatening police action, or stating that claims are 'baseless', or offering 'letters or authority' at this stage.

Just call them and ask if the letter is genuine. If it is, just say you will consider it in due course. If it isn't, the solicitors will tell you what they want to do about it.

[WinstonWolf]

tinnitusjosh said:

Rude-boy said:

Personally i would be inclined to have respond in writing to the firm with a copy of 'their' letter to the effect of:-

"Dear Sirs,

Please find enclosed a copy letter which has recently been received by my elderly relative whom it has been addressed to purporting to have originated at your firm.

If required i can provide you with a letter of authority signed by my relative authorising me to deal with this matter on their behalf but in the first instance please can you respond to my relative specifically confirming that either this is a genuine letter, in which case she will take legal advice and respond to the baseless accusations contained therein, or alternatively confirm that the same did not originate from your firm.

If the latter happens to be the case, as i and my relative suspect, we will have no option other than to draw the letter to the attention of the Police and are sure that you may also be interested in lodging a complaint with them as we are aware of the damage to your profession that can be caused by people attempting to assume the identity of law firms and solicitors.

Yours faithfully, "

Don't send this. No point threatening police action, or stating that claims are 'baseless', or offering 'letters or authority' at this stage.

Just call them and ask if the letter is genuine. If it is, just say you will consider it in due course. If it isn't, the solicitors will tell you what they want to do about it.

Guess what line of business Rude is in

[tinnitusjosh]

WinstonWolf said:

Guess what line of business Rude is in

not solicitors, i hope

[Rude-boy]

tinnitusjosh said:

WinstonWolf said:

Guess what line of business Rude is in

not solicitors, i hope

Try reading it again. Carefully this time.

It does not say that they are going to report it to the police if it did originate from the solicitors.

I does say that if the firm confirms that the letter did not come from them then it would be reported to the Police.

It is a criminal offence to impersonate a solicitor - https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1974/47/part/...

Further firms spend thousands of pounds every year combating ID fraud.

Put it another way I would be very interested to know if there were someone putting together fake copies of our letterhead and sending letters in the name of my firm!

[rxe]

Ru78 said:

Can I suggest you Google the solicitors telephone number, don't just use the one on the letter... if false its possible they have thought to put their own or a disposable phone number on there...
Good luck.
Ru

Yes, do this.

If the letter is fake, then simply give it to them and let them pursue the scammer, I would not particularly like to have a law firm after me if I had impersonated them

If the letter is real, then you can ask WTF? Probably best to have Jo with you during the conversation, they may not speak to you directly.