Website and email scams targeting Chambers

July 15, 2010

Website scam

Chambers has recently become aware that the content of the Arden Chambers website has been appropriated by a company calling itself Rikoma Chambers which uses a fictitious postal address. This website and/or the company it purports to promote are not in any way associated with Arden Chambers' members or staff. The website is likely to be used in conjunction with email scams as part of fraud sometimes referred to as 'phishing' since the aim is to obtain personal information. The scammers use our logo and pictures on a fraudulent website and in phishing e-mails in order to create an illusion of legitimacy. Often links contained in the e-mails will be to our own pages, however, there will also be links to the phishing website and there are likely to be requests for personal or corporate information. Arden Chambers does not make requests for personal or corporate information via e-mail and you should therefore not respond to any such requests. If you receive a suspicious email which makes a request for personal or corporate information please forward it to clerks@ardenchambers.com.

Email scams

Chambers has recently become aware that a number of emails have been sent which purport to come either from members of Chambers or from fictitious members of Chambers. The form of these emails will be familiar to many as “419 scams” and commonly involve an invitation to the recipient to assist someone who is the “beneficiary of a will” and who requires assistance in releasing the money. Such emails are fraudulent and if you receive one you should not reply to it.

If you receive a suspicious email which claims to come from a member of Chambers, please forward it to clerks@ardenchambers.com as the clerks are monitoring these bogus emails and are forwarding them to the appropriate authorities. If you wish to find out further details about such email scams, information is provided by:

• The police at www.met.police.uk/fraudalert/index.htm
• The Financial Services Authority at www.moneymadeclear.fsa.gov.uk/news/scams/cams_and_swindles.html
• The Office of Fair Trading at www.oft.gov.uk/consumer/scams/default.htm