According to the Office of Lawyer Regulation, Wisconsin attorneys should be extra-vigilant regarding potential scams involving IOLTA accounts.
Oct. 16, 2013 – The Office of Lawyer Regulation OLR has received notice of an email scam that is targeted at lawyers and their IOLTA accounts. Do not open (“click on”) the attachment in any email communication notifying you that there are insufficient funds in your IOLTA account. The attachment is a zip file that is presumed to contain malware.
The District of Columbia Bar reported that its filtering systems detected and blocked numerous email messages addressed to its employees on Oct. 7. Several states have also reported in the last few days that their lawyers have been targeted by this email scam.
The email includes a forged service @citibank.com return address. The fraudulent message reads:
“Please see the attached IOLTA report for 7448-1996. We received a check request in the amount of $19,521.42 for the above referenced file. However, the attached report reflects a $0 balance. At your earliest convenience, please advise how this request is to be funded. Thanks.
Chris Cisneros
Accounts Payable
National Bankruptcy Services, LLC”