The Oregon Department of Justice’s Consumer Hotline is warning Oregonians about a new scam involving scammers impersonating Oregon lawyers to target victims. In the two cases reported, victims lost hundreds of thousands of dollars to scammers pretending to be attorneys.

In the first case, a fraudulent website impersonating an Oregon attorney successfully scammed victims out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. One victim obtained the “attorney’s” information through a person she met on the dating app Hinge – and believing the individual to be a real attorney offering investment services, she transferred funds with the expectation of receiving returns.In a separate incident, a consumer lost over $700,000 when scammers gained unauthorized access to both the attorney’s and the client’s email accounts. Scammers were aware that the client was expecting a substantial settlement, so they impersonated the client to provide false wiring instructions, and they impersonated the attorney to cancel a scheduled meeting. Although the deception was discovered shortly after the transfer and a hold was reportedly placed on the funds, it remains unclear how much, if any, of the money has been or will be recovered. This matter is under investigation by the FBI and the involved financial institutions.

“Scams are becoming increasingly sophisticated, predatory, and cruel. This is a reminder to practice extreme caution when it comes to money, even if something – or someone – seems legitimate.” -AG Rayfield