Texas lawyer sues Citibank over fake cheque scam
A Houston lawyer is suing Citibank after being taken for $182,500 by email scammers claiming to be a debt-chasing Japanese company, Texas Lawyer reports.
Richard T Howell Jr, of Buckley, White, Castaneda & Howell, fell for a classic cheque fraud scam. His "Japanese" contacts claimed they were pursuing four outstanding debts in the US - a total of $3.6m of which Howell would collect a healthy percentage for helping process the funds.
The scammers duly informed Howells that one debtor had agreed to stump part of what it owed, $367,500, and a "Citibank Official Check" for that amount subsequently arrived, which Howells deposited into one of his firm's account at the Sterling Bank in Houston.
Howell claims that an employee of his firm "telephoned Citibank and verified that check number 310096829 in the amount of $367,500 was paid". Howell then made a "wire transfer of $182,500 to a supplier of [the Japanese company] in Hong Kong".
