[1]E-mail: take care if you get one from the Law Society
Solicitors have been warned to be on alert for scam e-mails that appear to come from the Law Society and have attachments that potentially contain a virus.
The news comes on the back of a recent phishing attack [2] on firms with e-mails that were made to look like they had been sent by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).
The Law Society said the e-mails have been sent from a variety of e-mail addresses, including some fraudulently using the @lawsociety.org.uk domain. The e-mails are sent with a Word document and the subject ‘Notification regarding a fraudulent activity involving [recipient name]’.
It said: “These e-mails are not legitimate and should not be opened, forwarded or downloaded. They should be deleted. Recipients who have opened the email should contact their IT provider for support and alert the Action Fraud police service [3].”
Chancery Lane stressed that the e-mails are originating from a third party and that its own systems have not been compromised,.
“The illegitimate emails are being investigated as a matter of urgency by the Law Society with the assistance of appropriate technical and law enforcement agencies, including the National Crime Agency,” it added.
However, the Law Society said it would continue to send out e-mails and newsletters, which “should not be disregarded”.
Last month the SRA published a guide [4] to combating cyber crime in the wake of the e-mail scam, which said the use of harmful software has been of increasing concern to the regulator.
Other potential risks include bogus law firms – reports of which soard 57% last year to 549 – hacking and online activism.