Bogus emails and documentation purporting to have been sent by Chan Law LLC

Published on: 16 March 2009

This notice is issued by the Financial Supervision Commission (“the Commission”) in accordance with the powers conferred upon it under Section 30 of the Financial Services Act 2008.

Bogus emails and documentation purporting to have been sent by Chan Law LLC

The Commission has recently become aware of bogus emails falsely purporting to originate from individuals that are associated with Chan Law LLC.

The Commission has previously issued general advice regarding bogus correspondence falsely purporting to have been issued by genuine Isle of Man institutions. The earlier advice may be read on the following link /lib/docs/iomfsa/PublicWarnings/bogusLetters.pdf

In the e-mails that the Commission has recently become aware of the sender claims that a “Mr Ramalinga Raju is looking for an experienced business person/company that can profitably invest monies in excess of Thirty Nine Million US Dollars” and that “Mr Ramalinga Raju is willing to pay 10% for your role as beneficiary partner to the funds”.

In one example of the above emails seen by the Commission the email purports to have been sent from the email address of a Jessica Ferguson and reference is made to Zurich Bank International Limited.

There is a genuine entity on the Isle of Man by the name of Chan Law LLC but enquiries carried out by the Commission have established categorically that neither the genuine Chan Law LLC, nor any persons associated with it, are in any way connected or associated with the above bogus emails.

The emails seen by the Commission give a telephone and a fax number, both of which are not genuine Isle of Man numbers.

The Commission has previously issued a Public Warning regarding an email making false references to Jessica Fergusson and to Zurich Bank International Limited. The latest emails may in some way be related to those previously warned of. A copy of our earlier Public Warning may be read on the following link:

http://www.iomfsa.im/ViewNews.gov?page=lib/news/iomfsa/bogusemailsanddo1.xml

There is a genuine entity by the name of Zurich Bank International Limited, which is licensed by the Commission, but it is in no way connected or associated with the above bogus emails. There is a genuine Jessica Fergusson associated with Zurich Bank International Limited but she is in no way connected or associated with the above bogus emails.

A list of all institutions licensed by the Commission is available on our website at www.fsc.gov.im .

Under the circumstances the Commission feels that the aforementioned emails are being issued to either tempt the recipient into becoming the victim of an Advance Fee Fraud or are an attempt at gaining personal data from the recipient in order to steal their identity.

For your information please see explanatory notices issued by the Commission regarding Advance Fee Frauds and Identity Theft:

http://www.iomfsa.im/ViewNews.gov?page=lib/news/iomfsa/westafricanfraud.xml&menuid=11570)

http://www.iomfsa.im/ViewNews.gov?page=lib/news/iomfsa/identitytheft.xml&menuid=11570)

Also see information issued by the Isle of Man Office of the Data Protection Supervisor at:

http://www.gov.im/lib/news/odps/yourinformationy.xml

Under the circumstances the Commission would encourage people receiving emails matching the above description to refrain from responding to them in any way.

Any persons who are already involved in any dealings resulting from the above emails and who have concerns should contact the Enforcement Division on +44 1624 689313 or by email to fsc@gov.im.

Any persons who have paid out funds in relation to the above emails or who have provided personal financial details in relation to the above emails should consider contacting their local police fraud unit without delay.

Any persons who may have any concerns as to whether or not they are dealing with the genuine Chan Law LLC may wish to satisfy themselves by contacting the genuine Chan Law LLC at the email address info@chanlawllc.com

Any persons who may have any concerns as to whether or not they are dealing with the genuine Zurich Bank International Limited may wish to satisfy themselves by contacting the genuine Zurich Bank International Limited. Genuine contact details are available at: http://www.zurich.com/zurichbankinternational/home/home.htm.

FSC Reference: JPM/01/2009