Criminal Law - Be wary of scams that could leave you and your bank account worse off

I recently came into contact with client. This client was married with a young child. The client had read an advertisement in the Daily Telegraph classifieds section offering Casual Relationships. The client contacted the mobile number from the ad and went to an unlisted office, where he signed what he believed to be a contract to join as a member. He also paid $300.00 to a woman. He was not given a copy of the contract or a receipt for the money he paid.

Shortly after this time the client was contacted by two women via SMS, but he did not actually meet any women. The client then decided that he did not want to continue with his membership. He made contact by ringing the mobile phone number for ‘Casual Relationships”, and explained that he wished to cancel his membership. At this time a woman told him that he could cancel his membership but he now needed to pay $6500.00 as a cancellation fee. The client explained that he could not afford to pay this amount of money. He was threatened and coerced when the woman claimed that if he did not pay the money, they would come to his home and tell his wife.   He was worried about this happening and for the safety of his wife and young child that he finally agreed to pay $3500. He was given a receipt but the receipt did not have the name of the business or appear to be a proper receipt. He asked for a copy of the contract he originally signed, but this was refused.

The following day the client was contacted again and threatened that he needed to pay another $9000. The client again explained that he could not afford to pay this money. After he was informed that they knew where he lived and would come to his home. He agreed to pay the sum of $8000, again he was given a receipt, without a company name, the signature of the person could not be deciphered. He was also given a scrap of paper where a person had written on it, “Cancellation fee, No further payments”.

For almost $12000, the client had received no copy of a contract, no proper receipts and no services rendered. This was clearly a scam in which the client believed that the threats made would be carried out. The client did not seek the advice of a lawyer until after he had paid all the money to the scammers.

The message here is to be careful and if you are being threatened or coerced you should seek legal advice immediately. Do not pay any money to anyone until you are able to be certain that it is legitimate. Make sure that you check out that the business and service being advertised are genuine.