News & Notices

A referral business named “Pro Accident Injury Lawyers” is including names of North Carolina lawyers who are not participants in the referral service.

The North Carolina State Bar has learned that a scam targeting owners of timeshares has resurfaced in North Carolina.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation recently provided the State Bar with a helpful checklist for use by victims of wire transfer fraud.

The State Bar has recently learned of two separate email scams that appear to be targeting lawyers or individuals associated with the legal profession.

The NC State Bar has been notified of an email scam. The email is from “Ethics Board” and urges recipient to click on links to review complaints against the attorney. This is a malware scam - do NOT open.

The State Bar participated in the Wire Fraud Prevention Best Practices webinar from the NC Closing Task Force.

The North Carolina State Bar has learned that a caller representing an entity named “Small Business Growth Alliance” is calling lawyers and telling them that their IOLTA accounts are due for audit. The caller falsely claims that Small Business Growth Alliance is authorized by the State Bar to perform random audits and tries to schedule the audits.

The North Carolina State Bar has received inquiries from members of the public about letters sent to them by “Mason C. Donovan.” The letters indicate that Mason C. Donovan is a North Carolina lawyer practicing with the Charlotte firm “Donovan and Paquette.”

The State Bar first alerted North Carolina lawyers to the compromised email wire instructions fraud scheme in April 2015. Unfortunately, over two years later, North Carolina lawyers continue to fall prey to this scam, causing millions of dollars of losses to clients and law firms.

We have received a report of a fraudulent attempt to collect NC bar dues over the phone via credit card. We do not solicit payments by phone.