Scams

A scam is a type of fraud used by criminals to trick you into giving them money or personal details. To help scams appear genuine, sometimes criminals will use the name of law firms, solicitors, or other individuals within the firm without their knowledge. In particular, the risk posed by criminals intercepting emails and changing correct bank details is increasing). To minimise this risk, we will never change our bank details during a transaction, or send our bank details by email.

Law firms are being targeted by criminals to conduct cyber fraud and we are aware that Shakespeare Martineau has previously been targeted by criminals in this way. We continue to work with relevant authorities and regulators to take proactive steps to prevent incidents occurring. The Solicitors Regulation Authority consider this to be a high risk to the legal profession ad to the public, and provide an update of recent scam alerts on their website here:

Scam Alerts

Keeping your money safe
It’s important to us that you know how to keep your money safe when making payments and how to look out for scams. Whenever you make a payment to a new bank account, check with your bank that the details match the name on the account, and it is who you were expecting to pay.

Some scammers will try to impersonate someone or a business to request payment from you. So you know when it is us, whenever we request a payment from you, we will always include your client reference number and a statement as to what the payment is for. If you are ever in doubt, speak to your solicitor or a member of the team who will be happy to verify our details with you by phone or in an office.

Contact us

If you are unsure of any communication or documentation purporting to be from Shakespeare Martineau or any member, employee or consultant associated with the Firm, please contact our Risk Team in writing at Shakespeare Martineau, No 1 Colmore Square, Birmingham, B4 6AA;

by telephone on 0121 214 0000 or by email at risk@shma.co.uk