Emails have been sent claiming to be from A & Y Law Limited in relation to an immigration matter.
What is the scam?
Emails have been sent claiming to be from two individual called ‘Govind Raj’ and ‘Bhaskar’ claiming to be ‘Tier 2 General Visa Consultant’ at a genuine firm of solicitors in relation to an immigration application.
The emails were sent using email addresses of ‘bhaskarbabusapfico@gmail.com’ and ‘tier2ukvisa@gmail.com’. The SRA understands a mobile contact number of ‘8247892462’ was also provided.
The emails misuse the name, contact details and a former postal address of a genuine firm of solicitors (see below).
Any business or transactions through the above email addresses and telephone number are not undertaken by an authorised solicitor’s practice or by an individual authorised and regulated by the SRA.
Is there a genuine firm or person?
The SRA authorised and regulated a genuine firm of solicitors called A & Y Law Limited trading as A Y & J Solicitors. The firm is based at 5 Chancery Lane London WC2A 1LG. The firm previous address was 53-64 Chancery Lane London WC2A 1QS until 3 March 2021. The telephone contact number is 02074047933.
The genuine firm A & Y Law Limited has confirmed that they do not have any connection to the alert referred to above.
What should I do?
When a firm’s or individual’s identity has been copied exactly (or cloned), due diligence is necessary. If you receive correspondence claiming to be from the above firm(s) or individual(s), or information of a similar nature to that described, you should conduct your own due diligence by checking the authenticity of the correspondence by contacting the law firm directly by reliable and established means. You can contact the SRA to find out if individuals or firms are regulated and authorised by the SRA and verify an individual’s or firm’s practising details. Other verification methods, such as checking public records (e.g. telephone directories and company records) may be required in other circumstances.
Reference – https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/scam-alerts/2022/may/a-y-law-limited/
