This page displays information on scams targeting Oregon lawyers, firms and courts that have been reported to the OSB. Details and links are provided below and new information will be added as received.
To report a new scam, please call us or send a detailed email to webmaster@osbar.org.
New Email Phishing Scam – June 2025
A new email scam is targeting legal professionals in Oregon, as well as bars in other states. This is a phishing attempt, and should be reported to your internal IT professionals and deleted. The email claims to come from a staff member of the Oregon State Bar, but the email address it is sent from includes "@osbar.org.virumail.com," which is not an OSB email address. All OSB emails come from the same domain: "@osbar.org." If there are any other letters or numbers in the email address after the @ symbol, the email is not from the Oregon State Bar. We will update any new or developing information on this page.
OSB Website – December 2024
The OSB website was compromised on Thursday December 26, 2024. This resulted in fake pop-up ads appearing on the web page. As of 11:30AM Friday December 27 the risk has been contained. There is no evidence of any breach of the bar's data or other systems. Anyone who continues to see the ads can resolve the issue by clearing their cache and restarting their browser. We also recommend increasing browser security settings to block pop-ups. For questions, please email info@osbar.org.
Personal Injury Email Scam – September 2024
A new scam targeting lawyers and law firms uses a personal injury claim as its basis. The scammers reportedly send an email to a law office claiming to be the victim of a dog bite (they could alter the facts for different targets). They claim that the parties wish to settle out of court and seek assistance with a settlement agreement, and they provide a check for the attorney to put into trust. The check is fake, and the scammers hope that the attorney will pay the “client” out of their trust account. In the incident reported to the OSB, the firm's bank caught the fake check, and no harm was done.
Domain Name Spoof – July 2024
There is a current spam/phishing effort targeting Oregon State Bar members. The email comes from a “member-osbar.org” domain name, and purports to be a follow up to an email sent last week from OSB President Dave Rosen. This email and domain name are not affiliated with the OSB. We are working to get the domain name shutdown. In the meantime, please treat this email as SPAM.
Law Firm Domain Name Scam – May 2024
The OSB has received information that a new scam is targeting Oregon lawyers. The scammer will register a domain name that appears nearly identical to a real law firm's domain name, then send emails to individuals using an email address from the fake domain name (usually using the first name of an attorney from that firm). They then attempt to establish contact and build rapport, convince the recipient to download a file or attachment, and eventually provide them with routing/wire information for settlement funds.
The scammer also spoofs their email to make it look like the email legitimately comes from the person the scammer is trying to impersonate, but when the recipient replies to the email, the “to” address will be different. The best way to avoid getting caught in this scam is to click “Reply” before replying to an unexpected (or unusual) email and double-check that the email address - and especially the domain name (the part between the @ symbol and “.com” or “.org”) - are spelled correctly.
Oregon State Bar Security Incident – February 2023
The email account of one Oregon State Bar staff person was compromised and spam emails were sent from their contact list. Further investigation of the incident indicated it was limited to one person’s email account, no other OSB systems or data were accessed. Please be alert for phishing attacks even when they appear to come from a trusted partner like OSB. Bad actors are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their methods, including compromising legitimate email accounts to send phishing emails. Watch this video from Microsoft about how to spot phishing attacks.
OSB List Serve Members Subject to Scam – February 2022
Members of several OSB section list serves have been targeted by a scam beginning February 3. The messages do not come through the OSB system, but are crafted to appear as though they come from an OSB list serve, and they use the names of OSB members as the apparent sender. Members are reminded that OSB list serve security does not support use of attachments. If you receive an email purportedly related to list serve activity, and it has an attachment, it is not from the OSB. Delete without opening. If you have questions, please contact info@osbar.org.
DOJ Job Scam – September 2021
A new scam is targeting individuals interested in applying for jobs at the Oregon Department of Justice. These fake job listings are created by scraping legitimate websites, such as LinkedIn, and then substituting false information and embedding links which lead to website(s) that are used to harvest personally identifiable information. More information on avoiding this, and other scams, is available at https://www.doj.state.or.us/media-home/news-media-releases/beware-of-job-scams/
Unemployment Scam – February 2021
Numerous OSB members report that unemployment claims have been filed under their names with the Oregon Employment Division. Most discovered the scam through emails or letters to their employers referring to these claims. If you believe you may have been a victim of this scam, please report to the Employment Department here: https://secure.emp.state.or.us/public/IDTheftReporting/compose.cfm?lang=E
Oregon State Bar Referral Services Scam – September 2020
Some OSB members have received an email message with the subject line "I was referred to you by the Bar Referral Services. Do advise if your firm handles Litigation Cases." The email is a scam. The bar's referral service makes referrals only to its panel members, and those lawyers receive an email confirmation whenever a referral is made.
Oregon State Bar Dues Scam – January 2020
Numerous Oregon State Bar members have received an email that appears to come from the OSB, with a link to pay 2020 dues. The link embedded in the email address is “info@associations-inv.com.” To pay your fees, or check OSB status, you can log in to your password-protected dashboard on the Oregon State Bar website at www.osbar.org.
Cashier's Check Scam -- November 2019
An OSB member has reported that a version of the “cashier's check” scam targeting lawyers is active in Oregon. This one involves a supposed client needing help collecting a settlement check related to employment discrimination. Although the Oregon lawyer who reported this did not proceed beyond a simple email exchange, the Florida bar has details on the full extent of the scam on its website:
https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-news/beware-the-cashiers-check-scam-is-still-out-there/
Email Phishing – October 2019
A member has reported a probable scam from a person claiming to need a personal injury lawyer following a fall in a hospital parking lot. The person claims to have sent documents to the targeted lawyer's office.
Email Phishing – July 2019
Oregon Judicial Department (OJD) email system was compromised in a
phishing attack in mid-July. Exercise caution in clicking on unknown links and verify the
origin of emails, even from recognized sources. More information here:
https://www.osbar.org/_docs/resources/OJD-Notice-of-Phishing-Incident.pdf.
Employment Scam
At least one Oregon firm had a job applicant who had used a
national company to create a fictitious but fairly sophisticated employment history. The
fabrications included fake law firm web sites to represent previous employers listed on a
resume, and live people answering phones to provide the references. The firm caught the
scam, but it raised concerns about client vulnerability if these scams are successful. For
more information, research the growing “fake job reference” industry.
For timely updates on scams in Oregon, including an archive of recent scams, see the Department of Justice's resource page here: https://www.doj.state.or.us/consumer-protection/sales-scams-fraud/report-scams-fraud/