A letter, email or call from a “solicitor” carries authority, which is exactly why fraudsters borrow the title. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), which regulates solicitors and law firms in England and Wales, publishes scam alerts about people who call themselves solicitors but are not, and about criminals who copy the identity of a genuine firm. This guide explains the difference between the two, the checks the SRA points to, and the law behind the title. It covers England and Wales only and is general information, not legal advice.
Bogus solicitors and cloned firms
The SRA distinguishes two problems. A bogus solicitor is an individual who falsely claims to be a solicitor. A cloned solicitor or firm involves the theft or misuse of a genuine firm’s or solicitor’s identity. The SRA’s scam alerts have documented fraudulent websites impersonating genuine firms, forged correspondence using real solicitors’ names, unsolicited calls, emails and WhatsApp messages falsely claiming to come from a firm, and clone firms operating under authentic law firm names.
Because a clone uses a real name, the usual reassurance of “this firm exists” does not help. The SRA’s advice for cloned identities is to carry out your own due diligence by contacting the firm directly using reliable and established means, not the details on the message.
What the law says about calling yourself a solicitor
Two provisions of the Solicitors Act 1974, both marked as applying to England and Wales, protect the title. Section 20 says no unqualified person is to act as a solicitor; a person who breaks this is guilty of an offence and, on conviction on indictment, is liable to imprisonment for not more than two years, a fine, or both. Section 21 says an unqualified person who wilfully pretends to be, or uses a name, title, addition or description implying that they are, qualified or recognised by law as qualified to act as a solicitor, commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale. The SRA states that it is a criminal offence to call yourself a solicitor or act as one if you are not on the roll of solicitors, which it administers.
The SRA adds that not every “lawyer” is a solicitor. Anyone providing legal services may use the word “lawyer”, but only regulated professionals can claim the title “solicitor”.
How to check a firm
- Search the Solicitors Register. The SRA says to check the register using the firm’s regulated name (not a trading name) or its SRA ID number.
- Ask for the SRA number. The SRA says all genuine solicitors are on the roll of solicitors and can give their SRA number on request.
- Verify contact details independently. Use details from previous genuine correspondence or from a source you already trust, and not from the message that arrived.
- Read the SRA scam alerts. The alerts page can be searched for a firm’s name and lists identity misuse reported to the SRA.
The guide to checking a website or financial firm covers the parallel steps for financial firms.
Scams the SRA describes that use lawyer contact
The SRA’s general scams page lists a range of approaches, several of which use legal-sounding messages:
- texts or emails claiming that a person can claim compensation for a recent accident or get rid of debts quickly;
- advance fee fraud, promising vast sums in exchange for an advance fee for helping to transfer money out of a country;
- inheritance scams, where a distant relative or foreign government official has supposedly died and left a large inheritance that needs administrative fees paid;
- lottery scams, saying a prize has been won without a ticket being bought; and
- phishing emails that lead to fake login screens.
The SRA’s warning signs are unsolicited contact by email, text, call or post; requests for bank details, full names, dates of birth or login credentials; and promises that seem implausible. Its advice is never to provide money or personal details upfront. The site’s guides to inheritance and unclaimed-funds scams and lottery and prize draw scams cover those two types in more detail, and property and conveyancing fraud deals with impersonation during a house purchase.
If something seems wrong
- Stop and do not send money, documents or personal details.
- Check the firm on the Solicitors Register and call it using independently sourced contact details.
- Contact the SRA immediately if you suspect a bogus solicitor or believe a genuine firm’s identity has been copied. The SRA also says suspected regulated individuals should be reported to it.
- Report the contact to the police or through Report Fraud, which the SRA names as the route for reporting scams.
If money has been lost, the guide to where to report a scam covers the next steps.
The bottom line
A person who is not on the roll of solicitors and calls themselves a solicitor commits an offence in England and Wales, but criminals ignore that, and clones use the identity of real firms. The reliable checks are the Solicitors Register, the firm’s SRA number, and contact details found independently of the message. Anyone who suspects a bogus or cloned firm should stop, verify, and contact the SRA.
Sources
- Solicitors Regulation Authority, “Bogus fake solicitors”
- Solicitors Regulation Authority, “Scam alerts”
- Solicitors Regulation Authority, “Scams”
- legislation.gov.uk, “Solicitors Act 1974, section 20: Unqualified person not to act as solicitor”
- legislation.gov.uk, “Solicitors Act 1974, section 21: Unqualified person not to pretend to be a solicitor”