When an individual is victim to an online scam through a fake website, the simple part for counsel is determining on which legal grounds an action can be successfully brought against those responsible, Toronto civil and commercial litigator Patrick Summers writes inLawyers Weekly. Read Lawyers Weekly
The major challenge in such a situation, he writes, is locating those behind the rogue website, and more importantly, ensuring that it is immediately shut down, however possible.
“Contacting the police is usually a client’s first thought, but the response will likely be that, unless there is evidence somebody has been defrauded, the authorities cannot, or will not, act,” writes Summers, partner with Birenbaum Steinberg Landau Savin & Colraine. “There is an anti-fraud division of the RCMP that is available to deal with complaints of this nature.”
Involving IT specialists is essential, Summers writes, noting, “The offending party may be anywhere in the world and the biggest problem is finding the culprits and those who are assisting them. You may be savvy enough on your own, but an experienced IT person is likely to better know ways around the various searches that can be conducted.”
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