There are illegal scams in operation in which the Clifford Chance name and/or the names of our lawyers are being misused.

Fraudulent schemes may involve emails, letters, telephone calls, text messages, instant messages, and fake profiles on social media platforms including LinkedIn and Instagram. In some cases, fraudsters use domain names closely resembling ours or create lookalike websites. The methods used are constantly changing. Clifford Chance and its lawyers have no involvement in any such schemes.

Genuine emails from Clifford Chance use only the "@cliffordchance.com" domain. We do not use Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, or any other free or third-party email services. You should remain alert to email addresses that use deliberately misspelt or slightly altered versions of our domain name, for example:

• [name]@cliifordchance.com
• [name]@cliffordchancelegal.com
• [name]@cliffordchancelawllp.com
• [name]@cliffordchance-law.com
• cliffordchance_legalrepresentative@lawyer.com

This list is not exclusive - new variations are constantly being registered by fraudulent actors.

Please be vigilant. If you receive an unexpected or unusual communication that appears to come from our firm or one of our lawyers, do not reply or take any action until you have verified it. Contact us directly to confirm authenticity before responding.

Common types of scams

Fraudulent communications involving our name can take one or more of the following forms:

• Requests for upfront fees in connection with inheritances, job offers, or the recovery of lost funds
• Demands for payment of fictitious invoices or redirection of payment to unauthorised bank accounts
• Requests to continue conversations outside the initial instant messaging platform
• Invitations through text messages or social media platforms to join class actions or to provide personal or confidential information
• Instructions to sign a non-disclosure agreement through an online platform in connection with a purportedly confidential transaction
• Allegations of copyright infringement, sometimes including links or attachments that may contain malware — do not click on these
• Fake recruitment offers requiring payment of an administrative or equipment fee
• Impersonation of our lawyers via messaging platforms such as WhatsApp, Telegram, or similar applications — we do not initiate contact with clients or third parties through such services

These are examples only. This is not an exhaustive list and new scams emerge constantly.

What you should do

• Do not reply to or engage with any communication you suspect to be fraudulent
• Do not click on links or open attachments in suspicious messages
• To check whether a communication is genuine, contact us
• If you receive an email purporting to be from Clifford Chance that you wish to report, please contact us and send a copy of the email as an attachment (not a forwarded message), so that we can take action against the domain
• For additional guidance, the Solicitors Regulation Authority publishes scam alerts at sra.org.uk/consumers/scam-alerts