Debevoise & Plimpton sues over phishing scheme using law firm’s name

REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration

(Reuters) – New York-based law firm Debevoise & Plimpton told a Virginia federal court that cybersquatters have been imitating it online to trick victims into sending them money and sensitive information.

The firm said in a Monday complaint that the owners of “debevoise-law.com” and “debevoise-laws.com” have been sending emails using names of actual Debevoise attorneys as part of a phishing campaign. The lawsuit asks the court to transfer the domain names to Debevoise.

Debevoise-law.com redirects visitors to Debevoise’s real website, while debevoise-laws.com shows ads for legal services. The firm said it doesn’t know who’s running the sites because the owners’ information on the sites’ registration records has been concealed by an Iceland-based privacy service.

The complaint said web hosting service Namecheap hasn’t acted on requests from Debevoise in October and November to take the sites down.

Namecheap, which is not named as a defendant, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Debevoise sued the websites for trademark cyberpiracy under federal law. A statement from the firm said it “does not tolerate this type of criminal activity,” and that it plans to move quickly to “capture these domain names and put an end to this scheme.”

The firm’s lawyers David Bernstein and Jonathan Tuttle represent it in the case.

The case is Debevoise & Plimpton LLP v. debevoise-law.com, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, No. 1:21-cv-01386.

For Debevoise: David Bernstein and Jonathan Tuttle of Debevoise & Plimpton

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