- Report: #1468197
Complaint Review: James Soncuya Attorney - Sacramento California
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James Soncuya Attorney
Sacramento, California, United States
Phone:
9162490645
Web:
email [email protected]
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James Soncuya Attorney Joseph Gonzalez Paralegal Told me I was a victim. Asked for money up front to get "restitution" from offshore assets of convicted scammers. Sacramento California
I received a call from a 'paralegal' in Sacramento who said he was assigned to help me get restitution from a scam in 2010. He had my legal name and address, the exact details of a credit card transaction including the last four digits of the card. He asked to represent me in a Victim Validated Retribution Program from which I could be paid $346,851 USD from offshore assets being brought to the states. I would need to provide $3468.51 up front to cover the International Tax, alternately called a banking fee. I would also agree to give them 30% of the net proceeds.
I was told that $18 million had been recovered and was being distributed among 52 "victims. This was not about the $400 credit card transaction in 2010 but victim's restitution because the resort tour company had sold my information. I agreed to provide an email address, and received around ten emails, including a PDF of an investment certificate IN MY LEGAL NAME (misspelled) with Banco Popular (no address or date) showing my balance monthly, beginning in January 2017 with $346,851, and increasing by 1% per month to a 'current' value of $418,994.50 (July 2018) I received this in November.
I also received a hokey extract from the California State Bar verifying James Soncuya as an attorney in good standing. Many details were not the same as those given on the California State Bar website. I might conclude that the real James Soncuya has had HIS identity stolen! The web URL I was given brought up a GoDaddy page stating that the domain was available for purchase. The email address in the provided State Bar 'excerpt' was also invalid. A copy of a letter from Washington began as follows:
DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20220
OFFICE OF FOREIGN ASSETS CONTROL
September 1st, 2018
MR. JAMES RONALD SONCUYA, ESQ
(MY FULL LEGAL NAME)
RE: ERIC M. THORSON
91 CM 3609
DEAR MR SONCUYA:
Your client (MY FULL LEGAL NAME) is a victim involving the defendants etc,
The body of the letter contained an apparent promise to have the $346,851 turned over to me once the International Transfer Fee was received by Mr. Thorson, who personally signed the letter, as well as a capitalized warning that if I did not act within three days the amount would be forfeited! The letter concluded as follows: If you have any questions regarding this matter, please call me at (202) 370-7667.
Sincerely,
Eric Thorson
Inspector General
Research on that phone number shows it to be fake, and probably ported.
This is an elaborate hoax. Mr. Gonzalez was very persistent in calling me over the course of a couple weeks, and delivering all the emails, including a (2017 tax year) copy of Form IRS 1116. Long after I declined to send money I continued to get emails.
