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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt">Great work. And great information.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#246172">Louis J. Levy | Attorney</span></b><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#246172"><br>
</span></b><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#246172">Symbus Law Group PLLC</span></b><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#246172"><br>
</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black">1775</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black">
</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black">I Street, NW, Suite 1150 \u2022 Washington, DC 20006</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black"><br>
</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black">Direct: </span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black">
</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black">240.453.9211</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#365F91">\u2022</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black">
</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;letter-spacing:.2pt">Mobile: </span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;letter-spacing:.2pt">
</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;letter-spacing:.2pt">202.258.6547</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;letter-spacing:.2pt"><br>
</span><u><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:black;letter-spacing:.2pt">llevy</span></u><u><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#365F91"><a href="mailto:eraynes@symbus.com%0dwww.symbus.com"><span style="color:#365F91">@symbus.com</span></a></span></u><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#365F91"> \u2022</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif;color:#365F91">
<u><a href="mailto:eraynes@symbus.com%0dwww.symbus.com"><span style="color:#365F91">www.symbus.com</span></a></u></span><span style="font-size:11.0pt"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> E-trademarks <e-trademarks-bounces@oppedahl-lists.com>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Stephen McArthur via E-trademarks<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Monday, July 21, 2025 9:52 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> Carl Oppedahl <e-trademarks@oppedahl-lists.com><br>
<b>Cc:</b> Stephen McArthur <stephen@smcarthurlaw.com><br>
<b>Subject:</b> [E-trademarks] Successful(?) victory over a trademark scammer!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:106%"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:106%">About a week ago, I started getting numerous work phone calls and work emails from people I\u2019d never met either referencing previous communications
that never happened, or warning me that a scammer was pretending to be me and soliciting them to send money for supposed trademark work. This scammer was targeting owners of trademarks on the USPTO trademark registry that weren\u2019t represented by an attorney,
and sending them very scary sounding emails about how they would lose all of their trademark rights unless they sent him several hundred dollars to file something with the USPTO on their behalf to assert their rights. He would send increasingly urgent and
scary looking follow up emails until they would respond. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:106%"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:106%">This scammer identified himself as \u201cStephen McArthur, trademark lawyer\u201d and had at least 3 different legitimate looking websites set up that seemed
to be IP law firms. He had a local LA phone number. I\u2019ve attached one of the business cards he used as his email signature so you can see for yourself.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><img border="0" width="413" height="235" style="width:4.2986in;height:2.4444in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.png@01DBFAED.28BD9D70"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:106%"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:106%"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:106%"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:106%">I called the number and someone with a South Asian accent picked up the phone and identified himself as trademark lawyer Stephen McArthur. I told
him that I was the real Stephen McArthur and asked him to stop using my name to scam people. He laughed at me and told me to kill myself. The next morning, I got another email from someone referencing a phone call that had just occurred with fake Stephen McArthur
asking them to send money for trademark work. This means that even after my phone call with the scammer the day before, he was still using my name to scam people.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:106%"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:106%">I wasn\u2019t really sure what to do. I brainstormed a few ideas, but it\u2019s not actually easy to get some anonymous person from the internet to stop
scamming people. After much brainstorming with my colleague, Tom, with mostly defaulting to filing a lawsuit and subpoenaing the website hosts and phone companies for the owner\u2019s personal information, which would take MANY many months, effort, and money, we
came up with a different solution that was effective. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:106%"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:106%">It was very simple and low effort. So, if anyone else finds themselves in a similar situation, here\u2019s what I did:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="gmail-msolistparagraph" style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:.5in;line-height:106%">
<span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:106%">(1)</span><span style="font-size:7.0pt;line-height:106%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">
</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:106%">I found the hosts for the scammer\u2019s websites and filled out forms they had to report fraud at a domain they hosted. Each of them emailed me back asking for more information, and I wrote up a few paragraphs
explaining it and attaching 4-5 emails from people alerting me to the scammer and forwarding me emails from him. The website hosts then shut down his website. This won\u2019t stop him from finding a shadier website host\u2026 but it does slow him down. His websites
still aren\u2019t back up several days later. And maybe he\u2019ll choose a different lawyer next time?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="gmail-msolistparagraph" style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:8.0pt;margin-left:.5in;line-height:106%">
<span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:106%">(2)</span><span style="font-size:7.0pt;line-height:106%;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">
</span><span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:106%">I looked up his phone number and found it is from T-Mobile. I called their customer support fraud department and spent about an hour on the line with them before concluding that there was absolutely nothing
they could do. They told me I\u2019d need to talk directly to their lawyers, but they wouldn\u2019t give me any contact info whatsoever or transfer me. So, customer support was a dead end.
<br>
<br>
I ended up going to T-Mobile\u2019s terms of service and finding their DMCA email address that goes straight to their copyright attorney. I emailed them and said I had an IP issue I needed to discuss, and asked for their phone number. A real copyright lawyer responded
and said I\u2019d need to fill out the DMCA form properly to get a response. I replied with my screed about the fraud, attaching all evidence. They responded 2 days later saying they had worked with their fraud team to successfully shut down the number.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:106%"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:106%">So now his websites and phone number are shut down, yay! Hopefully, if he puts them back up, he\u2019ll choose someone else to impersonate.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.0pt;line-height:106%"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:106%"> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color:#F1C232">The McArthur Law Firm<br>
</span></b>Stephen Charles McArthur<br>
<span style="color:#202124">8383 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 800<br>
Beverly Hills, CA 90211<br>
</span>(424) 258-6815<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.smcarthurlaw.com" target="_blank">www.smcarthurlaw.com</a><br>
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