<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="overflow-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;">I noticed their business card uses the non-USA phrase \u201cTrade Mark Lawyer.\u201d<div><br></div><div><div>Daniel Kegan</div><div>Counsel to Counsel\u2122</div><div>We identify, develop, and protect intangible business assets and<br>counsel other professionals on legal issues.<br>Balanced Counsel for Smart ClientsŪ</div><div>Kennett Square PA 19348 USA</div><div><dkegan@BhhLawFirm.com></div><div><br><blockquote type="cite"><div>On Jul 21, 2025, at 9:52\u202fPM, Stephen McArthur via E-trademarks <e-trademarks@oppedahl-lists.com> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif">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. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif">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.</p><span id="cid:ii_mddvphoe1"><image003.png></span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif">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. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif">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. </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif">It was very simple and low effort. So, if anyone else finds
themselves in a similar situation, here\u2019s what I did:</p><div style="margin: 0in 0in 0in 0.5in; line-height: 107%; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;">(1)<span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-feature-settings:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman"">
</span>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?<br><br></div><p class="gmail-MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt 0.5in;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif">(2)<span style="font-variant-numeric:normal;font-variant-east-asian:normal;font-variant-alternates:normal;font-size-adjust:none;font-kerning:auto;font-feature-settings:normal;font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman"">
</span>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.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin:0in 0in 8pt;line-height:107%;font-size:11pt;font-family:Aptos,sans-serif">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.</p><div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt; line-height: 107%; font-size: 11pt; font-family: Aptos, sans-serif;"> <br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div></div><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><b style="color:rgb(136,136,136)"><font color="#f1c232">The McArthur Law Firm<br></font></b>Stephen Charles McArthur<br><font color="#202124">8383 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 800<br></font><font color="#202124">Beverly Hills, CA 90211<br></font>(424) 258-6815<span style="font-family: Raleway, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; background-color: rgb(245, 245, 245);"><br></span></div><div><a href="http://www.smcarthurlaw.com/" target="_blank">www.smcarthurlaw.com</a><br><br><i>This email, including any attachments, may contain material that is confidential, privileged and/or attorney work product for the sole use of the intended recipient. Any review, reliance or distribution by others without express permission is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you are not the intended recipient or if you received this message in error, please notify us and delete all copies. Sender reserves and asserts all rights to confidentiality, including all privileges and IP that may apply. Thank you. </i></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
<span id="cid:f_mddvp9xp0"><image003.png></span>-- <br>E-trademarks mailing list<br>E-trademarks@oppedahl-lists.com<br>http://oppedahl-lists.com/mailman/listinfo/e-trademarks_oppedahl-lists.com<br></div></blockquote></div><br></div></body></html>