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We are aware of fraudulent attempts that improperly exploit the name and trademark of Portolano Cavallo, or the identities of its professionals. The official (and only) website of Portolano Cavallo is exclusively www.portolano.it, and communications from its professionals are sent exclusively via email addresses in the format “[firstnamelastnameinitial]@portolano.it”.
Details:
Portolano Cavallo is aware of the unauthorized use of its name and trademark by parties outside the Firm to send fraudulent communications aimed at obtaining undue financial gain through the provision of “fake” legal services.
These fraudulent communications can take various forms, including emails, WhatsApp messages, SMS, social media profiles, and websites. The main types of fraudulent activity identified are listed below:
- Websites – Portolano Cavallo’s official website is exclusively portolano.it. By way of example, the following fraudulent websites have been identified; they are in no way affiliated with the Firm but contained profiles of some of our professionals:
- https://prevenzione-delle-frodi.cc/avvocatihtml
- https://www.anti-froda.cc/team.
- Email – They use domains similar to the Firm’s legitimate ones or generic email domains (such as Gmail, Outlook, Hotmail, or Yahoo), which Portolano Cavallo professionals do not use in any way for their professional communications. The Firm’s official emails come exclusively from the domain “[firstnamelastnameinitial]@portolano.it”. In particular, cases have been identified of fraudulent emails sent from accounts posing as Firm addresses, regarding alleged intellectual property rights violations, with subject lines such as “Images and videos that violate copyright – Portolano Cavallo” or similar wording. In some cases, these fraudulent emails may contain requests for confidential information or changes to payment details (for example, by sending counterfeit invoices). Such communications may also include suspicious links or attachments containing malware: we strongly advise against opening these links or attachments under any circumstances.
- Social Media Profiles – Various profiles posing as official profiles of Portolano Cavallo or individual professionals at the Firm have been identified on several social media platforms. For example, counterfeit TikTok accounts have been identified, including the account “portolonocavallolaw,” as well as profiles impersonating certain professionals at the Firm.
- Impersonation of Firm Members – Regarding this type of fraudulent activity, cases of impersonation have been identified involving, among others, the professionals Ernesto Apa, Barbara Corsetti, Ilaria Curti, Andrea Gangemi, and Francesco Portolano. In such cases, the recipient is often asked to maintain strict confidentiality regarding the communication received. We reiterate that the Firm’s professionals communicate exclusively through their institutional email address “@portolano.it”.
The Firm regularly reports such fraud attempts to the competent authorities and takes various measures to reduce the occurrence of such situations (e.g., reporting any fraudulent profiles to the platforms hosting them).
For any questions or reports, please write to info@portolano.it.
