Identity Theft in Commercial Disputes: Risks from Sophisticated Phishing

Tom Woods
Partner, Litigation

Abstract

Tom Woods, Partner in the Litigation and Trial Practice Group at Stoel Rives, discusses a growing trend in commercial litigation involving identity theft through phishing scams. These schemes can target industries like construction and lumber, intercepting invoice communications and causing businesses to unknowingly send payments to fraudulent accounts. As a result, companies may be forced to pay twice—once to the scammer and once to the actual vendor. Woods highlights how these incidents can strain business relationships and often leave no clear party at fault, making them particularly challenging for courts to resolve.

Transcript

I am Tom Woods. I joined Stoel Rives in 2011. I have always been a member of the firm's Litigation and Trial Practice Group here in Sacramento.

What happens when identity theft becomes the heart of high-stakes litigation?

High stakes litigation, I think, is coming out of identity theft a little bit now. You will have phishing where someone will swoop in and create a wall between a customer and a business, and the customer begins to think they are talking to the business and they are talking to the malefactor, and they end up giving money or paying an invoice they think is going to the business and now they double owe. Some of these companies that we work with who handle construction and lumbering, these are high dollar invoices and multiple invoices a month.