Phony Lawyer Attempts LinkedIn Connection With Real Lawyer – Guest Post by JAGC
Guest post by JAGC follows.
Earlier this year, I received a seemingly innocuous LinkedIn connection request. A quick scan revealed that the requestor fit perfectly into my professional network. He had more than 500 connections, including numerous accomplished professionals in the military, legal, and national security fields that I personally know.
Like me, his bio listed credentials as a civilian lawyer, Judge Advocate, and combat veteran. Sure, the guy’s bio referenced a stint as a “YouTube star,” but hey, good for him for having an interesting hobby. YouTube stardom aside, on the surface, this was a natural fit.
However, just as I was about to mindlessly accept the connection request, another peculiarity caught my eye.
The LinkedIn profile claimed that he earned a “Purple Heart w/2 oak leaf clusters” and membership in the Military Order of the Purple Heart. Call me skeptical, but three separate combat injuries raised my BS antenna. I decided to review the profile a bit more carefully. After that, the guy’s entire profile collapsed into a world of the absurd with barely a hint of additional scrutiny.
For example:
1) His YouTube photos appeared to match his LinkedIn photo. His LinkedIn bio describing his YouTube activity and subscribership also appeared to match. However, the YouTube persona listed his DOB as June 28, 1989, but his LinkedIn birth year was listed as 1974. The YouTube birthdate obviously makes him too young to have served in the Marine Corps for 24 years as his profile stated.
2) He claimed that he completed Naval Justice School (training for new JAGs) in 2017. He also claimed that he rocketed up to Senior Defense Counsel for two months in 2018 and then became a Navy/Marine judge for two months earlier this year. In my experience, there is no way anyone would be considered a senior defense counsel and certainly would not be named as a judge while still fresh out of Naval Justice School. A Marine judge can become a judge as an 0-4; other branches its 0-6. Either way, he doesn’t show up in the global.
3) He claimed that he is a part time Assistant US Attorney in California. A reliable check of the DOJ global revealed this individual is not listed as an employee of DOJ.
4) He claimed he is a member of the California Bar. Nope, according to the California Bar attorney directory. Without a law license, he could not have served as a JAG.
5) He claimed to have served three months as a Navy Procurement Attorney. Again, no law license in California (not even inactive).
6) He also claimed IDF sniper and Marine sniper basic course experience, and also claimed to have been a Marine aviator. Sure, why not?
7) The guy stated that he was “wrongfully” discharged TWICE per some dubious claims. His story makes no sense and the likelihood of getting hired by DOJ, big firms, or receiving a law license is circumspect at best. Speaking of…
8) He claimed to work at a very large law firm called DLA Piper as a partner. Large firms always list all of their attorneys. According to DLA Piper’s website at the time, the individual was not employed by DLA Piper. Regardless, his credentials (or lack thereof) even if legitimate would not get him a partner position. I do not have experience as a YouTube star to determine whether that qualifies as a credential that large law firms are looking for, but I digress.
9) He claimed he is active in his state bar but the only online info linking him to the Bar was his own LinkedIn page. Same for military service.
Clearly, this LinkedIn profile was bogus. One could reasonably laugh at the phony-bologna fake lawyer claims or otherwise get angry at the blatant stolen valor. Instead, my national security-focused mind focused on the worst-case scenario.
Why was this obviously fake account connecting with hundreds of people in the military and national security field? What was the goal of creating a profile that was part elaborate and part ridiculous?
Indeed, the user of the account was active, “liking” comments from other users on a near-daily basis. At one point, he commented “Semper Fi” to a Marine officer’s post. This type of constant activity, along with the effort in garnering more than 500 connections (“500+” is the maximum amount of connections LinkedIn lists), demonstrated to me that the user had some sort of plan or use for the account.
Which, of course, leads to more questions. Was he trolling someone? Was he using the seeming legitimacy of an active, well-connected account to ingratiate himself with individuals in the military and national security world? Or was this merely a goofy nutjob living in a basement somewhere doing what goofy nutjobs in basements do?
In the end, the LinkedIn account appears to have disappeared.
It remains unknown whether the profile was created by the “YouTube star” or by some other nefarious actor (hence why I cropped out the name and professional photo). As such, we are just left to speculate on the guy’s intent. LinkedIn distinguishes itself from Facebook and Instagram by touting itself as a site to “manage your professional identity” and to “build and engage with your professional network.”
If nothing else, this encounter should be a lesson that just because LinkedIn espouses a more professional quality, the site is just as susceptible to Internet shenanigans as anything else.
Category: "Teh Stoopid"
Yep. When dealing with Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn – or other online claims – the best course of action is always, “Doveryai, no proveryai (“доверять, но проверить”). Or, if you prefer: “Trust, but verify.”
That’s a time consuming and very elaborate ruse to be built just for fun…looks to me like this clow’s trying to set himself up for a big payday. Then a stay in the Bighouse…
I was alerted by the claim “AA and JD”.
Unless things have changed, getting a law degree is generally at the graduate school level, not an Associate of Arts degree, which is 2 years, not 4.
True…but having the AA doesn’t mean a person didn’t take subsequent courses at the baccalaureate level to satisfy prereqs for Law School yet did not complete the reqs for a bachelor’s.
Similarly, while most people do obtain a bachelor’s degree prior to applying for medical school, it is not a requirement.
The only educational requirement is that you have passed the courses which are prerequisites for applying to medical school.
Not doubting the story is BS overall…but the process he outlined is possible with respect to law school.
Currently, from the UCLA School of Law website:
“Applicants for admission to the professional curriculum of UCLA School of Law, leading to the degree of Juris Doctor, must have received a baccalaureate degree from an accredited university or college of approved standing before they begin their work at the law school.”
So, currently you can’t do what he claims to have done, but it may have been different years ago.
He does also erroneously call the school UCLA Law School vs The UCLA School of Law. Seems trivial, but IME naming a school incorrectly is generally a red flag. It takes a lot of work to get into school and complete it and most people use the correct school name.
https://www.cooley.edu/node/528
A quick bit of Bing Fu shows WMU’s Cooley Law School is one such program that can be entered sans bachelor’s degree. It also cautions that some states require the undergraduate degree to actually practice even though the JD has been awarded.
It’s really not surprising since so many professions have made undergraduate and even graduate degrees mandatory…even though the professions haven’t really changed over the years. It’s more lucrative for the universities to mandate more prerequisites. As an example,the RN and PA fields have been severely hit with such tactics over the last couple of decades. Certificate RNs and PAs have all but disappeared except for a few dinosaurs that still walk the earth.
Most accredited law schools require a BA or BS as a minimum requirement for admission. Therefore, becoming a lawer is at least a seven year undertaking. Unaccredited law schools in Commiefornia require four years to graduate with a law degree. And that has been true for over 40 years.
I didn’t refute that per se, just brought in the fact that it was possible and provided a link to a current school that doesn’t.
What you say is likely true (though I am not combing through 40 years of prereqs for all law school in the US to conclude one way or another)…what I provided is also true. A measure of central tendency is just that and does not eliminate the possibility of exceptions.
California, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming have provisions that allow someone to become a lawyer without a law degree…pretty safe to say most lawyers did not go that route either.
I was not implying the alternative presented was normal. I did however, prove it still exists. 🙂
California is a different kettle of fish than the rest of the US in terms of law schools. There are, IIRC, dozens of non-ABA accredited “law schools” in CA and while they are not ABA acreddited, they are accredited by the State and graduates CAN be admitted to the CA Bar. Given that the CA Bar is considered (along with NY) to be one of the toughest bar exams in the country, that’s not a small thing.
If it’s so fucking tough, explain how LDD passed.
Many of us lawers and ex-lawers here have wondered the same thing. I am thinking he likely took it multiple times before he passed it. I know one person that took it nine times before she passed it.
There are a few unaccredited law schools that have admitted people without undergraduate degrees because of some extraordinary backgrounds and experience. I have never met an attorney who passed the bar and had no undergrad degree. Some of the non-accredited schools are quite liberal in admitting people unlikely to pass the bar because they need the tuition revenue. Most unaccredited law schools in Commiefornia have had bar passage rates as low as 25% for graduates taking the test the first time.
Maybe AA is Alcohlics Anonymous and JD is Jack Daniels…
Well……didn’t we all know a Lawyer that was also an aviator? Not a very good one, mind you…
To some, the term “Aviator” has a very specific meaning. In that light, Down Doppler Dan is nowhere near being an “Aviator” by several orders of magnitude.
I agree. It takes quite a bit of training and passing a written test and a check-ride to get a real private pilot’s license. A sport pilot rating is much easier to obtain. Of course, with that rating one can’t fly anything other than the simple sport aircraft, some of which are nothing more than a hang-glider with a motor and flight controls.
Not a very good lawer or not a very good aviator?
Nevermind, the answer is the same for both.
Isn’t he the one that ended up flying at minus 6 feet AGL? Also known as lawn dart danny?
Yes. And you already knew the answer to your question. You are just being ornery.
But we must observe that Bernasty, Daniel Bernath, had flying skilz that were only sufficient to put his plane into the dirt.
Thank you for noticing my orneriness. It’s what I excel at. That and serving as a bad example.
…augered in like a dud 155…
Naw, Berntutz’ plane left a pretty large debris field. It was much larger than a few feet diameter hole in the ground.
Hmm. must have mis remembered. Hit trees in shallow but fast dive?
terrain, terrain, pull up, pull up….SPLAT
Unfortunately for him, his light sport aircraft did not have that sort of warning system. Only large commercial aircraft have an automated ground proximity warning system.
Linkedin?
I never read a profile without the BS meter pegging. Even those of people I know personally. Might as well trust Craigs List.
Building a LinkedIn profile is actually harder than something like farcebook because it is actually a resume for employers to search out.
I think I have more recruiter/hiring HR types as connections than professional or co-worker connections.
That being said, if LDD and DullASS are infesting social media, Caveat Emptor.
Looks as if that Bogus, Wannabe “Lawyer” cut and pasted other folk’s credentials.
Sheesh…Some people…He picked the wrong Lawyer to contact.
Great article, JAGC. Thank you for sharing and taking the time to write it.
The best rule to follow is, “Never trust a Lawyer and be most skeptical of the one you are paying.”
I would only have been shocked if he had turned out to not be full of shit. Lawyers are like tampons, keep one around because when you least expect it somebody will need one.
The trouble with law is lawyers. – Clarence Darrow
One of my mentors became a judge. He once said if you want to really dislike lawyers, become a judge and see what you get to deal with on a daily basis.
As the saying goes, it’s the 99% of lawyers that give the other 1% a bad name.
Look, it was on the internet. It was on a social/professional network. Dahell is there not to believe?
Uh, bonjour.
Honest lawyers will tell you that, on the whole, lawyers suck. In fact, I am confident that most lawyer jokes (which lawyers love to recite) are created by lawyers. Try this on for size, if you want to learn a thing or two. Get your local phone book out. Look up the names of five lawyers. Call each, say that you have been arrested for the first time in your life. Make it credible. Pick a crime such as DWI, tell them you have no experience in legal matters, and that you are shopping for representation. Ask each how much.
After 21 years in private practice with law firms and 14 years working as an attorney for state agencies, I can freely state that over half of lawers are incompetent and over half are assholes.
As a litigator I dealt with quite a few in both categories. Happily, some of the ones I despised the most and were opponents have been disbarred, dead, or are now drooling gorks. Two have been both imprisoned and disbarred.
I’m working on a theory that lawyers are nothing more than the modern day incarnation of the oracles at Delphi. They can’t make you any promises, but they can urge you to make a significant sacrifice, and they will willingly enter the temple and use their “magic speak” to intercede with “the gods” on your behalf.
My theory works for tax accountants too.
Linked In……. the “adult” version of Farce Book.
I call LinkedIn “Facebook for people who wear ties to work.”
I wear a tie to work? Who knew?
To improve the world, FIRST thing we do is kill all the lawyers. William Shakespeare
Disclaimer: SnL is an Attorney, has argued cases before SCOTUS and won. Smart as hell but a real dumbass. Attribute the dumbass part to being an upstate New York Yankee that served on boomers. He is a good Daddy and Father, and takes good care of my Baby Girl and Grandchildren, so he does have that going for him. He knows he lives for that reason.
2nd ex Mrs. was a high level legal secretary, had been doing it for years, knew as much about the law as some of the Lawyers. As a profession, lawyers are the most procrastinating, put it off as long as we can, get back to you later, group I have ever had the displeasure to be around. At not just on matters related to the case, it’s every day anythings. Nature of the beast, or just used to being paid by the hour. I have dealt with some, that once we came to an understanding of what I needed and what I expected them to do, they saw it my way.
This tool, well he’s just an idiot that helps emphasize why people don’t trust lawers. ESAD mofo. I don’t spacedout in your book face, link or twit. My portable telegraph is for making and receiving phone calls. My putor is for looking at grandbaby pictures and lurking on TAH. Maybe one day we can make this guy Google Famous. I look forward to it.
I refuse to participate in any of the online platforms. I have received numerous requests from lawers I know to link into their LinkedIn accounts because I had to create a LinkedIn account for myself. Not going to happen. Avoiding these online platforms makes it more difficult for the online thieves to obtain your PII.
Is there anything real about that shifty fly-by-night booger-eating peckerhead?
Excellent catch, JAGC.
Sounds like he was “Convicted of a war crime he never committed” which means he must have been part of the A team!
Here’s my LinkedIn story. When I was contracting, I received a memorandum from the home office that I was expected to read and sign. The memorandum stated that I would not actively seek employment with any other company while hired by the present company… This included the Proviso that I would not post my resume on LinkedIn. Being an official memorandum, it was signed by some idiot that was in my chain of command at some senior level.
So, I logged into LinkedIn to see what I could find out about my overlord that had issued the memo. Would you believe it? He had his resume posted on LinkedIn, and he was open to any offers. I thought that was just swell. Those were the best years of my life.
You may have seen me before as admin of Scampolicegroup and certainly Scotty and others from SV know me. On occasions I have provided some background verifications that manage to get to these prestigious pages. Yes I am the Brit ex soldier too. Naturally I want to produce a comment of value here since I have huge experience in internet fraud as our pages reveal. This post clearly illustrates the due diligence every one of yourselves owe yourself, but not only you alone but others around you. If I refer this one as a Nigerian I am probably not so far off the mark, and he is trying to tranform hinself as having a bigger profile and overall picture than he really has. He could actually not be the U Tube person at all but just stealing the credit to suit his particular scam. Undoubtedly he has lists of women from any country, Phillipines, Thailand, Russia are not least in being targetted, but can also be from anywhere too. Anywhere that can hide the dodgy English and sucker people into believing he is a barrister who has a client’s inheritance of millions to give to someone. Perhaps in an alter ego he is also an orthopaedic surgeon in Aleppo,Syria or Yemen trying to also be the “United Nation” leave department and collect a fee to pay for his absence from duty. I would love to have his fuller information because we will find him. Our SPG pages are full of the dire warnings and helpful hints that enable most folks to sort out the trash and protect themselves as this post shows. I can see this scammer is wishing to use real people to reinforce his credibility, it makes him look even more real but the name of the game is still to steal as much money as possible from hapless victims and if you endorse someone with a following then you inadvertently assist him and I know none of you wish to do that. Should you happen to have a Fakebook profile and pictures of the family,children etc, you… Read more »
What is the name of this Linked-In hero?