Trade union law firm Rowley Ashworth has been the victim of an online scam it can do little about.


Scammers have set up a website mimicking the firm's name and sent out emails to US citizens purporting to have been sent by the firm, claiming recipients have inherited money.



Rowley Ashworth partner Keith Taylor said it had contacted the site's operator but is still waiting for the site to be taken down. It cannot force the Metropolitan Police to act, as there is no UK victim.



The scam consists of a 'fake' Rowley Ashworth website with a real address in London. The address is that of the Instituto Cervantes, the Spanish government's cultural centre in London, which has received mail from the US addressed to

the firm.



The phone number leads only to an answerphone, and the Gazette's calls were not returned.



Rupert White