Solicitor falsely accused me of blackmail and identity fraud – what can I do?

[PoisedPearlHelper]

Hi everyone,
I’m feeling extremely distressed and could really use some advice.
A solicitor I approached just to witness a deed poll (literally a 10-minute job) has now written me a formal letter accusing me of identity fraud and blackmail, all because I left a Google review and asked for £150 compensation for the poor service I received.
To be clear:

• I turned up to the appointment on time, waited over an hour past the scheduled slot without apology, and was treated incredibly rudely throughout.
• The “identity fraud” claim appears to be based on my use of a perfectly valid house name (e.g., “The Croft”) in the deed poll, which is how my address appears on HMRC letters and utility bills.
• I corrected a typo on the deed by hand with their permission before it was witnessed.
• I later went to an independent solicitor who confirmed everything was fine and properly re-witnessed the deed poll.

Despite this, I received an aggressive letter warning me I would "hear from enforcement agencies," and treating my Google review + complaint as a criminal blackmail attempt. It’s left me shaken. I’ve now written a response asking them to:

• Retract the accusations
• Destroy my ID documents unless legally required
• Justify their data handling under UK GDPR
• Comply with the law around AML and GDPR disclosures

I’ve said if they don’t comply by 19 August, I’ll report them to the SRA, ICO and Legal Ombudsman. What else can I do to protect myself? Has anyone else experienced this kind of intimidation from a solicitor? Is it worth actually taking this to the police under harassment laws, or am I overreacting? I have a paper trail and am confident I’ve done nothing wrong, but I’m worried this could escalate or damage my name. Any legal or practical advice much appreciated – even just solidarity would help. This has genuinely shaken me. Thanks so much,

It is when OP has been clear that she did not do this.

If the letter really does use the word. blackmail it is hugely unprofessional.

Oh give over....

Op has changed her wording of events many times so we will never know what actually went on or what was said. I believe the Solicitor was the first one to mention blackmail, not posters? Anyway, I’m done replying to you here. I’ll agree to disagree. We have differing opinions 🤷‍♀️

Can we collectively see this thread as a reason to get better at using AI? I just think the email OP sent (and even their responses on here) just read like slop, even ChatGPT is capable of drafting better messages. If this is what OP is sharing on here, I dread to think what OP has been prompting ChatGPT. It’s probably thrice as long and 10x less coherent.

Oh mine is a classy one!

I thought that initially but when I read the ops letter then I wondered if it's not to do with the review at all? And more to do with threat she made to take to ombudsmen unless they paid £150

Absolutely. ChatGPT is rapidly becoming God's gift to solicitors who can charge through the nose for disentangling the messes people get into by using supposed legal letters that it generates.

@Blank1234i know that. I suggest you read back over my posts before you respond with laughing emoji.

You've misunderstood again. Posters have accused OP of blackmailing the solicitor that she will leave a bad review if she doesn't get money but there is no suggestion of this in her opening post or in the letter OP posted. She left a review then asked for compensation for inconvenience caused.

This is why OP is better off with a fresh thread in Legal.

OP, some solicitors can be a waste of time. I needed a document notarised by a local solicitor in person and I had to call so many to find one who understood the request.

Then the one I did finally find, could find no record of me on their appointment book and insisted I must have made a mistake because they had a clashing appointment. I explained that my DH and I had taken the afternoon off work for this so please could he check again. They asked for a description of the voice of the woman who I had made the appt with and they denied that such a woman worked there. It was surreal.

They finally did make time for it and admitted that the woman I spoke to was now on annual leave.

So have you actually paid the first solicitor any money for them to reimburse you?
Or are you just saying they wasted your time?

Surely the most concerning aspect of this is the accusation of fraud. The suggestion of blackmail seems frivolous (as does the request for compensation).

Even more respect 😎

I lost the will to live somewhere a while back - will you compensate me for the time I wasted reading this thread?

Honestly, you have probably spent more time writing letters, posting threads and arguing with windmills...

Assuming you haven't done anything wrong, walk away and read a book or something else productive. If you have, backpedal fast and remove the review. Simple.

At the risk of derailing, I have found notaries to be the rudest breed of lawyers going. Not many lawyers are also notaries (I'm a solicitor but not a notary and sometimes need to visit one to get documents notarised for proceedings abroad.)

Last time I made an appointment. Turned up on time, rang the bell and someone told me abruptly over the speaker before i had said anything "you can't come in if you haven't got an appointment". I explained that I did indeed have an appointment and the door opened. As I went in I was greeted by someone snapping "we can't see you if you haven't brought your passport" (I had). The rest of the appointment continued similarly with them rushing me and talking over me when I tried to explain what I needed and the notary ended up making a mistake because she ignored what I said. She did correct it for free a few days later when the Apostille office pointed it out but no apology. I hadn't really expected one after all that!

OMG it's good to know they are like that as a breed 😂

And yes, I had the same experience with ringing the bell (and waiting ages for someone to answer on the intercom).

And they also seemed to assume we wouldn't have the right documents when they eventually deigned to see us!

I know a lovely Notary. He's also a solicitor.

I'm really glad to hear you know a nice one!

Jeez. Someone got far too trigger happy with AI. Most people would have shrugged it off as a bad experience and move on.

I think the £150 is what the op values an hour of her time at rather than it being a refund of monies paid

It's regarding the fraud accusation. The most likely reason was that the OP was asking the solicitor to sign as a witness to something that they had not actually witnessed, namely the change made to the document, even if it was initialed by the OP.

I recently needed a solicitor to witness a legal document that I had foolishly signed in advance. He refused to do so and I had to go home, reprint the document and then sign it in the presence of the solicitor before he was willing to stamp it as a witness.

All very sketchy

on the part of the OP that is

basically she undertook sketchy behaviour around a solicitor, and she’s been caught out.

This must be a wind up 😂

I think you have a very rose tinted view of solicitors. @Ademasstudio

they often write what appear to be very intimidating letters but actually have little substance- that is how they earn money in many cases.

they can’t be very busy if they’re hounding people who write bad google reviews.

The first thing Op - was your google review an honest review of your experience? If you had to pay another solicitor to do exactly the same work days later, that kind of proves it wasn’t to standard?

remember- they have to prove you did what they are accusing you of. It sounds like fair comment on your part.

just ignore them