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KILLEEN, Texas — It's not uncommon to find someone who has the same name as you, but to find out they're impersonating your life and pretending to do your job, is a whole other thing.
Amber Morrison, a lawyer practicing out of Houston, Texas has run into this issue, with Amber Morrison of Killeen, Texas.
Amber Morrison of Houston claims the other "Amber Morrison," whose name will be in quotes from now on, is using her name to practice law across Texas and in Michigan illegally, to take people's money, and hurt them emotionally in the process.
"It's to my understanding that she changed her name to 'Amber Morrison'," Amber Morrison, of Houston, said.
"Amber Morrison" was arrested earlier this year in Bell County, and she was let out on bond in May.
She awaits her court date, which is set for July 20, 2023, at the Bell County Justice Center, where the real Amber Morrison and victims will be waiting.
Six News reporter Meredith Haas did reach out to "Amber Morrison," but only received an answer via email.
It's important to note that it's not clear if the email on file is in fact "Amber Morrison's." It is the only email the real Amber Morrison has on file.
Here is the response from that email:
"I am Sorry, you have the wrong person! I did not take care of any Legal cases and or speculate on any source."
The following will be from the perspective of the real Amber Morrison, who has a license with the Texas State Bar to practice law.
When the alleged victims start popping up:
"I was contacted on Facebook by someone who was saying, 'ma'am, I need to talk to you, I think someone is pretending to be you,'" Morrison said.
This potential victim, who will remain anonymous, contacted Morrison on September 15, 2017.
At first, Morrison said she was a little unsure of this situation.
Then the potential victim sent Morrison screenshots of text messages that showed someone had been messaging her as Amber Morrison.
"She ("Amber Morrison") was telling her (potential victim) she could help her get custody of her kids," Morrison added.
Morrison said the alleged fraudster told the potential victim she had gone to Baylor Law School and had just graduated.
According to Morrison, the impersonator was sending education information, and materials that backed up her story of being a lawyer.
"I think it's important to note I was not a licensed attorney at that time either," Morrison said.
Morrison added that she graduated from Baylor Law School in April of 2017, took the bar in July, and results didn't come until November.
At the time "Amber Morrison" was practicing law, the real Amber Morrison was not even licensed yet.
The first victim is believed to be from Quinlin, Texas, while "Amber Morrison" was believed to be in Killeen.
"After that I filed a grievance with the Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee," Morrison said.
Morrison needed to notify them that she was not practicing law before she was even licensed.
Then she filed a police report with Harris County. She asked the potential victim to do the same, and file with the UPLC.
Morrison received her license and started practicing law.
"After that, nothing really happened, there never really was a follow-up to the case," Morrison added.
"The floodgates open in 2021"
Morrison started getting constant calls from victims in Jan. of 2021.
"From Jan. to Sept., I got at least six new victims who called me," she said.
These alleged victims told Morrison they had paid the fake lawyer hundreds to thousands of dollars through online payment apps.
She added that it seemed as though the fake "Amber Morrison" was going after family law cases, which could mean CPS and custody cases.
"She was targeting families that were in a really rough spot," Morrison added.
The first person to contact Morrison in 2021 was someone who manages trusts for children in Texas. They had been managing a trust for a child the fake attorney had represented.
The father in the case reached out to the company with the trust, requesting some of the funds be used to pay "Amber Morrison's" legal fees. Then, this company started digging.
"At the time they looked me up, I was working for an oil and gas company, so they saw this made no sense," Morrison said.
Morrison informed the company she was not representing the kid.
"This was the first feeling of, 'oh, this is bad,'" Morrison said. "Because now she's going after this kid and their trust."
At this point, Morrison said everything snowballed.
She reached out to the CPS agent in this case and informed her of everything.
CPS started their own investigation while Morrison refiled another UPLC complaint.
Then she tried contacting the Killeen Police Department. She found out they would not take her report because she was not in Bell County.
"They wouldn't take my report over the phone at that time," she added.
Morrison was on the hunt at this point. After hours of searching for Amber Morrisons in a specific area of Texas, she found Amber Clark, and all her information.
"She had a long list of addresses out of Quinlin, Killeen, and military bases," she said.
THE REAL AMBER MORRISON, Esquire
Credit: Amber Morrison
Amber Morrison
Morrison noticed there was an old phone number on that background check that matched the very first victim the fake lawyer had worked with.
"That's how I started piecing the puzzle together."
Morrison started calling Fort Hood at the time, Killeen police and other areas.
Around February or March she filed another police report in Harris County.
At this point she only had two potential victims, so she knew she had to get something filed in Central Texas, where these people lived.
So, she started exhausting all her contacts and started emailing city officials in Central Texas.
Around April of 2021, Morrison heard from a detective with Killeen P.D.
"I gave him everything I had."
In that same month, the CPS agent Morrison had tried to warn earlier in the year, called back and wanted to confirm if Morrison had actually represented a child in the case of their trust fund.
"That's when she (the CPS agent) said, 'well, the fake Amber is still contacting us.'"
The summer goes on. No agencies reach out to Morrison, then in September, she hears from someone out of Temple, Texas.
Morrison said the alleged fake attorney was trying to apply for a home.
On the employment section for her application, the "Amber Morrison" allegedly put that she was an attorney, and included a l ot of information that tried to prove she was practicing law in Texas.
Some of that information included her Continuing Legal Education account, or CLE. In order to practice law in the state of Texas, you have to have a certain amount of CLE hours.
The information that Morrison saw on this application that made her heart drop was the fake attorney sent a picture of a motion from Collin County that listed her as substitute council for someone.
"That is when full, 100% panic set in, because now she has an actual person and my bar number," Morrison said.
Two things to note here. One, Morrison's reputation is on the line, and two, the person this alleged fake attorney is allegedly representing is not actually being represented by anyone.
"They're working with someone who is not an attorney, so they've been completely scammed," she added. " For me, it's my bar number, so it looks like I have taken on this client."
If a grievance is filed against Morrison's name because the alleged fake attorney ghosts the client or does something wrong, that could get Morrison disbarred.
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Amber Morrison is a licensed lawyer in the State of Texas.
Morrison immediately contacted Killeen P.D., the court in Collin County, council for the defendant and told the previous council of the plaintiff that she had hired a fraud to represent her.
Morrison believes the victim in Collin County met with "Amber Morrison" at her home, gave her case files, and worked closely with her.
"This is the first time I found out a victim had paid her and now I'm like, she's getting really bold."
According to the victim, the alleged fake attorney had diplomas on her wall and seemed legitimate at the time.
Once the victim found out about "Amber Morrison," she went with police to get her files and never work with her again.
This case is another example where CPS and children are involved, according to Morrison.
Morrison said CPS workers in Hunt County were talking to "Amber Morrison," believing she was a real attorney.
She called that agency in Hunt County and tried to warn them, but no one ever got back to her.
"After this, we tried to get Amber in court."
A few days before the scheduled hearing, she emailed the court and told them she could not attend, as she was in the hospital with Covid-19, and had withdrawn from the case.
Everything at that point was dropped.
"I started looking online to make sure if my bar number was used anywhere else in the state of Texas."
In that same month, on Sept. 20, Morrison said she was contacted by another victim, but out of Michigan.
According to Morrison, this mother was in Michigan, trying to get her kids from Texas.
"I received a voicemail from this woman saying, 'I've paid you thousands of dollars, why don't I have an update on my case yet?'"
Morrison had no idea who this woman on the voicemail was and had never worked with her.
The victim had realized something was off, started digging, found Morrison's number on the State Bar Website, and contacted her, only to realize the "Amber Morrison" she was working with was not the same as the one registered with the Texas State Bar.
Since the victim was out of Michigan, Morrison reached out to the F.B.I.
In October, a family in Hunt County called Morrison to let her know they had been scammed by the fake attorney.
Their family used "Amber Morrison" for a family law case, then a close family relative had a family law issue and hired "Amber Morrison" as well.
Around this time the State Bar reached out to Morrison to use her as a pilot program for fraud notices on the State Bar website.
In early November of 2021, the fraud notice was placed on her page, and everything goes silent.
"I think, maybe because of this ticker, people started realizing sooner that she's not real," Morrison said. "But I can't believe there are no victims from 2022, which is why I'm happy you reached out to me."
Morrison believes there are more victims out there.
Police are hot on "Amber Morrison's" tail in 2022
Morrison said Killeen P.D. finally issued a warrant for "Amber Morrison" in late Aug., early Sept. of 2022.
"I found out she was arrested in Feb. of 2023."
She knew more victims had to be out there, and just because things were silent, didn't mean the fake attorney's job wasn't done.
Morrison found out the fake attorney made bond and was out in March.
"I heard from three more victims in May," said Morrison.
Just like the rest of the cases "Amber Morrison" allegedly takes on, this was a family court case too.
It was a mother and father who were working out a custody dispute. "Amber Morrison" allegedly told them separately that she could represent them both in the same legal dispute.
Victim statements from Galveston:
Lillian Conger from Galveston, the mom in this case, spoke with Six News.
"Amber Morrison took $2,000 from me and kept my kids from me for a month," Conger said.
Conger said the fake lawyer had also gotten $2,000 out of her children's father as well.
"The whole time I worked with her, it seemed like she knew the law, because she had all of us fooled," she added.
Conger and the alleged fake lawyer had started working together in April of 2022. According to Conger, "Amber Morrison" told her she'd give Conger a discount because she was referred by a friend.
"She told me she'd filed a motion to get my boys back on Friday, but when I contacted officials, they said nothing had been filed," she added.
For a month, Conger went without seeing each other for almost a month and a half, and she blames the fake lawyer.
"She told me if I didn't drop my kids off to my ex, I would be thrown into jail," Conger said.
She added that "Amber Morrison" also told her she was Greg Abbott's niece and is in the running to be in the Attorney General's Office.
When Conger's ex found out "Amber Morrison" was bogus, he sent the children back to her.
Conger and her ex never went to court, and they never heard from the fake attorney again.
She added that she cannot pay her car note because of the money she spent on "Amber Morrison."
Conger and the father of her children are still trying to work out a custody deal through the Attorney General.
During this time, Conger's mother-in-law needed an attorney for an issue she was having with a lease she had signed with Section 8 Housing.
Shirley Esparza lives in Galveston. Esparza said she signed her lease, knowing the person who owned the property, but when she moved in, she claims she had been lied to.
"I was paying for other people's electricity, and I wouldn't have it, so the landlord said he'd terminate my lease," Esparza said.
That's when she realized she really needed "Amanda Morrison."
"I thought, 'thank you God,' but instead she scammed me for money, and I ended up having to go to court for eviction," she added.
Esparza said "Amber Morrison" created a chat between her, Esparza and the landlord. According to Esparza, she threw out a lot of legal lingo that made her feel like she was real.
Then Conger reached out to Esparza, telling her something was off with "Amber Morrison," and she believed she was working both sides.
The alleged fake lawyer would proceed to get on the phone with Esparza, trying to convince her for 12 hours that her own daughter-in-law was lying.
"I told her I need to see your credentials," Esparza said.
"Amber Morrison" sent her information but that didn't cut it for Esparza.
She got on the State Bar of Texas website and called the real Amber Morrison. That's when she realized, everything before that call was a lie.
Esparza is now out $650. She was almost put out on the street, but today she luckily has a home.
Victim statement from McLennan County:
This victim out of McLennan County will remain anonymous. They helped their son with the funds to retain "Amber Morrison" as their lawyer in May.
"I sent Amber Morrison the $400 my son owed her for the custody battle he was facing," the victim said.
They added that their son told her "Amber Morrison" reached out to him, to represent his case in court.
According to their son, "Amber Morrison" had said she wanted to represent him over the mother in this case. As stated before, according to this family "Amber Morrison" was representing both the mother and father.
Neither would see their day in court.
That's when the victim reached out to the real Amber Morrison to let her know what was going on.
By this time, Morrison was well aware of what the victim was about to say, because it was May of 2023, and plenty more victims had already paved a path for this victim in McLennan County, and "Amber Morrison" had already been let out on bond.
Why can it be so easy to impersonate a lawyer?
Amber said that's the million-dollar question. She added that there's no real reason she can point to as to why this is so easy for "Amber Morrison" to impersonate her.
She also doesn't understand why "Amber Morrison" is doing this, or chose her to begin with.
But Morrison has a few guesses as to why it's been so easy for her to make her way around Texas.
"My bar number is public, so she was taking it, her fake name and other information, and saying she was an attorney," Morrison said.
Amber Morrison used this information to show people she is a lawyer in Texas.
For a long time, Morrison didn't have a picture on her State Bar website.
Come 2021, she added more identifying information so people could tell who she was, but until then, Amber Morrison could've looked like anyone.
Then, it's just like the victims said: "Amber Morrison" sounded like she knew what she was talking about, so they trusted her.
How to keep this from happening to you
Morrison said there's an easy way to tell if an attorney you plan to work with is licensed in Texas.
Step 1. Go to the State Bar of Texas website.
Step 2. Click "Find a Lawyer."
Step 3. Enter the name of your lawyer in the appropriate boxes.
Step 4. Look for your attorney and click on their page.
Look at the icon next to the lawyers name. It will tell you if they're in practice, not eligible to practice, inactive, or deceased.
Clicking on their full profile will allow you to see if any grievances have been made by clients against them. If there are any, it's up to you to consider what that means, and question that attorney.
Moving forward, Morrison and the alleged victims said they want justice. But they also know this isn't over.
"I know there are more victims out there," Morrison said.
If you or someone you know might have been a victim of "Amber Morrison's" contact KCEN.
You can also reach out to Meredith Haas, who will continue looking into this case as it moves along.
You can reach Meredith at 254-721-9336 or mhaas@kcentv.com.
"Amber Morrison" will be in court July 20, 2023 at the Bell County Justice Center.
Houston lawyer's identity stolen, victims found across Texas | kcentv.com
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