Fellows,

I just want to share this, it's very important that no one get caught by any of these fraudulents tricks, I have received similar emails similar from the same kind of group, Good luck

Via email by CAR "Colorado Association of Realtors"

A few weeks ago our office received an email from a "REALTOR" in China representing a Chinese man wanting to purchase a home in Aspen.  He put one of our listings under contract, with contingency of getting a visa to travel to the USA.

Our office alerted the FBI, asking questions about the process and if he could enter a contract the FBI warned us and put us on alert and told us what to look out for. We notified the Dept. of Treasury when we received a cashier's check drawn off of a Bank located in Georgia; we called the bank to verify the account was real, the routing number was real, and they were. 

We became suspicious of the check as the UPS came from Canada drawn off an account in Georgia.  Within 24 hours of telling the buyer that the check was deposited; the buyer's attorney notified our office by email that the buyer was denied his visa and to send the earnest money back minus what our brokerage fee would have been if the deal closed.

I received wiring instructions that requested to wire funds to South Korea, I was informed by the Dept of Treasury that South Korea is on "SDN List" and 1 of 10 countries we can not send money to without special permission from the US Government.  This group found us thru our website; they found 8 others thru www.realtor.com , this group tried to hit 9 companies at the same time with the same using a bank in Georgia's cashier checking account.   Special Message from the FBI " AD~HOCK Nigerian and Asian criminal groups" are working together and their schemes have included 4 Billion in counterfeit checks and has caused between 85 million and 95 million in losses to Real Estate and Escrow companies in the USA. 

Thankfully our staff recognized the scam and reported it and alerted the bank, Title Company and the FBI to the problem prior to any losses in the last few weeks.

Please stay alert and if you feel you might have had contact, please report it.  Our local FBI Agent Robert Gascamp in Glenwood Springs.

Amanda Virtue