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Beware of Scammers !

By Jorge Verar

Commercial Real Estate Agent with Coldwell Banker Commercial SouthWest

September 14, 2008 10:17 AM

I recently received emails like the one below from Active Rain Contact form :

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You've received a contact message from your Contact Form on the ActiveRain network.

Message details: From: mrs uzan
Email: edihakkk@yahoo.com
Subject: property IM INTERESTED IN ANY THREE BEDROOM RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY IN ANY LOCATION THAT IS NOT MORE THAN 850K PLEASE GIVE ME THE LOWEST PRICE FOR THE PROPERTY. LOOKING FORWARD TO YOUR RESPONSE.

THNAKS MRS UZAN

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I immediately know that this is a scam so I responded this way:

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Dear Mrs. Uzan

I got hundreds of them here, need to find out what your criteria is, any particular place you want and your intention – is it for residential, flip, rental properties or whatever. I can acquire properties for you, anywhere in Houston metro Area, suitable for flipping, rental properties or simply for your residence. I can also manage the rehab or update and eventually put it back in the market.

Sincerely,

Jorge Verar

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Then She/he replied as follows :

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From: EDITH VIDA YESIM UZAN [edihakkk@yahoo.com]

To: J. Verar Real Estate Broker

Dear Jorge,

Thanks for your detailed response to my mail, with the situation of things around me,i and my husband will accept the price of any three bedroom property that is not more than 859k in any location and i will be glad to have preparation made for the payment .

We can do this personally together. I'm in a remote area of Turkey now with my husband and my 4 yr old kid who has not been to school since we went into hidding, we will begrateful if we can confidentially pay for the property and all documentation to be in my maiden name.

As soon as we hear from you concerning the property, I can then inform you on how to receive payment for the property .

We are innocent victim of Turkish rule and power play in Turkey. And we will not hide anything from you, hence am sending you BBC news concerning the problem. Sorry to bother you with our problems but we need your help. MONEY will not be problem in this transaction and we shall reward you handsomely.

This BBC news will explain more about the hatred the government has on our business. Copy the news an d paste on your browser; I won't hide any thing from you about my person though it is political

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3160767.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3188483.stm

http://www.turks.us/article.php?story=20040421193155774

THANKS FOR YOUR CONCERN. MRS UZAN

attached pictures (she attach some pictures of her family ???)

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The links work and obviously it is the real person in news but the question is who is this person emailing me, so I immediately replied as follows and file a complain with ic3.gov

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Dear Mrs. Uzan

Thank you for your business please send 20% of $800,000 to my office as follows :

Payable to Southern American Title Company

C/o Jorge Verar , Broker Tel. 832-287-5331

Address: 9525 Katy Freeway Suite 140
Houston, Texas 77024

Please include instruction : "Ernest money Deposit Open Escrow Account for Edith Vida Yesim Uzan, c/.o Jorge Verar , Broker. "

You also need to include photocopies of your Passport and other identification: Upon receipt and clearing of funds I will then send you property details to choose and for you to make a decision which property you want.

I will get paid 3% of the total value purchase upon closing and full funding . I will also need you to sign a buyer''s representation agreement before I can send you property information, which is attach, kidly sign them in front of a lawyer or notary public and mail it to the address above.

Also if you are interested in obtaining an Immigrant visa I can arrange a Immigration Lawyer to help you get an investor visa as soon as you can go to the nearest US embassy to you.

God Bless you and protect you from all evil…

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That's the last email -- I have not receieve again., If you see this kind of email please do not just ignore it, do somehting to stop ---forward to the FBI, to any Spam Abuse organization or any authority you know that tracks this kind of criminal activity. You may be aware of this and ofcourse know and immediately able to notice a scam .. you might be surprise to know that there are lots of Innocent US citizens became a vistim of this type of email scams.

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Rick Riddell, Manager, REW™

Weichert, Realtors - Watson & Associates - Coppell, TX

Great article. There are so many out there these days with a wide variety of scams, you almost always have to be on your guard. The way you took care of it was superb. Have always been of the mind set, that if it sounds to good to be true.... well, you know the rest.

Sep 14, 2008 10:23 AM

Delete Acct Desert Communities

Palm Desert, CA

Excellent post and a timely one. We are receiving more and more of these types of scams and I feel sorry for the people who actually fall for these.

Sep 14, 2008 10:35 AM

Cameron Novak

The Homefinding Center - 1000 Palms, CA

Real Estate Broker since 2008

LOL... I try to string these *$^*#%*#&s along as long as I possibly can without providing any personal information.

It's an art.

Cameron

Sep 14, 2008 10:39 AM

Ann-Marie Clements

Candidate for an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership - Saint John, NB

Ed.D. candidate, Innovative Proactive Principa

Hi George,

Good Blog! When you get an e-mail like that again, you can google the name and you might be surprised to see people who have already received the same message and are warning the rest of us!!!

;>)

Sep 14, 2008 10:42 AM

Kelly Willey

Long and Foster BEL AIR MARYLAND - Bel Air, MD

Short Sale Agent - Harford County Maryland Real Estate

Love your response about the 20%...LOL

Sep 14, 2008 10:44 AM

Lorena McMullen

3DX Real Estate - Novi, MI

Serving SE Michigan

Great response - I simply block them from sending me more; Thanks for taking the time to post!

Sep 14, 2008 11:05 AM

Janis Trent

Realty USA Southwest, Inc - Phoenix, AZ

I like the way you handled the situation. I too have received similar mail. We need to be cautious and not waste our time on these people....

Sep 14, 2008 11:09 AM

Coldwell Banker Commercial SouthWest - Houston, TX

Commercial Real Estate Broker

Lorena How can yo block them if they send you thru Active Rain ? the best we can do is simply report them to active rain tell them you are receiving this type of email., they may not be able to do anything but at least if all members who receive this kind of spam from AR site send them an email, they could brainstorm into trying to lessen it.

Sep 14, 2008 11:11 AM

Veronica DeCarolis

Weidel Realtors - Flemington, NJ

Good way to handle a this situation. Thanks for the heads up. Veronica

Sep 14, 2008 11:12 AM

Team Honeycutt

Allen Tate - Concord, NC

Thanks for the heads up...scammers have way too much time on their hands!!

Sep 14, 2008 11:18 AM

Donald Urschalitz

Lubeck Realty Group - Jupiter, FL

P.A. Realtor ABR RSPS North Palm Beach County

Thanks for the post I thought i was the only one getting these false leads.

Sep 14, 2008 11:24 AM

By the way I have my bother-in-law living in Huston and spoke with him today and he is safe. As a side not to my last post I just wanted to wish all of you in Huston the best in getting past Ike. Warmest regards,

Don

Sep 14, 2008 11:27 AM

Brian Lee Burke

Kenna Real Estate - Lone Tree, CO

Broker & Advising Expert-Kenna Luxury Real Estate

Thanks for the info - We have received some other of spam via Activerain contact (the inheritance kind). ~Rita

Sep 14, 2008 12:02 PM

Mott Marvin Kornicki

Waterway Realtors® • Notary Public & Apostille - Sunny Isles, FL

Miami Notary & Apostille 786-229-7999

I get these all the time from the various network sites. It seems that these con-artist do get some "suckers" - otherwise they would not continue the scam. Usually, the con-artist talk about family, plight, large sums of money in a foreign safety box, the lord, blessings, honesty, cooperation, trust, confidentiality, etc.

Every once in awhile, I can't figure out if its real or a scam... I did get a phone call that was somewhat strange- a prospective tenant wanted to rent in either Bal Harbour or Hollywood Beach~ the areas are somewhat far apart geographically. I expressed my uncertainty to this individual and let him go! He was calling me from the UK and needed immediate occupancy.

Sep 14, 2008 12:04 PM

Sherry Peckhoon Sim

Sims & Company - Cayucos, CA

Broker/Owner, Covering the Beautiful Central Coast

Hello George

Thanks for the alert. I do get some bizarre requests via phone that are highly suspicious. Have not encountered them via email yet.

Sep 14, 2008 06:03 PM

Beware of Scammers !

Comments(15)

Jorge Verar

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