The Inspector General of the United States Treasury Department is alerting NAR and state REALTOR^® Associations to a series of recent home financing scams.  The fraud involves the use of bogus sight drafts or "Bills of Exchange" to buy real estate.

According to the Treasury folks, a few purchasers have been using fraudulent paper "bonds" and promissory notes to purchase real estate and automobiles.  The phony bonds are represented as either a "private offset bond" or "personal promissory note" and they bear the name of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

The phony documents bear a watermark and are printed with a colored background.  They bear a phony ABA-type number at bottom and are labeled "Certified Draft" in the upper-left hand corner.  The (claimed) payor is the "United States Treasury Department of Debt & Collection".

Transactions involving these spurious financial instruments have already been reported in Colorado and Arizona and many other state law enforcement agencies have reported the circulation of such notes, which have been presented by scammers "in an attempt to pay for everything from cars to child support".

Needless to say, if you encounter one of these, contact the U.S. Treasury Office of the Inspector General (OIG).  The telephone hotline number for such complaints is 1-800-359-3898 and the email address is hotline@oig.treas.gov.