Just wanted to take a minute to inform folks about a "little" scam that is going around. A couple of weeks ago I received an e-mail from what appeared to be a foreign national inquiring about purchasing a home in my area. It was written in very broken English, but basically said he and his family were currently on assignment in Holland, but were moving to the states in the very near future. The signature was a Dr. Tim Savannah.
We exchanged several messages to establish what was wanted and when he would be coming to purchase and so forth, and it sounded like we were going to get him moved here rather quickly. He then sent a note stating that his arrival here would be delayed, and he was going to have his lawyer handle the whole transaction, would I please forward all of my contact information to the Doctor so he could forward it to his lawyer. No problem, said I; please have your lawyer contact me at his pleasure. The Doctor was very grateful for my services, and promised me a reward in addition to the commission I would receive.
I sent back a note to say that I appreciated his offer, but that I would not be able to accept a reward from him, and explained how my compensation is paid according to the law. I did this because I thought he was a foreign national who may not have understood how our legal system worked with real estate.
Silence for 10 days, and then an envelope is delivered by UPS to my office containing what appears to be a cashier's check from a bank in Houston, with my name handwritten in. There was nothing else in the envelope, though the sender's address was in Boca Raton. This was delivered Thursday morning.
Not bad, I am thinking some one just sending me a check for $4,850.00. I wondered what it was for as I thought about where to spend this windfall.
Meanwhile, back at my computer I open up my e-mail and find a message from the Doctor apologizing for being out of touch, but very glad to see that according to UPS records, the check had been delivered to my office and he wanted me to take action right away so his lawyer could come over immediately to purchase the home he wanted, even though he had not mentioned a single home as yet. His instructions to me were to deposit $2,000 into an escrow account for the purchase of the home, and to transfer the balance to his lawyer so the lawyer could leave England Friday night and arrive here Saturday morning. Time was of the essence, so the Doctor ask me to run the check through my personal account, and to send the funds via Western Union under my name.
All the while I have thought that in dealing with a foreign national, I really didin't understand just how they conducted business, and that maybe this was their normal method. At the same time I knew I had to do it according to our laws and regulations.
A bunch of little things kept popping up in mind, among them my name handwritten on a cashier's check issued from a Houston Bank, but mailed from Boca Raton FL. The sudden need and urgency of getting the money to the lawyer so he could fly here the next day, and a couple of other things not mentioned here.
Sent back a note to the Doctor saying that I could not have the funds sent in the manner he requested, as all funds needed to be accounted for. The entire sum would have to deposited in an escrow account here, and that the escrow company would disperse the funds once the funds were available according to his direction.
He fired a note back, understanding what I said , but that he didin't want to delay his lawyer who needed the funds to travel immediately. Wasn't there some way I could make this work as he wanted it. I informed him that the check would be given to my broker for deposit into escrow along with a copy of his instructions for disbursement.
So this morning I called the bank in Houston whose name was on the cashier's check, who informed me the check was bogus and did not have the correct routing number on it. They requested that I fax them a copy as there had been a number of these incidents recently.
The reason I write this is because there may be others who are encountering the same or a similar scam. The little details that stuck in my mind may seem like such a big deal to another agent or broker, and that may cost them some bucks. If I had night dropped the check into my account, and then sent $2,850 from my personal account via Western Union to the address in England, I would have lost it.
Don't let it happen to you, or any one you know.
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