I have a client who wants to buy your house scam

By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics and access other forums reserved for members. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today by clicking here.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 21 Mar 2007 Posts: 9

Obviously new here - I didn't get any hits on this type of property buying scam - so I thought I would ask if any of you are aware of this. It's not your usual "I am from (third world county) and my family is to be interesting in buying many properties from you - kind of thing. It's something a bit more up front, better grammar and rather short and to the point - and would look really legit but as I pointed out to my husband 1) it's a Yahoo UK email and 2) the phone number is a cell number with a Nevada area code and it's not been activated when you call it.

Quote:

On 3/10/07, [email protected] < [email protected]> wrote:

name TREVOR WOODGATE
phone 775-363-5047
comments Hello, I have a client who is interested in the listed property, he requested to know the following..................below what is your bottom price? where exactly is the property located? is it your private property or are you an agent? looking forward to hear from you !!! thanks

I kind of gave him a long and evasive reply which I guess frustrated him:

Quote:

Hello

Thanks for your mail and update. Please state the firm price to enable me discuss with my client, it will be an "as is" purchase with no agent and no concessions.

Trevor Woodgate

I replied to him and told him a firm price but I think I screwed up when I told him the money would have to be wired or overnighted to the real estate attorney who would do the closing. Cause I haven 't heard back from him.

Now it concerns me more so because I regularly read another "Home Buying and Selling Forum" and someone else posted about getting a similar type of email.

Here's the headers from the last message:

Delivered-To: [email protected]
Received: by 10.82.146.20 with SMTP id t20cs323384bud;
Fri, 16 Mar 2007 01:21:28 -0700 (PDT)
Received: by 10.67.97.7 with SMTP id z7mr4189611ugl.1174033288360;
Fri, 16 Mar 2007 01:21:28 -0700 (PDT)
Return-Path: <[email protected]>
Received: from web23408.mail.ird.yahoo.com (web23408.mail.ird.yahoo.com [217.146.189.93])
by mx.google.com with SMTP id e33si3417417ugd.2007.03.16.01.21.27;
Fri, 16 Mar 2007 01:21:28 -0700 (PDT)
Received-SPF: neutral (google.com: 217.146.189.93 is neither permitted nor denied by domain of [email protected])
DomainKey-Status: good (test mode)
Received: (qmail 29153 invoked by uid 60001); 16 Mar 2007 08:21:27 -0000
DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; q=dns; c=nofws;
s=s1024; d=yahoo.co.uk;

mod edit: horizontal scrolling is for losers (Don)
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
X-YMail-OSG:
Received: from [80.255.41.170] by web23408.mail.ird.yahoo.com via HTTP; Fri, 16 Mar 2007 08:21:26 GMT
Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2007 08:21:26 +0000 (GMT)
From: trevor woodgate <[email protected]>
Subject: Please state the firm price
To: Maryanne Prince <[email protected]>
In-Reply-To: <[email protected]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="0-1694158734-1174033286=:28315"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

--0-1694158734-1174033286=:28315
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

Hello

Thanks for your mail and update. Please state the firm price to enable me discuss with my client, it will be an "as is" purchase with no agent and no concessions.

Trevor Woodgate

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm curious but just exactly how do they make money on a real estate purchase. I realize they are trolling the FSBO listings and this was from a really crummy free FSBO site - he filled out the message form I assume hoping for a reply.

It's unnerving in one sense because he has my residence address - that bothers me. I hope these guys don't actually go to the propery. It's creepy because it's not the usual style of horrible english and grammar and someone fleeing the country - folks will fall for this. The one lady on the home buying and selling forum was really hopeful that the email she got would pan out, but she did the same thing and said money would have to be paid to real estate attorney and never heard back.

Is this a new bit? Do they think they will send someone a check for more than the property amount and get the overpayment back?

It seems to me like a harder way to run a scam - buying real estate - but I suppose you throw out thousands, and it doesn't really take that many responses to run the scam and score a hit to make it worth their while. Heck I even questioned it and myself about a hundred times. I wanted to believe ... but I am a criminal defense attorney, I don't believe anyone most times. Razz

I can see how easy it would be for someone who is really desperate to sell to get sucked in. OK I'm not "that" much of a visionary. When the phone number isn't even working, that ought to be a red flag.

Ya'll are welcome to him if you think you can revive him. If he responds back I'll be sure to pass it along. It never fails to amaze me what some people will do.

OTOH I may have just blown off a real sale. Probably not though. I can't see how you can call Trevor in the UK through a non-activated number. Smile

Thanks in advance for sharing your wisdom.

Pattifer

Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 8:53 am

((OT: Line breaks, please?))

Not quite a Newb Joined: 28 Jun 2005 Posts: 27

The IP returns to Nigeria. FYI. Someone must have worked real hard at his Berlitz English course!

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 21 Mar 2007 Posts: 9

Horizontal scrolling - point taken - though you could have been more
dipolmatic in delivering your criticism Don.

Oddly the text wraps and I had no horizontal scrolling on my computer.
Just so it doesn't happen again I'll force the line breaks.

I apoligize to you sir.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 21 Mar 2007 Posts: 9

OMG - he did respond - certainly did not expect it.

The problem with this scam is that these people easily know your
true name and address as that information is available online.

My husband would like to know what IP address routes back to Nigeria.

Here is his response. He apparently did not complete his Berlitz course.
I have heard the Rosetta Stone courses are better.

Quote:

Greetings

Thanks for your mail and update. I am a procurement agent based in England and my client is also based in England .

I am very happy to tell you that we have concluded with our client and he has instructed me to carry on with the transaction. My client informed me that after discussing with his attorney, he was advice by the attorney to first make a part payment of 15% of the original cost of the property ($299,900 USD) After which an agent will be sent to confirm the recent condition of the Property when you receive the part payment of (15%) and after the confirmation and evaluation is done the remaining balance will be wired to your bank account or pay to you which ever way you prefer.

THE PAYMENT PROCEDURES;

COST OF THE PROPERTY: $299,900 USD

PART PAYMENT: 15% OF $299,900 USD= $44,985 USD

On further discussion with my client, he informed me that the payment will get to you in a United States of America Cashier check of $44,985 USDOLLARS. Once you receive and confirm the check, my client will send the agent to come and check the conditions of the property and also to know if there is anything else that needs to be fixed.

Please confirm this whole arrangement and provide the details below for check payment to be delivered to you.

PAYMENT INFORMATION:

1: LEGAL NAME IN FULL............

2. MAIL ADDRESS..................

3; PHONE NUMBER(s)...............

Looking forward to doing business with you nicely!!

Trevor Woodgate
67 St Mary�s Mansions
Maida Avenue
Little Venice
W2 1SY England
Cell +44-7024068861
Fax-44-871-263-9401

Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 7:52 pm

Patti - You wrote

Quote:

The problem with this scam is that these people easily know your
true name and address as that information is available online.

If you believe that is true, please do NOT bait this person. If you have any reason to believe he actually knows who/where you are, it is not safe.

Bruin

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 21 Mar 2007 Posts: 9

One more thing - my husband did some IP searching on his own and
thinks either this is a scam or as one IP search returned it as an IP in
Islamabad Pakistan where it is suspected bin Laden is hiding out
- it could be Osama bin Laden is attempting to buy our house.
He has a great sense of humor. Very Happy

It must be very crowded in that house at 67 St. Mary's Mansions.

If anyone wants to continue on with this scammer, please let me
know and I'll forward the whole set of emails to you.

Thanks - keep up the good work.

Pattifer

Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 8:34 pm

Quote:

On further discussion with my client, he informed me that the payment will get to you in a United States of America Cashier check of $44,985 USDOLLARS. Once you receive and confirm the check, my client will send the agent to come and check the conditions of the property and also to know if there is anything else that needs to be fixed.

Here's the scam. The cashier's cheque will be fake, but probably good enough to fool the bank at first blush. After it has provisionally cleared, something will be wrong with the property (or the "buyer" will change his mind), and a refund will be requested. They will most likely tell you to keep several hundred dollars (or even a couple thousand) for the "inconvenience", and wire the rest to a bank account they will provide. Days, weeks, or even months later, the cheque will come back fraudulent and the bank will reverse the credit on your account.

By the time the original cheque is discovered to be fraudulent, they are hoping to be long gone with over $40,000 of your money.

Quote:

Now it concerns me more so because I regularly read another "Home Buying and Selling Forum" and someone else posted about getting a similar type of email.

Please make a post on that forum about this scam! The best way to fight these scammers is to make their potential victims aware of the way these scams work, and what to look for. If you browse around the fora, you will find the hows, whys, and red flags for many different types of internet scams. Getting the word out is the top priority of this site, so there's LOTS of information here. If you have questions, just ask and we will help.

Welcome to the Eater Very Happy

419Eater is my life Joined: 12 Dec 2003 Posts: 482

Patti, tell the hub this <a href="http://www.dnsstuff.com./tools/whois.ch?ip=80.255.41.170">Nigeria</a>

and in a little more detail,

Code:

descr: Reassignment to DCC-SATELLITE-NETWORK-LIMITED
country: NG
person: Arvind Gupta
address: Blk 54A, Plot 10, Off Adebayo Doherty,
address: Off Admiralty Way, Lekki Phase 1,
address: Lagos, Nigeria
phone: +234-1-4721306

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 21 Mar 2007 Posts: 9

Thank you much.

I have already posted a warning on the Home Selling and Buying Forum.

I know one lady recently told the group about receiving a similar email
luckily she claims she never heard back after she insisted they speak
only to her real estate attorney. I hope that is the case.

This is so bad.

And so many people in bad loans and in parts of the country where the
market is depressed are so desperate.

I'm blocking his email address. I want nothing to do with it.

Keep fighting the good fight.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 21 Mar 2007 Posts: 9

What happens when you are between jobs and moving? Well, you get bored. Let me explain.

In real life I am a federal criminal defense attorney. But, since my hub decided to take another job, I graciously gave up my current career path. (alright I was ready - you can represent just so many drug dealers and murderers that even their stories get stale)

So I'm pretty much down to packing and cleaning house, and only have one, count it one trial left next month. So I'm bored. Really bored.

So I opened a new Gmail account - my cat appreciates the recognition. She'll probably get credit card offers now.

I transferred him over to the new Gmail - told him I had to change my email due to too many spam letters and I blocked him from my real Gmail.

I really don't think he's going to fly to podunk hell where I live for now, and since I'm out of here after the trial in April - good luck with finding me.

So when you are bored like I am, you sit looking at this email and you think, well I could go water the grass or I could throw some legal words at him ... what's more exciting?

I know I shouldn't have. I know it's insane, but it's hard to resist.
I get so many - and this one is so different. He started out so "normal".

So I sent him a new email from my new Gmail account - same subject line - with a copy of the text of his last email so he would be reminded of what was going on and I told him I would need some information from him first because he would need a special license to buy real estate for his client.

Assuming he responds. I figured I could send him some oppressively long temporary real estate agent's license form to fill out next time.

It's like having a bag of M&Ms - it's hard to not just reach for one more.

I've read the FAQ and Stickies and now I'm working my way through the many threads

- Am I bad? Cool

Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2007 6:16 am

Pattifer wrote:

- Am I bad? Cool

Of course not Very Happy

. That said (and I say this out of concern), you aren't being safe, either. This guy does have your real details and that is a Bad ThingTM as far as baiting him goes. Whilst he probably won't fly to podunk hell to "get" you, he may have a contact in the area- or one close enough to cause problems for you. I suggest that you drop this one, at least for now. Don't worry, he isn't going anywhere Wink

Leave him hanging for awhile. He will send some more mails and then give up on the real you. In the meantime, check out the fora here and read up on the amazing variety of scams going around.

Quote:

It's like having a bag of M&Ms - it's hard to not just reach for one more.

That it is, and the M&Ms here come in LOTS of flavours Laughing

Go ahead and take on a few from surplus lads or take part in a mass bait or two.

In a week or two, create another email account in a new fictional name and send him a nice email thanking him for his interest in the property at 4049 W. Podunk Way, Derry, Ma. (or whatever fictional addy you like). Don't make any reference to your previous correspondence at all, there is no need. He has sent his format to literally hundreds or even thousands of people, and he will have no idea that he never contacted your fictional persona about a property. From there, you can make him twist in the wind any way you like without a worry that he knows anything real about you.

I have a client who wants to buy your house scam	View next topic View previous topic