Is this the beginnings of a real estate scam?

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 23 May 2007 Posts: 1

I hope this is an appropriate question to ask, and an appropriate place to ask it:

I recently listed some property for sale on one of those "For sale by owner" sites. Within a day or two I got an inquiry from an obviously foreign (based on grammar) gentleman who indicated he was interested. He has not yet asked for any money, but below are some quotes from his emails that have me worried:

Quote:

I am ready to make the purchase but may not be able to be there in person because I am still serving under UNITED NATION

Quote:

If you are going to be disposed,I will eqaully want you to assist me and buy more properties because I have some budget to invest in properties as I heard that is profit oriented business when it is appreaciated in value.

Quote:

At the conclusion,we are going to make an arrangement on how I can make a successful transfer of the money to you without a possible indictment on my person as someone with UN

In his latest email, he is referring me to his "agent" in Germany to close the deal:

Quote:

I will like you to contact my agent/attorney who is in Germany for arrangement on how and when he can come because he is going to carry the money via Diplomatic Courrier Airway because I wouldn't want a bank to bank transfer to take effect to avoid any possible trace since I am still working under UN.

Now I Googled as much as I could of this guys name, or any other scams like this. The only thing I found was when I searched on the email he is using, which is the 'mail2Uk.com' domain. The entire first page of results are nothing but scams.

I can't see any way this could be on the up-and-up ... Should I let this guy stew, or is this a great opportunity for baiting, and how would I get started?

Thanks,

- M

Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 12:46 pm

This is definitely a scam. If you tell him you are willing to cooperate he will suddenly remember all the 'processing fees', 'bank charges', 'customs expenses' and 'legal disbursements' you will need to send him (in cash, via Western Union of course) before the deal can be done. The Diplomatic Courier is almost certainly the same person as your UN man who in turn is a lowly lad sitting in an internet cafe somewhere in a random West African city (probably).

If you want to bait him then take some time to read around this board/site and learn a bit more about how it's done. It saves a lot of time and frustration later. So read the Stickies and the FAQs which are there for a reason and contain most of the important information you will need to start - beginning with getting yourself a new email address (gmail, hushmail, fastmail) and a new name to bait with. Then you can respond to your scammer (he won't notice the new name/addy) and away you go! Welcome and enjoy.

Posted: Wed May 23, 2007 1:35 pm

Welcom here. Like Gnasher said, read the stickies and bait safe.

You can post the initial scam letter in the Surplus Forum. Since this is (for most of us) a rare kind of scam, I think a lot of baiters would like to try something new. You can also keep the lad as your personal "pet"

If you want to know where your lad is, check the email headers. The scambaiting help section has a short tutorial in the faq.

Posted: Wed May 30, 2007 10:25 pm

Mike was kind enough to pass on the details. I mailed him from a safe addy, with copies of homes for sale lifted from the net, with a heap of questions about his intentions. He is still adamant about the Germany visit. As I am a very busy person myself, I will try to arrange a "meeting" in maybe UK at a fashionable sporting event. I must check and see what's on. He wants to invest heaps in real estate.

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