I am Dr. William Grey, M.D. and internist in Titchfield Engalnd. I am relocating my family to Madison, Wisconsin and I am interested in retention of you services to buy a house. Please send me information about homes that costing $400,000 to $600,000.
Sounds too good to be true? In most cases it is too good to be true – it is a complex scam that we first wrote about in 2010. Its back and scammers are posing as oil rig workers from China.
Falling for the Scam
The scammers are sophisticated and even the suspicious, cautious REALTOR or attorney can fall prey. A wealthy, out of town buyer relocating to your area is every REALTOR’s dream. When you look up the foreign buyer’s name, you will find his information checks out. And, upon further emails, he will be very specific about his needs and wishes. He will tell you about his wife and children, his need to for 3 or more bedrooms, his desire to be near a school and he may even tell you the neighborhood he likes best.
Then, after sending 5 or 6 listings, he will tell you he is ready to buy MLS Listing 0654321, the beautiful colonial on the west side. “Please make a full price offer, unless you think, in your judgment, that a different amount would be appropriate.” He will also provide you with the name of his financial advisor in New York and ask you for a referral to a local attorney.
At this point, the deal still seems suspicious, too good to be true, and likely to be a scam. But how can it be? He’s using a local attorney. He has a financial advisor at Global Financial, Inc. in Manhattan. And, his emails are so specific.
How The Scam Likely Works
The buyer signs an offer to purchase remotely from China (or England or Canada) and then sends in the earnest money to either the REALTOR or the attorney. The earnest money check will be far larger than the customary amount — it may even be for the entire purchase price. Oops. And some cases, the buyer will also send another check for a hundred thousand dollars or more. OOPS! Then, after the checks have been deposited, the buyer will request that the excess funds be returned via wire or western union. Even if the funds appear to have cleared or been credited to the REALTOR or Attorney account, the check will bounce. It was a fake. The wire goes to a foreign bank and is gone forever.
Avoiding the Scam
If a transaction appears too good to be true, it likely is. Some red flags and similarities include:
- A foreign buyer sends you large amounts of funds by accident
- A buyer asks you to deposit funds that come in by check and, shortly thereafter, return them via wire or Western Union (Western Union is a major red flag!)
- A buyer offers to pay full price for a house, sight unseen.
- The Financial adviser either is named Karen James or Paul Jackson and may work at Global Financial, Inc. (While it is possible these are real names and individuals, scammers are using these names)
- The Buyer is from China, Japan, England, or Canada (really any foreign country where the buyer is suddenly relocating and buying sight-unseen)
- The initial emails contain typos or poor grammar
- The Buyer moves incredibly fast, making a decision in hours or even minutes rather than days or weeks.
- The Buyer’s name is Otake Iwao, Miki Watanabe, Han Cheung, Han Hung, or Yuji Inoue
- The Buyer works or lives on an Oil Rig in southeast Asia
- The email address comes from @asia.com or some other generic email .
If you suspect a scam, ask lots of questions and have verbal, phone conversations at a minimum. Don’t send any private information, bank account numbers or anything else that you would not want a scam artist to have. Alert your Broker or legal counsel whenever a foreign individual is sending funds, even if the funds originate within the U.S. — this alone is cause for caution. Do not send out wired funds if the incoming funds were not wired. And do not send back large amounts until your bank can confirm with 100% certainty that the incoming funds were legitimate and fully cleared. Having access to the funds does not mean they cleared. Work with your bank to provide solid assurances that the funds are real and cleared whenever you suspect fraud.
I got one of those recently. Of course, I’d seen and read about enough other internet scams I pretty much immediately knew what the game was. I also had some direct experience with these birds from an online business I used to run, and people tried a smaller version of this on me a couple times. For the real estate scam, mine actually was a guy in Japan with a legal representative in Chicago, but its the same thing.
You can add domain name japan.com and the name Miki Watanabe to the list
The funny thing is, before I was entirely sure it was a scam I sent him a list of houses from the MLS to match his description and he chose a new construction not yet started and wanted to make sure I did a full house inspection immediately. Umm… if you want to keep the scam going maybe read the stuff I send you?
Fortunatley, these are not being perpetratted by the smartest scammers in the world.
We just went thru this! Too good to be true is CORRECT! Luckily, our attorney caught it before check was deposited. It was drawn on a bank in Canada. Be cautious, realtors!
This happened to us, too. Our scammer called himself BRIAN COLE with the address of BrianCole6783@yahoo.com I did speak to him several times on the phone, but have lost that info.
He offered to buy, full price, site unseen, and pretended to be sending “a representative” to check out the property. He “accidentally wired” the full purchase price plus something extra, and, of course, wanted us to send back the overpayment. He even sent a copy of the wire transfer which are bank was NOT able to determine whether it was fraudulent or not. (I was, though, based on text size, spacing, etc.)
We kept him on the hook long enough to report him to the FBI. They were very interested because, at the time, this type of scam had not yet been reported — and although it’s all over the net NOW, it wasn’t then.
NOW … I’m being solicited AGAIN by another type of scam, and this is one that I can’t find info on, either. It involves a site-unseen “buyer’s agent,” (a son saying he is buying for his father), who wants to RAISE our price by $120xxx, enter into a seller-finance agreement, he takes a $120xxx “finder’s fee,” and we allegedly walk away with the full list price. While I”m still not sure how the scam works, I have no doubt that is IS a scam. Too good to be true, site unseen, pressure to reach agreement within 24 hours, yahoo email address, an LLC that is registered with a generic agent, no phone # or website address, etc.
The alleged scammer name is EDWARD J. MITCHELL in Missouri, with an alleged father in Texas, a business name of Home Team Solutions, LLC registered in MO., an email address of homes4u2010@yahoo.com and phone number of 314-238-6228 If anyone has any information on this latest scam, I’d love to know!
Just went through this the past week 2/2011. Beware. The spelling from the client and the bank on the last name were different. No harm done! Name was Miki Watanbe. Bank was Scotia Bank out of Canada. Attorneys name was Collins McAdams, but when I called him, and he did answer, he was not as Irish as the name would appear. I would say more middle eastern accent.
Jeff Stack
Realtor – Northern VA
We are in Southwest New Mexico and we just received the same type of inquiry from a buyer in China. Wants to purchase property, sight unseen with a large earnest money deposit. Two of us received the identical email. As we compared notes we found it to be interesting that this guy wants to purchase 3 properties, which amount to more $ than he has in his Bank account (yes, he sent us a copy of his proof of funds from Bank of China in Beijing). The other agent tried calling the contact number that this guy gave us and the lines were busy. Thanks to all of you who shared your experiences. It helped me to confirm that if it sounds too good to be true, it is.
My eyebrow went up as soon as I read CASH OFFER for $350 – $500,000 and wondered how did he get my name? Hmmmm. Something smells funny. He chose a listing and proceeded to tell me more fishy information. Phew! Thank you for having this BLOG and saving me from making a big mistake! Who knows how many agents they may have contacted
I think I’m in the middle of one of those right now. The buyer’s name is Leo Thang. He hasn’t wired money in yet, though…
We went through the same scam except we are the sellers. We had everything packed up and ready to start a new life. Our house has been on the market for over three years and it was like a dream come true when our realtor called to let us know that we had a contract on our house. We went three weeks into this believing this was a done deal. Our realtor works for a big agency and you would think they would be up to date on all the scams. Our realtor is supposedly still in contact with this chinese person communicating with him about our home. This is the worst experience my husband and I have been through. We just lost my mother-in-law and really wanted a new life. It is a shame that people would do this to other people. What is the world coming to.
I’m currently working with a Japanese man who contacted me through my broker’s website. He is currently in contract to purchase a home, sight unseen, for all cash. Of course, I’m very suspect. He has sent a copy of his bank statement with a Canadian bank. We are waiting for his earnest money deposit and he says he sent it by mail even though we have provided him with wiring instructions for the title company. He also asked for a local attorney “to handle his financial interests” because he didn’t like sending his money to a third party. Well, we’ll see when/if the check comes in the mail.
Same here. I’m in So California…same EXACT language “He also asked for a local attorney “to handle his financial interests” because he didn’t like sending his money to a third party.” Exactly!! Then a check for $185,000 (1/3 down) arrived at the attorney’s office today – written DIRECTLY to the attorney. Well, fortunately it’s only 5 days in to the process. No reputable attorney would deposit the check without a retainer – especially one written directly to the attorney. Kudos to my friend Rick for pointing me to this article.
I think I have the same guy as friendlyinoakland. His last name is Eito and he came in through a broker website…realtor.com. He wants to buy a house he has never seen, but wants to have an inspection and wants me to refer him to a local attorney for the closing. He also sent me a copy of his bank statement which showed he had almost $3M. I asked him to wire the earnest money funds to the law firm. No money has been received yet. Guess I have been scammed…
did this go thru?
I have been in contact recently with a Japanese man. Different name from the rest. I googled him and found someone with the same name but in reverse. The address in Japan was an Institute of Foreign Languages and everything looked legit except the phone numbers were different.He also emailed a copy of his “Bank Statement” in excess of two million. Wanted to offer $100,000 less than asking price. Googled the financial advisor name with no results. The bank statement from Scotia Bank in Canada had a Canadian address for him. I googled the address but couldn’t find an exact match. Although this feels and sounds like a scam, I checked the web to verify information. I will also like to say, this email was very well written in perfect English and a hotmail address used. I’m a 30 year veteran in the real estate profession and have found your stories most helpful.
The Canadian Bank check will look good. It will be for more money than you need. They will want the excess sent to them immediately by wire transfer. By the time the bad check comes back to you – you will be out the “overage” wired to them. DEMAND wire transfers for the exact amount requested. Don’t do business with them if they don’t comply. Send “overage checks” back to them. Be careful, they are bold and good at what they do!
Hi J. Same here, I’m in Florida, we’re under contract he sent a check that supposedly cleared last week and he’s now asking for most of it to be wired back to him.. it turns out the check is fraudulent the attorney contacted the bank in Canada, “Scotia Bank” and they confirmed. I’m sure it’s the same person.. Hotmail address was used also!
I am a title attorney in Louisiana and you will get a check. You will not here from him he will attempt to do everything by email. He will mention that he and his wife are getting a divorce or other scenario and ask to get out of the deal. His check is from out of the country and is a valid account, but not enough to cover the check amount. He will offer you or the closing attorney some money for his trouble ask to deduct the penalty for cancellation and return the rest. The foreign checks take a very long time to clear. I contacted Homeland Security who told the agent to continue her communication and wait until he asks for the money to be returned, they would be there when someone showed up to get the check. They verified the the account was open in the name of the buyer and contained about $150. The check was for $350,000. All of the emails looked like they were coming out of Canada, but the feds traced the emails to Germany. They also said they have a success rate of 25%. Fake buyer must have gotten a tip from the bank because the emails stopped shortly there after.
I have experienced the same thing and it is also a person from Japan. Seems to me all these scams are using Scotia Bank in Canada. I called the 800 number for the bank and they have no such client. His name is Kabushiki Kaisha. He sent me his proof of funds from the bank and his address in Yokohama, Japan. Also sent the name of his “Account Advisor”, Mr. Cobbs. I have emailed Mr. Cobbs at the address I was given (cfitc@financier.com) and have not heard back. I know this is a scam, but I would love to catch the jerk !
So called “realty” scammers are difficult to catch, let alone punish, primarily because they take advantage of international borders. For lack of diligence I got scammed by a criminal site called “twimboe” operating from Thailand. Many others have similar experiences. The ideal approach is to shun online offers like plague.
I have the same exact buyer. However I use google for everything and I came up with this:
A Kabushiki Kaisha is a Japanese term for and LLC or large company in Japan. Similar to corps we have in the states. I found it very funny that the gentleman would have that name…
Thank everyone for sharing here my latest scam.
DEAR REALTOR
HOW ARE YOU DOING TODAY?
THANKS ALOT FOR YOUR EMAIL.
DO KINDLY FORWARD THE HOME PURCHASE CONTRACTS TO ME.
I AM READY TO SIGN THEM NOW.
DO KINDLY NOTE,I AM OFFERING THE FULL PRICE ON THE PROPERTY AND ALSO I PLAN TO PAY IN CASH.
I ALSO WOULD LIKE TO CLOSE ON THE 9TH OF SEPTEMBER, 2011.
I AWAIT TO GET THE CONTRACTS ASAP.USE MY FULL NAME( DR. RICHARD SAINSBURY) AND ADDRESS( 108 Harley St London W1G 7ET ENGLAND).
ALSO KINDLY EMAIL A COPY OF THE CONTRACTS TO THE ATTORNEY GEORGE CRETELLA FOR HIS OWN REVIEW.
THANKS.
REGARDS,
DR. RICHARD SAINSBURY.
We received almost an identical letter from a different Dr in England. Got all the way to sending a contract when we became suspicious. I was able to find the real doctor online and he confirmed he was not buying any real estate in the U.S.
[…] cashier’s checks. So we, oh yes we did ~ you guessed it, we Googled real estate scams. Practically at the top was our exact situation. Just in case this was a real offer, through our agent we communicated […]
Here is an example letter I received:
Hello David,
Thanks so much for your email. Please send me the contract for me to sign and return immediately this will be my retirement home and it will be a cash buy.
1. I will want to close on 28th Sept, 2011
2. I want to put down $10,000.00 Earnest money + $487,000.00 down payment towards home.
3. I want to put contingency on inspection on the contract. I will prefer to deposit my funds in the company of your attorney, because my friend had issue with title company in the past, so I dont want to deal with them direct.
Please forward me a purchase contract agreement in docusign format, docusign format is an electronic way of signing document. http://www.docusign.net
I am presently on Holiday in North America and i will issue payment in US Funds $497,000.00USD for the earnest money and the down payment for the property payable
to your attorney, the check will deliver to your attorney.
Please I need the following information for your attorney immediately at my own expense
Law Firm Name……………………………………………
Law Firm Address……………………………………………….
Law Firm Telephone………………………………………………
Lawyer’s Name…………………………………………………..
Lawyer’s Email…………………………………………………..
Please what amount was it reduced to.
Regards,
Hideki
Just got one of these. Went thru this 2 years ago with another guy and will not be falling for this scam again.
Ditto for me. We are in Laredo, Texas. The name of the prospect is Richard Sainsbury. We looked him up and he seemed legit but we moved cautiously. The fact that the e-mails were in capital letters and the fact that his english was not proper was our first clue. Second when he contacted me his accent was not English and when I looked up the country code it was from Nigeria. Luckily, their has been no harm done to any client, attorney, or our firm. It just goes to show that we not only need to look out for our clients, but we must watch out for ourselves as well.
Has anybody heard from a Han Lan from Beijing China? Cash buyer on new construction priced at $799,000.00. He offered $749,000.00 and just now sent me a bank statement from the Bank of China showing a 1,057,654.53 balance and he wants to wire $15K immediatly on a house that not only has he never seen, but isn’t nearly complete. I think I’ll let this deal go.
Have received request from Han Lan from Beijing China through REALTOR.com with a gmail email. He is also offering on a home sight unseen, but it is a $725,000 home that he is offering $715,000. He also supplied bank statement from the Bank of China and offered a $15,000 deposit until he gets to the U.S. in another month. After reading your email, I believe I will do the same and let the deal go.
I’m in Arizona and my buyer was Yu Li from Beijing, China. The check for $99,000 more than the purchase price was mailed to the attorney he requested I refer him too. I’d given the “client” 30 day inspection period because he was supposed to come the end of August 2012, but he didn’t arrive. It took 3 weeks for the funds to arrive. The inspection period was up on the 10th of September; the attorney told me on Thursday before that his bank said the funds were good; I held the inspection and the next day I received an email from the attorney that the funds are not good, so now I’m on the hook for the inspection… He is still emailing saying that he has invested money with his US broker and doesn’t understand why the funds aren’t good. What a mess.
Beijing is full of Scammers I recently was contact by Kin Hung. $679k home sight unseen and not even built completely yet! close early Dec. I must find him an attorney for escrow agent. I replied to him that I can’t wait to meet him when he does arrive to help him find the ‘right’ home for him! I did contact the US AG’s office and am waiting to hear back. ……
I have one going on with Oscar Paiva from the UK. Same thing, wanted my attorney, said he sent money to the attorney, wants to close in 30 days, sight unseen and sent me a proof of funds from Global Management Financial, which is the rip off reports online. My attorney and I both agree that this guy is a scam artist. My last one was from Japan 2 years ago. We don’t take cashiers checks in our area, so I told him I need him to wire the money. Haven’t heard from him since. The scammers are out there in full force.
I replied to him an explanation of procedures, including earnest money by bank wire for exact amount to the escrow company, and if he has a change of heart it will take several weeks to process.
Sending our office manager an alert to all our brokers.
Where are you located? I have heard from him here in Fort Myers FL
Gregg, one of our agents received something similar. Different names, but same scam. Steve Petty
The names used in our scam was Jean Marc Weber from Japan and the accountant’s name is Anderson Smith from Canada.
I also received an email from Jean Marc Weber for Satou Minoda and Anderson Smith was the financier in Canada. They sent a $145,000 check to the attorney and I cautioned them to check it carefully as I felt this was a scam – and it was. Be careful out there folks!
Han Lan is hoping to come to Tennessee as well! He offered 630,000 in cash on a lakefront home. Sent a statement from Bank of China.
We have heard from Han Lan and his “processor” here in Baton Rouge, LA
This is the email that we received!!!
We thank you for your message. Please be informed that our organization has send update to us for the payment of $390,100.32, in your possessions. To send update of the payment to us if you receive the payment and make a deposit in your account today. The update is send on behalf of Han Lan, Please update as soon as you receive this message.
Regards,
Graig Peterson, Jr
the “deal” may be that you get a check for more than is needed, it appears legit, but it is a fraudulent check drawn as a cashier check. He will ask you to wire the difference back. If you do, your good wire is NOT covered by the BAD check discovered after the fact.
He did not like the fact that I told him I am not a novice in this business.
Homeowner in Fort Collins, CO
His new name is now Hua Li. Had the same Bank of China bank account with the same balance reported by Steven above $1,057,654.53. Originally had 2.5 Million in account. Offered $380,000 cash on a $399,500 house. We countered with $394,000 and he excepted right away. Sight unseen. Offered a $15,000 earnest deposit then I found this site. Thank you. Only harm was to our hopes and dreams!
Bonnie, just heard from Oscar and dropped him. Thank goodness I read this website and your experience a few weeks ago.
I have my home listed in Alaska by a reputable firm and even they fell for this scam … almost. They even went as far as having papers drawn up and submitting a form with a local escrow company here … that’s when their bubble burst! They were told that 2 exactly worded offers went through their office alone recently. My regret is getting all excited about selling my home. One would think the realtor would of smelled a rat. The name of thar rat is Inoue Yuji of Beijing, China. Add him to your lists and beware all you people, we are being attacked through our ignorance!
Will in Alaska
Han Lan has hit the Pacific Northwest! Same MO as the others- almost to a tee! After telling him he couldn’t send the money to me or a lawyer- I’m thinking I won’t hear from him again….
What a stupid waste of time!
Don’t “rain” on my Parade in Vancouver, WA!
Mr. Lan Han does not like me. I told him I was not a novice and to see the scam report.
He replied to the agent:
I am sorry as I would not like to deal with Mr.Webb after the insult he gave me.
Han Lan sure is a busy guy! He has hit multiple Realtor’s in Arizona!
Missouri too, two agents in our office. He even signed a contract. Wants a local attorney as well to represent him.
Meet Fujimaki Teigo the next scammer – same mo as the rest of you -He Got my name from Realtor.com. Go figure… I googled his name and found all this scam info. Thank You
I am a Realtor in WI and I am currently “working” with the same person, although sometimes he spells his name Tiego – – other times Teigo from Japan. We just received EMD for $250,000 “cashier” check, even though I asked for $160,000 would have been 20% of his cash $800,000 offer on a site unseen lake home. The check was made out to the listing agent’s trust fund and sent by his ‘attorney’ Anderson Smith, Financial Advisor (andersonsmith@lawyer.com). I’m instructed to notify the atty. when the check is deposited for release of funds immediately, and,of course, Mr. Tiego will send further instructions for the disbursement of funds. His bank statement of 2+M is from The Royal Bank of Canada ; the EMD from this bank, but issued thru [intact] Disbursement Centre from Montreal, QC. Too good to be true??? I think so!
He hit us here too, same name, Boston area It is all the same MO. Nahant,Mass
Dr. Max Evans is on the prowl to purchase real estate, sight unseen, in Ottawa, Canada. Not sure where he hails from but English isn’t his first language….
Here in Maine…Just had an offer from Beijing ..reads like they had this menu in front of them …very disappointing for a lot of reasons. Provided bank statement , asked for local lawyer , sight unseen, no inspections necessary …TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE ..never fails
Hurts a lot of people
ps…it was also almost a full price offer…
futher, just like will sullivan (above) this “client” says his name is Noe Yuij which he later corrected to call himself Noe Yu…Just got a copy of his passport with his photo …unbelievable…
obviously working on percentages …if they bait enough hooks at least one fish will get hooked..
Hideki Matsui has visited me in Virginia with the same MO that David J experienced in September. The only way I found out about this scam is because the prospective seller worked at the sheriff’s department for many years and smelled a rat! I hope karma takes it toll on these people.
And the scams keeping coming. Just got a follow-up email to an email Neo Yu sent me a few weeks back: sight unseen, he wants to purchase my listing. I won’t even bother to open his bank statement; from what everyone has said here, what’s the point? Here’s a copy of his email:
“I have been to the area last year and liked the location. Understand that I and my wife are OK with pictures and information we have seen so far as we would like to initiate the purchase process from China before we arrive USA before the end of next month. This for we would not like to lose the property. I am in China at the moment and hope to be in USA next month. The home would be a cash buy as I have attached a scanned copy of my bank statement for your reference. I would like to settle an up front deposit of $15,000 and close early March. Kindly get back to me with the next step in accord.”
‘Tis the season to be ripped off!
Dyan, exact same scenerio, name, letter, EVERYTHING, here in little ‘ole Halifax, Pennsylvania. I am SO glad that I found this blog. What a lifesaver.
After relaying to “Neo” that he will no longer be hearing from our office, and pretty much telling “him” that we are onto him and that all of his correspondences will be forwarded to the authorities, this was the response we received. Has anyone else received such a response?
“This is annoying.
I am a respected individual in my community as I can not tarnish my reputation executing fake transactions.
I intend to buy two properties. One for rent and the other as a primary resident.
Would this be a problem?
Neo”
….I think Neo took the blue pill.
What I want to know is how does one make an international sale with a valid buyer?
I had this same letter from Hua Li from China. Coming to St Louis, MO in early March 2012
EXACT wording! Watch for these emails Realtors!
exactly the email I recieved!!
and this scam continues… we’re now at Sept 23.2012 and the response received had the same exact wording different person ..Han Hung or maybe Hung Han also had gmail address & used Bank of China in Beijing… with these postings I sure hope no one gets into a bad situation… Thank goodness for Google… I’m in the Bay Area, Northern California
I have the same name Han Hung from Beijing … same deal as everybody is reporting. Something seemed off, and I had a bad vibe. He’s now trying to buy in Zachary, Louisiana! Hmmmm ..
We have one that is verbatim from this one, with adjustments for date (mid December close) and name, Han Hung. Emailed him courteous reply with the procedure that is observed here–earnest money to be for exact amount and must clear before can proceed–“and that can take several weeks.”
Thank you to all who took the time to post here. You saved us time and possibly money.
Hey there, You’ve done a fantastic job. I’ll definitely digg it and personally suggest to my friends. I’m confident they will be benefited from this website.
Is there any way to stop or punish them?
I just received the same letter as D.N Blass from China and contact name is Mark Lee.We need to stop or better punish them.Any suggestion? Thanks
Thank you.
I have been to the area last year and liked the location.
Understand that I and my wife are OK with pictures and information we have seen so far as we would like to initiate the purchase process from China before we arrive USA before the end of next month.
This for we would not like to lose the property.
I am in China at the moment and hope to be in USA next month.
The home would be a cash buy as I have attached a scanned copy of my bank statement for your reference.
My contact information is
Address: UNIT 24 XIN CHAOYANG DISTRICT,BEIJING,CHINA
Telephone: 86 96 894 27776
I would like to settle an up front deposit of $15,000 and close Mid May.
Kindly get back to me with the next step in accord.
Regards,
Lee
Lara:
I received the exact same letter from Mark Lee. What can we do – this is a complete waste of time!
I received pretty much the same letter from Yu Li. I wish there was something we could do. I went so far as to do inspection, under the assumption from the attorney that the funds were good. Wish I’d found this site earlier. I talked to people in my office it too, but it all looked good, if a little to good to be true. Except that I am now on the hook for the inspections, and the sellers are devastated, there is no real harm. I don’t know how they can think this will get them anywhere. It’s very upsetting
OMG .. I have the exact same email .. but Han Hung is the so called Buyer prospect! This is unbelievable! When they say something seems to good to be true .. it usually is! I was suspicious but really wasn’t sure. Thank you so much for posting this. According to this guy, he’s moving his family to Zachary, La! Yeah right ..
I receive the identical message from “Liang Cheung” –
“I have been to the area last year and liked the location.Understand that I and my wife are OK with pictures and information we have seen so far as we would like to initiate the purchase process from China before we arrive USA before the end of next month.This for we would not like to lose the property.I am in China at the moment and hope to be in USA next month.The home would be a cash buy as I have attached a scanned copy of my bank statement for your reference.”
Liang wanted to offer $203K for a $204K listing and offered to send a $15K deposit for the unseen property.
I got the exact same message- mine is from Ming Rong. So glad I saw this. Message is the same word for word! This is for a property in NY- he sent bank account Bank of China
I also have a realtor that received a message but different name;
Thank you.
I have been to the area last year and liked the location.
Understand that I and my wife are OK with pictures and information we have seen so far as we would like to initiate the purchase process from China before we arrive USA before the end of next month.
This for we would not like to lose the property.
I am in China at the moment and hope to be in USA next month.
The home would be a cash buy as I have attached a scanned copy of my bank statement for your reference.
My contact information is
Address: unit 34 XIN CHAOYANG DISTRICT,BEIJING,CHINA
Telephone: 86 96 8994 2776
I would like to settle an up front deposit of $15,000 and close Early April.
Kindly get back to me with the next step in accord.
Regards,
Kin Ming
Just got an email from Kin Ming. Thanks for the heads up.
Looks like Mark has a brother, Lee Kelvin trying to buy property in York, NE. He has almost the same address and phone number as your Lee. He offered $389,500. $15,000 earnest. Coming to USA next month. Got him an attorney. Got a check for $350,900. We gave everything to the title company.
Just received the same letter as above from Yu Li. I am in St. George, Utah. Beware!
Craig Barr
Mr. Yu Li is now looking in Arizona. Sorry I didn’t see this earlier.
I got the same thing from Chang lee!
Tim Shaw
Las Vegas
I am an attorney and had a real estate agent ask me about a similar offer and whether it was legitimate. I googled “Japanese Real Estate Scam” and got here. Just a further caution – some of the checks sent out in these types of scams are very clever forgeries. I have heard of similar checks deposited in attorney’s trust accounts that have not been returned within five days and attorneys who have called and been told by their banks that the check looks like it cleared only to have the check caught further down the processing line and returned as a forged item. The fact that a check doesn’t bounce back in five days does not mean it’s good.
This is what I got from Yu Lin
…
Thank you.
I have been to the area last year and liked the location.
Understand that I and my wife are OK with pictures and information we have
seen so far as we would like to initiate the purchase process from China
before we arrive USA before the end of next month.
This for we would not like to lose the property.
I am in China at the moment and hope to be in USA next month.
The home would be a cash buy as I have attached a scanned copy of my bank
statement for your reference.
My contact information is
Address: Flat 112 XIN CHAOYANG DISTRICT,BEIJING,CHINA
Telephone: 86 96 894 27776
I would like to settle an up front deposit of $15,000 and close Mid July.
Kindly get back to me with the next step in accord.
Regards,
Yu
Just got the same email from Hikaru Furukawa. Same thing… wants to close Mid May… it’s past mid May…
Add Dr. James Watts “from” the UK to your list. Same song, different verse. I was immediately suspicious and sent it to our attorney. I am giving him OUR terms, and the attorney is monitoring the situation. Thank God, my Mama didn’t ‘raise no fool”.
Hi would you mind sharing which blog platform you’re working with? I’m going to start my own blog soon but I’m having a hard time making a decision between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your design and style seems different then most blogs and I’m looking for something completely unique. P.S My apologies for being off-topic but I had to ask!
F.Y.I., I got this e-mail few days ago.
[I am Mr. Zhang Wei, I will be relocating to your place with my family,after searching the Internet for a reliable real estate agent, I found your firm and i have decided to contact your firm too, to see if i could find any house i would like, and i would like you to please forward me some property photos and price. I need a 3 bed rooms/6 bed room’s home with nice view and garage, and it will be close to school and in nice neighborhood in your city and state. please do mail more details.
Regards
Mr. Zhang Wei
zhangwei_1212@live.com]
This is the second mail from him after I sent my short greetng mail.
[Thank you for responding to my email. I am Mr. Zhang Wei, a Japanese origin I need a single family home, 3-6 bedroom 2-3 bath with a garage with or without swimming pool 2,500sqft to buy, price range starting from 200,000.00 to $700,000.00 in a nice & quiet community in any city or town in your state and it as to be a traditional sale and it should be close to school and shopping mall, and i have three children and they are age 14years, 10years and the last five years. Please no short sales and no foreclosure property
Regards,
Mr. Zhang Wei
Zhang Personnel Testing Authorities
5-2-1 Ginza, Chuo-ku
Tokyo 170-3293
Japan
Telephone: +81-3-3222-2068
Skype id zhang_wei112]
The third mail from him after I sent few MLS info.
[I am interested in this property ML#S701753/Listing Price: $699,900.00 I will like to retain the service of an attorney in this transaction to handle the financial part of this purchase and also to represent my interest. Please recommend an attorney for me I do not wish to forward my deposit to a third party before closing on the property. Because of time difference, it meant not be possible for me to reach the attorney on the telephone during business hour. I will like to ask you to contact the attorney on my behalf or send me their email address so that I can introduce myself to them regarding this transaction.
Below is the information you need before you can write the purchasing contract.
1). Organisation Zhang Personnel Testing Authorities
Contact Name Mr. Zhang Wei
Postal Address 5-2-1 Ginza, Chuo-ku
Tokyo 170-3293
Country Japan
Telephone +81-3-3222-2010
Fax +81-3-3222-2068
2). It is going to be cash buy on the property and I will like home inspection to be done on the property.
Sincerely,
Mr. Zhang Wei]
After this e-mail, I asked him to sign and return the C.A.R. Form-AD along with his passport and corporate registration issued by the Japanese goverment. Also, I offered my attorney in Tokyo to pick them up at the location he mentioned above.
Then, this is the last message came from him and no more mails after that.
“i will do that and send it back to you thanks”
no greetings, no name, just 1 line.
Some time most people do write up what ever they want to do on the net if some one say he want to buy a house and later did not that mean he is a scam why did you find out why he did not buy the house or did get back to you again.
I will stand and watch you guys talk to my boss and put our company name here and saying all kind of words. Try and change your life style so that all will be well with you guys. This is the reason it never go well with you all thanks
Hi I received the same email and have opened escrow, once I questioned about the funds I did some further checking and I believe this to be a scam as well. Please let me know.
It is a scam. He sent us a very good counterfeit cashier’s check drawn on Chase Bank. Chase Bank Security has the check and his information. Force them to wire transfer the EXACT amount needed directly to escrow. They will disappear. He sent us a check for $55,000 and wanted $20,000 as down payment. He then wanted us to RUSH a wire transfer to a company in China for the remainder. If we had done so we would have been responsible for the $30,000 loss once the cashiers check would have bounced back from Chase. Chase security said that it was a nice counterfeit, as well as his proof of funds. The check appeared to be printed on old Chase paper stock. These guys are good, persistent and apparently don’t worry about capture. May be government sponsored?
Kenji, thank you. To the Letter!! this is what I received yesterday, sent off the listings today………….. now I know what to expect back and trash the lead. PLUS warn all the Agents in my Area that this is going around. I did suspect it was a Scam ….
Yea, we just had Mr. Zhang Wei approach us, Zhang Wei Personnel Agency. About the same time a Dr. Andrew Cowley out of London. Both wanting to purchase real estate site unseen. Both wanting to send checks to us or our attorney for more than the purchase price. Red flags flew because they both had yahoo.hk extensions on their E-Mail address. “Dr. Cowley” disappeared but Mr. Zhang had his “attorney” send us a cashier’s check allegedly issued by the Chase Bank for more than was required for the good faith deposit, wanting excess funds sent to a China company, via wire transfer, for building materials. Red flags flew and we started researching and found your information. We have sold to foreigners in the past, monies always wire transferred to escrow for the exact amounts needed. We will be submitting the check to our bank who will probably call in the FBI.
Our request came from Mr. Zhang Hua from Tokyo – exact same wording as those from Zhand Wei. Thanks for the heads-up!
Jim
Mr, Zhang Hua sent the same wording email to me. He sent his financial state that was Zhang Wei and he type over the last name with Hua.
Our guy’s name is Han Cheung. But it’s the same M O, same type back and forth emails, 15k down, blah blah blah. We are in the Florida Panhandle. These guys are everywhere. Thanks for the blog.
Han also wants to move to Idaho!
Should you contact someone in law enforcement to investigate and prosecute these individuals? I have a so called client like this right now.
Thanks for the blog, I also have a Marc Jean Weber in Japan, with an accountant Anderson Smith in Canada that maybe trying to pull a fast one.
I also would like to know how to go about reporting this.
PLEASE REPORT THIS TO THE FBI. The more the word gets out the better we can work to stop this scam.
We got a fake Cashiers check as well. Upon reviewing and following up with the name on the CC we discovered it was not ligit.
They used Docusign. Keep any DocuSign akcnowledgement you get and remember to report this to the FBI.
Thanks for your response and info, I will do this.
what department in the FBI – I unfortunately accepted the check, waited ten business days and then send the 15,000 to the title company. I have notified them to return that wire to me but this is my attorney trust account so I am concerned
Wow….well I too just received the email from a mr. Xhang Wei…I will post the email below he even sent me a bogus bank statement. this is a total scam…..OIY! See Below hope it helps.
1. I am a business man and relocating my family to the United States under
> the Business/family class.
>
> I am Japanese by origin but I run my business in China and make supplies to
> several countries including the USA.
> 2. My family moves in 2nd week of August and i will be joining them by the
> end of August, I will be going to Europe by this months end to roll up
> business partnership deal, I am currently in China mainland for business and
> will return to Japan by wednessday.
> 3. I will be paying cash on property, i can do a wire or write a check or
> have an associate send the funds to you.
>
> I am interested in this property
>
> I will also like to retain the service of an attorney in this transaction to
> handle the financial part of this purchase and also, to represent my
> interest.
> Please recommend an attorney for me I do not wish to forward my deposit to a
> third party before closing on the property.
>
> Due to time difference, it may not be possible for me to reach the attorney
> on the telephone during business hour. I will like to ask you to contact the
> attorney on my behalf. Also send me the attorney’s email address so that I
> make a written introduction regarding this transaction.
>
> Attached is my bank statement.
> Below is the information you need before you can write the purchasing
> contract.
>
> 1). Name: Mr. Zhang Wei
> Kiyokawa 2-18-8-901
> To
> Tokyo Taitou-ku
> Postal Code 111-0022
> Japan
> 2). Telephone: 81 44 952 7095
> 3). It is going to be cash buy on the property and I will like home
> inspection to be done on the property 4). Offer: $320,000 and closing date:
> 30th of JULY, 2012
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Mr. Zhang Wei
> PROPRIETOR/C.E.O. Sai Mag Wheels
> 5-2-1 Ginza, Chuo-ku
> Email: zhang.wei@saimagswheels.com
> http://www.saimagswheels.com
SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM SCAM
Hello There. I found your weblog the usage of msn. This is a really neatly written article. I’ll be sure to bookmark it and come back to learn extra of your useful info. Thank you for the post. I’ll definitely return.
I got him going right now, using thename Han Lin.
Same one, Han Lin here in Fort Collins CO as well.
Thank you.
I have been to the area last year and liked the location.
Understand that I and my wife are OK with pictures and information we have
seen so far as we would like to initiate the purchase process from China
before we arrive USA before the end of next month.
This for we would not like to lose the property.
I am in China at the moment and hope to be in USA next month.
The home would be a cash buy as I have attached a scanned copy of my bank
statement for your reference.
My contact information is
Address: Flat 112 XIN CHAOYANG DISTRICT,BEIJING,CHINA
Telephone: 86 96 894 27776
I would like to settle an up front deposit of $15,000 and close Mid July.
Kindly get back to me with the next step in accord.
Always tell them that you only work with bank wire transfers for the exact amounts needed. Don’t ever work with cashiers checks, especially if sent with more money than is needed and they want you to wire trans the excess somewhere. If you do, you will owe your bank that excess because the Cashiers Checks have turned up to be great forgeries. We got one drawn on Chase and Chase Bank Security said it was a great forgery on some of their old paper stock and a former endorser’s electronic signature for Chase. Good thing we went to them first before depositing in our account!
Dr Peter Schofield from the UK emailed me last night. Today, he miraculously turned into Dr Andrew Cowley. Sent him a not-so-kind “Thanks, But No Thanks” note. Had another scammer contact me about a year ago, so I knew the drill. Too bad these scumbags use innocent by-standers’ names!
The question that keeps on popping up in my head is, “If we can walk on the moon, why can’t we nail these thugs?”
We can’t nail them because they may be government sponsored? The counterfeit Chase Bank Cashier’s check we received was printed on old chase paper stock with an old Chase signature. Chase Security was impressed with it and the proof of funds forgery.
Just came across this site and wanted to thank you for all of your posts. I’m dealing with Mr. Kin Cheung from Unit 34, Xin Chaoyang District, Beijing, China. Telephone 86 96 894 27776. Same story…$15,000 deposit, wanting to purchase two properties in the $600k price range, sight unseen, in Olympia, WA. I just asked him to provide a copy of his passport…we’ll see if he complies!
Han Hung lives at that same address too .. ha! I received the same email with the same contact info and details .. just a different name. This is repulsive!
I too just received similar request from Dr. Peter Schofield from the UK
There is no one on the face of this planet who is going to send $600,000 to buy a house, sight-unseen. This is a ridiculous scam and shame on anyone that falls for it.
They disappear when you tell them that you have an office policy that they must wire transfer the exact amount to Escrow and that you do not honor Cashier’s Checks!
I just got hit with a buy inquiry from Zhang Wei on a private sale in New Brunswick Canada a couple of days ago.Aside from poor English in te email what first tipped me off was that his “Japaneese Origin” as he puts it, was with a Chineese name.As well the lack of a direct response from him to me request for a Skype address to communicate directly.I also requested a Canadian contact from him sionce he claimed to have had owned businesses here in Canada.When I found this blog it was only after he sent me the bogus address in Japan.As I read through the posts on this blog, I was amazed at this meathead’s stupidity as emails were identical to the ones he sent me and even some of teh canned replies.I have reported this to the police and have advised the police to alert the Canadian Bar Association9to warn lawyers) and the Canadian Real Estate Board(to alert Real Estate Agents)…the more noise that can be brought to these aganecies…the fewer chances that someone will be ripped off !
I just received similar from a “Dr. Peter Schofield” Cardiologist in United Kingdom. He had contacted a local realtor with similar scam, realtor unknowingly referred to me. I realized a scam and when the good doctor called me (with an Indian accent) I advised him that I was not interested in his scam, at which time he hung up on me, confirming the scam. Subsequently I received a beautifully done official check drawn on Scotiabank for $205,900.80. No followup from good doctor. The lengths these idiots go to is amazing.
Our “Dr. Peter Schofield” has been a busy guy.Our agent recieved a “cashiers check” also. Sun Trust Bank knew immediately that it was fradulent.
Yes. Han Lin tried to pull the exact same stunt in Kentucky—same story and bank info, same $15,000 deposit for a property not seen. His emails stopped when asked for copies of his visa and to wire the deposit. Appreciate the heads up regarding this scam from previous posts.
I also have been contacted by Dr. Peter Schofield. I contacted my Attorney who told me that more than likely it is a scam, which is what I thought to begin with. What Cardiologist in their right mind would by a very modest house, less than 2000sf, in a rural area of North Florida sight unseen. I went ahead and sent him the contract along with my attorney’s wiring instructions for the escrow. He sent the contract back to me with signatures. I then proceeded with another email in which I requested a scanned copy of his color photo id and his citizenship status, either Foreign National or US Citizen. To date I have not heard back from him. LOL!!!!
Don’t just throw away all foreign Buyers. Demand that they send ALL funds by Bank Wire Transfer for the exact amounts needed. If legitimate they will do so. If a scam, they will insist that they send you a “Cashiers Check” that will be a great forgery that looks real but is fake, they will send more than you need so that you can wire transfer funds back to them after the check “clears” in two days. Later it will come back as a forgery and you, not your bank, will be responsible for funds wire transferred to them! Meaning that you will take a big financial hit!
If you don’t move fast enough or they want to multiply the scam, they will ask you to refer them to a local Real Estate Attorney where they will try to run the scam on them.
Make certain that all of you link this site on all your social internet sites.
Thanks, Charlie Davis
Same story as Karen posted on 8/6…I’m in Charlotte. Han Cheung is the buyer with the same copy of the bank statement showing that same balance: $1,057,654.53 and same contact number and address. I knew it was too good to be true…
Thanks everyone for you input; hate to see anyone scammed; this business is hard enough!
We were hit by this scam as well. It took a great deal of joy from our lives. I’m so sorry for anyone who this hits. It seems to be happening to many people including us.
I am Joan’s agent and I am physically sick that this has happened to them and to me. The story above about the people packing up their home and getting ready to move was really horrific. I agree that we can’t through out all foreign buyers, but we must be very careful. I had a very good virtual tour on this home, so it actually didn’t surprise me too much that they would buy it sight unseen. They also wanted inspections. All of those things helped keep the illusion going. This is going to be a blog that I will continue to visit. I will also make my real estate community aware of this. It does seem like there is something we should be able to do to stop this from happening.
I just need a copy of the opening statement in a trial to recover $15,000 as down-payment, plus other expense!
I think I am in the middle of one of these deals right now with Han Cheung – I am getting almost hourly demands to send money to his wife’s attorney as they are going through a divorce now – same BAnk of China statement, same Scotia Bank contacts – I have contacted our State Attorney General and US Attorney – but am refusing to send any funds to him.
Add Yuji Inoue (yujiinoue16@gmail.com) to the list. Same bank account balance as mentioned above, same letter too.
Jim Irving, Realtor, Paso Robles, CA
Hi..I got the letter from Han Hung… I told him I couldn’t start the process until his check clears the bank because I need to verify that this isn’t a scam.
He wrote back ” I am a respected individual in my community as I can not tarnish my reputation executing fake transactions. I will be in your office when I arrive USA and then would initiate the purchase process then”.
Too funny!! Exact same Bejing letter others posted here..
Darn…it was a $750,000 house.
Celia… I got one from Han Hung also… the one he wanted to go after out my way was $810K… LOL I hear u loud and clear… just didnt feel right to me…
Yep. Han Hung. $15,000. Copy of the bank statement showing that same balance: $1,057,654.53. Address: Unit 34, Xin Chaoyang District, Beijing, China. Telephone 86 96 894 27776.
I just got one from Han Hung also, all the same information and the bank letter. This home is $450,000. I had one last year from a Japanese name so I was far more aware this time. Good to know his name is on this list though so I can shut it down immediately.
I’m in the middle of one of these now…it seems. Here’s the Realtor.com inquiry that I received:
This is an automated inquiry sent by a REALTOR.com® consumer. Please do not reply to this email. Please contact Kin Cheung directly using the information below.
First Name: Kin
Last Name: Cheung
Email Address: kincheung14@gmail.com
Phone Number:
Best time to contact: Any time.
Needs a response: Immediately.
Plans to buy or sell within: 1 month.
I need: An answer to a quick question (see comments below)
Comment:
Hello,
I would like to formally present an offer of $415,000 for this property.Kindly get back to me ASAP, if my offer would be acceptable by the sellers.
Thanks
Kin
This consumer inquired about:
Property Address:
Email target: Agent
Basic Property Attributes:
$429,950
Bed: 3
Bath: 3
Property Type: Single Family Home
Wonderful blog & good post.Its really helpful, awaiting for more new post. Keep Blogging.
Jeffrey T. Angley, P.C.
Lafayette Indiana has bare ground HAN HUNG & his wife are OK with too! His Bank of China statement shows he spent $1.45 million “check cashed to self” within 13 days in September alone. I googled his name and found all of your comments. Good reporting people!
Thanks for sharing this, always another interesting scam coming along, I hope nobody ever falls for these.
[…] get all the details, take a look at this extremely thorough blog post—and particularly the comments, where many of the names used by the potential fraudsters are […]
I have also been stung by Han Hung! I have been dealing with him for the last week and same exact email some of you have received. I am located in WV so it has hit here as well. We need to send a warning to all of our state associations warning realtors of this scam!
Good ole Han Hung is gettin around with his family! He wanted to buy a home from me in Zachary, La!! I’m so thankful for having a suspicious mind and this website!!! Thank you!!
Han Hung is trying to buy here in Virginia too! I hope these people get caught. It is upsetting to think you have your house sold and then to find out it was a scam! I’m so glad I read this!
A few months ago my son got burned by a scam similar to this. They were paying him to be a “mystery shopper”, and he was to complete two transactions. One was testing Western Union, after their check was deposited in his account, he was to send an amount to a name they gave him, then fill out a questionaire about the experience. The second involved making a purchase at a pet supply store, and oh, just keep whatever you purchased. Then the zinger, they cancelled or stopped payment on their check, therefore making his bank account overdrawn by about $3,500.00. It wasn’t large dollars like a Real Estate transaction, but hard to lose when you aren’t able to work. Again, a case of it being too good to be true!
El P,TX 915
I had a scam just lke, that of a “mystery Shopper” but I called the bank and sure enough the check was fraudulent, remember that saying “There’s a sucker born every minute” don’t be that sucker. Gd luck out there.
Google the best think in the world!!!
I just got email today it was suspicious. I found other blog with almost the same scam and phone number identical.
“I was in new york last year and i would like to have a home there
for me and my families to enjoy our holiday this XMAS.
Understand that I and my wife are OK with pictures and information we
have seen so far as we would like to initiate the purchase process from
China before we arrive USA before the end of next month.
For this we would not like to lose the property.
I am in China at the moment and hope to be in USA next month.
The home would be a cash buy as I have attached a scanned copy of my
bank statement for your reference.
My contact information is
Address: unit 34 XIN CHAOYANG DISTRICT,BEIJING,CHINA
Telephone: +86 96 894 27776
I would like to settle an up front deposit of $15,000 and close Early November
Kindly get back to me with the next step in accord.
Regards,
chang lee?
Thank you.
I have been to the area last year and liked the location.
Understand that I and my wife are OK with pictures and information we have seen so far as we would like to initiate the purchase process from China before we arrive USA before the end of next month.
This for we would not like to lose the property.
I am in China at the moment and hope to be in USA next month.
The home would be a cash buy as I have attached a scanned copy of my bank statement for your reference.
My contact information is
Address: unit 34 XIN CHAOYANG DISTRICT,BEIJING,CHINA
Telephone: 86 96 894 27776
I would like to settle an up front deposit of $15,000 and close Mid December.
Kindly get back to me with the next step in accord.
Regards,
Han
I almost got duped by Han Hung until I Googled him and read this string! Exact same letter. SO glad I didn’t waste my time (or the poor Seller’s time) on this. THANK YOU!
Well, “Han’s” brother “Lin” Hung just sent me the same email with a copy of his bank statement. Gave the following as his address:
Address: Flat 112 XIN CHAOYANG DISTRICT,BEIJING,CHINA
Telephone: 86 96 894 27776
So glad for Google and glad I checked it out before contacting my Sellers!!
Carol Ann
Here’s another…
Thank you.
I have been to the area last year and liked the location.
Understand that I and my wife are OK with pictures and information we have
seen so far as we would like to initiate the purchase process from China
before we arrive USA before the end of next month.
This for we would not like to lose the property.
I am in China at the moment and hope to be in USA next month.
The home would be a cash buy as I have attached a scanned copy of my bank
statement for your reference.
My contact information is
Address: unit 34 XIN CHAOYANG DISTRICT,BEIJING,CHINA
Telephone: 86 96 894 27776
I would like to settle an up front deposit of $15,000 and close Mid
December.
Kindly get back to me with the next step in accord.
Regards,
Han
..Great…I had a potential Buyer “Kin Hung” contact me:…same letter, address, ph. #, deposit, etc. I had a gut feeling right from the 1st email…………JEEZ!
Donna LaConte, REALTOR, RE/MAX Central Realty
Thank you.
I have been to the area last year and liked the location.
Understand that I and my wife are OK with pictures and information we have
seen so far as we would like to initiate the purchase process from China
before we arrive USA before the end of next month.
This for we would not like to lose the property.
I am in China at the moment and hope to be in USA next month.
The home would be a cash buy as I have attached a scanned copy of my bank
statement for your reference.
My contact information is
Address: unit 34 XIN CHAOYANG DISTRICT,BEIJING,CHINA
Telephone: 86 96 894 27776
I would like to settle an up front deposit of $15,000 and close Mid
December.
Kindly get back to me with the next step in accord.
Regards,
Han
Thank you for all the padt comments. I ask him to start the process with a western union or money gram never ever give a bank account until the person you are dealing with is totally legitimated.
I am dealing with Han Hung right now. The exact same contact information, etc. When things are too good to be true they usually are! People like this really make me sick!
Han Hung got me here in Seattle Washington also. His ruse became revealed today in a clock hour class I took when I overheard another realtor explaining the same “puzzling transaction” and we both discovered we were representing the same buyer (Han Hung!!)! Another realtor said she read the following article last Wedneday: http://mukilteobeacon.villagesoup.com/p/real-estate-scams-and-scallywags/925140
Mr. Hung is a very busy man. (another coincidence: I have a full-price cash back up to Mr. Hans contract from an agent who is representing a cash buyer with a french name who provided Canadian Proof of funds. BEWILDERING to say the least!!!
I am in Jamaica, just received a call a few days ago asking me for information about the property I have for sale. His name is Anand Puri, and he says he comes from Florence in Italy – has an .it email address – called me from an italian number. Says he is looking to invest in Jamaica on behalf of his uncle. Anyway sent pictures description etc. he has now phoned me again – can’t place his accent, although not really familiar with italian. Says they have looked at the info and like the property. Next is will we accept a 60/40 split 60% of money bank transfer and 40% hard cash if they offer the full price!! Talking 40% of more than a million US$ – thats a lot of hard cash!! So i have now forward him a letter from my attorney to request photo ID, address, occupation and name of their attorney. Anyone know of anything similar?
You ought to take part in a contest for one of the greatest websites on the web. I most certainly will recommend this blog!
One of our agents received and email from Mr. Oscar Paiva. I notcied someone else received an email from him. So obviously a scam.
Mr. Oscar Paiva
Lorne Stewart Plc
Address: Stewart House 420 Kenton Rd Harrow Middlesex HA3 9TU, UK
Company No: 01348218 Registerd in UK
Email: engroscarpaiva@rocketmail.com
Oscar is the same guy I was dealing with. Have not heard back from him since I called his bluff.
I got the same exact message and I just wrote him an angry email. To what authority we can report this email to?
Shouldn’t the FBI be involved in this?????
Funny, I thought Oscar Paiva was my client!!!
Thanks for enlightening those of us willing to google “real escape scams”!
John, I just got done with dealing with our friend, Oscar. Luckily I and my attorney had seen him listed by others on this web site, even though we both had our doubts about him. You would think he would have changed his name by now. The problem I have now is trying to deal with other, international buyers. How does one seperate the legitimate ones from the scam artists?
I had an email from Oscar Paiva today. Seeing the return address being in the UK, I googled his name and this website came up. Thank you for having this website and saving precious time and energy.
Here is his email and my response in hopes this saves someone else time, energy and money!
Mr. Paiva,
I may have been inclined to be of service to you and your family had I not googled your name and it come up under Real Estate Scam Warnings………….. Please delete my name and do not contact me again. In fact, I strongly suggest you stop scamming completely. One day what comes around will certainly come full circle right back to you!
From: “gwasswa@fema.mak.ac.ug”
To:
Sent: Monday, January 7, 2013 1:50 AM
Subject: I need a home for my relocation.
Attention Realtor,
I am contacting you with respect to Residential Properties for sale in
your area.
I need your assistance in acquiring a good property 2-3 bedroom single
family house with or without a pool located in a quiet neighborhood to
relocate my family.Price ranging from $250K TO $550K USD.
If you have readily available listings, please send to view and pick one
home.I do need your assistance in a making a good choice.
Please reply to my private Email: engroscarpaiva8@rocketmail.com
Yours Faithfully,
Mr. Oscar Paiva
Lorne Stewart Plc.
Address: Stewart House, 420 Kenton Road, Harrow, Middlesex HA3 9TU, UK
Company No.: 01348218 Registered in UK
Email: engroscarpaiva8@rocketmail.com
Kin Ming is shopping in North Idaho this week. Also not wanting to lose the property same story be here next month etc. From Beijing China. Thanks for the information folks.
Oscar sure is busy lately. A realtor client called me last week to ask for help with “Mr. Paiva” (same address, email, etc.). “Mr. Paiva’ just emailed to let me know he’d prefer to use my account, rather than a title company. I’ll bet he would. Thanks for the prior posts. My suspicions are confirmed.
Oscar Paiva, from UK, even called me. The caller ID showed as the call coming from Nigeria. I asked him why it shows as Nigeria and he said first that he is using a calling card and that Nigeria is close to the UK. He is supposiedly sending me his proof of funds. I told him we can do business when he comes into town. I’m sure that will be his last phone call to me.
Jim and Bonny I just heard from Oscar this week. Someone even phoned me and the call originated from Nigera
From these posts in January it seems Oscar Paiva is the name of the month for scammers
KIN MING is also shopping in MN! I wish I could insert a PDF to show everyone what the fake Bank Statement from the Bank of China looks like. I did send a copy of it to the Bank of China fraud Department in Manhattan.
Kin Ming also shopping in Texas. Same exact verbage – what a deal. Someone needs to stop these guys.
UPDATE: I sent a copy of the Bank of China bank statement to the Bank of China in NYC. Here is their response:
Dear Ms. ———-
Please note 1) the bank statement you provided is not from
Bank of China New York Branch, 2) we have no access to BOC
China-based database, therefore we cannot verify the
statement.
Please pay extra attention to the “Date of Statement: 01 Jan
2013” which is later than the date “2012年3月6日”printed on the upper right corner. This might be a fraud. Thank you!
Best regards,
Bank of China New York Branch
Kin Ming is shopping in SW Florida as of today.
Kin Ming has struck again near Milwaukee. It sounded too good to be true and it was. Glad I didn’t put too much time into it and feel bad for those who’ve gone further with this. I also received the bank statement from Bank of China and exact same email verbage.
Can you all let me know if you think this is a scam?
I have my home listed for sale by owner and recently was contacted by a lady(speaks perfect english) that is deployed in the military over seas. She want to purchase the home without seeing it.
She has called me almost everyday for a week and emailed back and forth. I have sent hundreds of photos and the sellers disclosure forms. She had an inspection set up for A few days from today but it had to be resheduled. She says she is working on the loan approval. So that sounds different then most scams on here. Just a little scared about this situation. Its one of those “too good to be true” situations.
I believe it could be the same. There would be no reason to have an inspection with out some kind of deposit from a military account. Also she should have a lawyer set up to review or write a contract since you are selling by owner. You know what they say, if it seems too good to be true, IT IS.
Well i think i have the latest scammer. His name is Kin Ming from Beijing buying a $650,0000 home cash wants to send $15,000 k escrow close 4/12 he will buy and not do inspection until later.I Was not sure at first if real but after reading this blog know its not . I sent him the contract tbefore i read this blog and gave him 3 days to wire money no check and upped the escrow to $65 k and also said we need a copy of passpot for the transaction so we will let this play out and get i guess the local FBI office involved.. I had a feeling it was a scam.
Just got another email from Kin Ming saying he got the documents and will have his lawyer review them it will be interesting to see how this transpires.
These are a few of the emails I have received from Kin Ming in Beijing. I just received signed contracts back from him and now I am going to send him another email saying my seller changed their mind and include this site and let him know we are on to their scams. Any thoughts out there?
I knew from the get go it was a scam but that little voice says you never know.
Everyone needs to contact their local board with copies of the emails/names so they can send out a blast to all the agents. I will be doing that this morning after I bust Kin Ming’s bubble and let him know he has been busted.
Original Email from Zillow –
Good Day, I am very much interested in this property and willing to make payment of $650,000 for it. Kindly let me know, if my offer is acceptable. Regards Kin Ming
You can reach me at (968) 942-7776 – Number does not work
2nd email.
have been to the area last year and liked the location.
Understand that I and my wife are OK with pictures and information we have seen so far as we would like to initiate the purchase process from China before we arrive USA before the end of next month.
This for we would not like to lose the property.
I am in China at the moment and hope to be in USA next month.
The home would be a cash buy as I have attached a scanned copy of my bank statement for your reference.
My contact information is
Address: unit 45 Liwaili Apartment, Futong West Street, Chaoyang, Beijing, China
Telephone: 86 96 8994 2776
I would like to settle an up front deposit of $15,000 and close Early April.
Kindly get back to me with the next step in accord.
Regards,
Kin
Third Email
Thank you as I do not know how business is ran in USA but here in China, we do not settle any up-front deposit before we review documents.
The offer would be in my name only i.e Kin Ming
I would like an inspection but it would not be contingent to the purchase.
I would like to close April 12th
I hope you understand my plights as I await the offer document to review soon.
Email this morning 1/30/2013
Attached are scanned copies of the acknowledged document.
As I have said before, the home will be a cash buy and I and my wife will fly to USA for viewing the property but before that I would like my stock broker in America to send the money to your firm via a lawyer/solicitor.
I want to make the funds available in USA before coming to view the property, please I would want you to retain a lawyer for me so that my stock broker can send the funds directly to him to keep in a trust account until I arrive in USAwith my wife.
Please let me know the lawyer retaining fees and charges so that my stock broker can include all in the payment he would be sending to the lawyer.
Kindly get back to me with a candid response as I plan to be in USA soon.
Regards,
Kin
I’ve received the exact same emails Karen! Thank you for posting.
This Kin Ming sounds somewhat legit. I don’t think talking by phone would have called him out better than you post!
Using the word Plights is the key trigger for me.
Even sent me a drivers license / photo ID.
Hi
We have almost the exact same emails from him but his name is now Kin Chan. Same address and phone number and situation. We also thought well maybe he is for real until…
He sent a personal check to the Attorney instead of a wire and it was for a couple hundred thousand more than the required EMD which made us concerned especially when he asked for most of it to be wired back to him.
Beware of him!
Have not heard one word since i called him a scammer and he got insulted said he was a legit business man.
Oscar Paiva scam caught me. I was suspicious until the money was deposited but went thru the motions e.g. sending properties for sale, slected one, opened escrow, signed contracts digitlly, etc-much time wasted. Then a fake cashiers sent to escrow-they caught it and returned it to the Bank He had the nerve to ask for a personal loan of $1,000-Ha! What a Joke!!!! After doing a deal for $400,000 cash???? all a scam. Be wary of foreign Buyers who only talk briefly on phone or internet! Richard in Las Vegas, Nevada.
I sent him another email calling him out on his scam and he actually sent me a response saying he was a legit business man and he would come by and see me when he comes to town. I wont hold my breath. Her sent me an ID card as well. what they won’t think of.
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I might be in the begining stages of a scam. I have my house for sale by owner. And i recieved a call, first by the wife saying that she scopes out property for her husband that is a investor from canada. She ask a lot of questions about the property and told me that if her husband likes it then he would call me. Sure enough he called me about 10 mins after getting off the phone with her from a Canada number, (780)818-4368 Alberta Canada. He asked me tons of questions of the house and seemed very interested and even asked me how soon can i move out. My red flags started to raise when he accidently let out that he believed my house was in Oklahoma. I said no, You must have me confused then. He then quickly corrected himself and rambled on. His pitch so far is that, he is a investor from Canada, that has people working for him threw out the United States buying houses and that he will get back to me by the end of the week with a potential buyes……mmm we’ll see. This has scam written all over it, I believe. oh and his name he gave me was Ed Ezra.
I received the same Email from a man in China today, 3/21/13. It had the same info in it as the one received by Karen Riscinto above. Looks like they are not giving up. Fortunately, we have all grown suspicious of this type of activity. There are some very bad people out there.
I am now involved in a “transaction” with Kin Chan. I should have Googled 1st. The 1st red flag went up when the attorney I referred him to called to tell me his bank didn’t like the routing number on the check he sent. Everything seemed pretty legit at 1st. Here in San Diego it is very common for people in China to buy homes. Sight unseen, not so common, but not outside the realm of possibility either. After negotiating with the seller back and forth a few times we settled on price and terms. The attorney and I are both telling him the only way to complete the transaction is to wire funds immediately. I’m assuming he’s going to have some objection to doing that.
‘Kin Chan’ is now working the Portland market . . . received this e-mail via Zillow–don’t think I’ll be following up with him:
Thank you.
I have been to the area last year and liked the location.
Understand that I and my wife are OK with pictures and information we have
seen so far as we would like to initiate the purchase process from China
before we arrive USA before the end of next month.
This for we would not like to lose the property.
I am in China at the moment and hope to be in USA next month.
The home would be a cash buy as I have attached a scanned copy of my bank
statement for your reference.
My contact information is
Address: Flat 23 Futong West Street, Chaoyang, Beijing, China
Telephone: +86968942777
I would like to settle an up front deposit of $25,000 and close Early
August.
Kindly get back to me with the next step in accord.
Regards,
Kin
Is it possible to be pulled in from the other side? In being the Personal Assistant to one of these fakes? I have been contact by a person name Richard Wilson, who I cannot find any information about online. He says he is a Lawyer and Realtor, but every time I look for him, I do not find him. I do have an e-mail of what he sent me, I find it kind of odd to be on this end, but this website came up when I put information in about him, so I thought I would post something on here.
I received an e-mail from my Ad looking for a job from a number 424 (Which is a U.S Number) And He gave me only a brief description from the business. When I had replied this is what I received (only part of the email);
My name is Mr Richard Wilson,i have a family of 3 and i am a Realtor and Lawyer.I travel alot,hence the reason why i need an assistant to handle affairs for me on the home front when i am away on business which is usually quite often. This position is home-based and flexible you can be in any location,working with me is basically about instructions and following them, my only fear is that I may come at you impromptu sometimes, I need someone who can be able to meet up with my irregular timings.There is also a very sensitive issue on trust and accountability which I believe will resolve itself as time goes on.
—————————————————–
Not too sure if this guy is being real, or not. He claims he is a Realtor, and Lawyer. Yet does not give any more detail than this. Just thought you guys should know this as well.
Can I just say what a relief to uncover someone that actually knows what they’re talking about online. You actually understand how to bring an issue to light and make it important. More people should read this and understand this side of your story. I can’t believe you
aren’t more popular given that you definitely possess the gift.
Whom are you referring to, may I ask?
I would say for the way he writes, and that for not having any information about him online, that he is not real.
Try to see what is next when you reply being interested. If he starts to reply to you asking for your social security number for example, so he can do a background check on you, then ignore him.
Another option is that another company or your own company is trying to find out that you are happy in the place you are. But in my many years of experience working, I never saw something like that before.
here is my experience:
Thank you.
I have been to the area last year and liked the location.
Understand that I and my wife are OK with pictures and information we have seen so far as we would like to initiate the purchase process from China before we arrive USA before the end of next month.
This for we would not like to lose the property.
I am in China at the moment and hope to be in USA next month.
The home would be a cash buy as I have attached a scanned copy of my bank statement for your reference.
My contact information is
Address: Flat 124 Yuanjing CHAOYANG DISTRICT,BEIJING,CHINA
Telephone: 86 96 894 26665
I would like to settle an up front deposit of $15,000 and close Mid June.
Kindly get back to me with the next step in accord.
Regards,
Jen.
Andy,
Thanks! I just received the same email…word for word. I am thankful that you posted the email. I’ve been researching online, using the phone number and found this. It’s always a good thing to research!
My offer looks almost identical to yours!
“I have been to the area last year and liked the location.
Understand that I and my wife are OK with pictures and information we have seen so far as we would like to initiate the purchase process from China before we arrive USA before the end of next month.
This for we would not like to lose the property.
I am in China at the moment and hope to be in USA next month.
The home would be a cash buy as I have attached a scanned copy of my bank statement for your reference.
My contact information is
Address: unit 45 Liwaili Apartment, Futong West Street, Chaoyang, Beijing, China
Telephone: +86968942776
I would like to settle an up front deposit of $15,000 and close Early July.
Kindly get back to me with the next step in accord.
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Wonder if anyone had similar experience as mine: right before signing the contract, potential buyer from China changed cash deal (which earned her a discount) to mortgage contingent. Is this legit? I only know it’s unethical, and a waste of everyone’s precious time. It may not be a scam, but if someone else had a similar experience, it might very well be a new and more sophisticated way of damaging the system. Will post name once I hear from readers’ reply.
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I just got another one…
Thank you.
I have been to the area last year and liked the location.
Understand that I and my wife are OK with pictures and information we have seen so far as we would like to initiate the purchase process from China before we arrive USA before the end of next month.
This for we would not like to lose the property.
I am in China at the moment and hope to be in USA next month.
The home would be a cash buy as I have attached a scanned copy of my bank statement for your reference.
My contact information is
Address: unit 45 Liwaili Apartment, Futong West Street, Chaoyang, Beijing, China
Telephone: +86968942776
I would like to settle an up front deposit of $15,000 and close Early July.
Kindly get back to me with the next step in accord.
Regards,
Chan
On Tue, May 14, 2013 at 8:50 PM, Melinda Elmer wrote:
Hello Chan,
What is the best number I can call you at? There are currently no offers on the property, but it has been on the market only 7 days. There is one similar home, more upgraded that recently sold for 799K. And some others nearby that have ranged from $705K up. What were you thinking you wanted to offer?
Were you looking to pay cash? Or finance the sale? Have you seen the property yet? Are you looking to buy for investment or to live in the property?
Melinda Elmer
Keller Williams Coastal Properties
Lic #01399946
562-316-2915 – direct line
562-961-1401 – fax
melinda.elmer@gmail.com
I am grateful for my supporters both in my real estate business and in my charitable efforts! THANK YOU!!
To make a difference, send a referral, and not only will your friends and family get excellent customer service when buying or selling, I will make a donation on your behalf to AIDS/LifeCycle to help end AIDS/HIV.
http://www.tofighthiv.org/goto/MelElmer
On May 14, 2013, at 4:46 AM, Chan Chin wrote:
I would like to know the minimum amount I can offer and be acceptable to the seller as well as method of closing up and I will be willing to complete the purchase within a few weeks.
Thanks as I wait
Chan Chin.
On Tue, May 14, 2013 at 4:56 AM, Melinda Elmer wrote:
Hello Chan,
I understand you are looking for more information on a property in Los Alamitos on Pine. What can I help with? Are you looking to view the property?
Melinda
Melinda Elmer
Keller Williams Coastal Properties
Lic #01399946
562-316-2915 – direct line
562-961-1401 – fax
melinda.elmer@gmail.com
I am grateful for my supporters both in my real estate business and in my charitable efforts! THANK YOU!!
To make a difference, send a referral, and not only will your friends and family get excellent customer service when buying or selling, I will make a donation on your behalf to AIDS/LifeCycle to help end AIDS/HIV.
http://www.tofighthiv.org/goto/MelElmer
Same scam, same language, KIN CHAN, has been to the area last year (Austin, Tx.), here is my Bank of China bank statement. Unit 45 Liwaii Apartment, Futong West St., Chaoyang, Bejing, China. 86968942776.
I have been to the area last year and liked the location.
Understand that I and my wife are OK with pictures and information we have
seen so far as we would like to initiate the purchase process from China
before we arrive USA before the end of next month.
This for we would not like to lose the property.
I am in China at the moment and hope to be in USA next month.
The home would be a cash buy as I have attached a scanned copy of my bank
statement for your reference.
My contact information is
Address: Flat 23 Futong West Street, Chaoyang, Beijing, China
Telephone: +86968942777
I would like to settle an up front deposit of $25,000 and close Early
August.
Kindly get back to me with the next step in accord.
Regards,
Kin
I was contacted by Jen Chang- EXACTLY the same email as others have posted, not very creative for a scam artist! I will move on to legitimate clients!
Thank you.
I have been to the area last year and liked the location.
Understand that I and my wife are OK with pictures and information we have seen so far as we would like to initiate the purchase process from China before we arrive USA before the end of next month.
This for we would not like to lose the property.
I am in China at the moment and hope to be in USA next month.
The home would be a cash buy as I have attached a scanned copy of my bank statement for your reference.
My contact information is
Address: Flat 124 Yuanjing CHAOYANG DISTRICT,BEIJING,CHINA
Telephone: 86 96 894 26665
I would like to settle an up front deposit of $15,000 and close Mid August.
Kindly get back to me with the next step in accord.
Regards,
Jen.
exactly same, that you for the warning, Brenda Fletcher
same name, same address etc !!!
Here’s the newest scam name: Chan Chin from Beijing. Wanted to buy a house in Long Beach, CA using a local attorney instead of escrow. Realtors beware.
“Thank you.
I would like to offer $1,220,000 for this property.
I have been to the area last year and liked the location.
Understand that I and my wife are OK with pictures and information we have seen so far as we would like to initiate the purchase process from China before we arrive USA before the end of next month.
This for we would not like to lose the property.
I am in China at the moment and hope to be in USA next month.
The home would be a cash buy as I have attached a scanned copy of my bank statement for your reference.
My contact information is
Address: Flat 12 Futong West Street, Chaoyang, Beijing, China
Telephone: +86968942776
I would like to settle an up front deposit of $25,000 and close Early July.
Kindly get back to me with the next step in accord.
Regards,
Chan”
I rarely leave a response, but i did some searching and wound up here Real
Estate Scam Warning | Homestead’s Blog. And I actually do have 2 questions for you if it’s allright.
Could it be just me or does it seem like a few of these remarks appear like they are coming from brain dead people?
😛 And, if you are writing at other places, I’d like to keep up with everything new you have to post. Could you make a list of the complete urls of your communal sites like your Facebook page, twitter feed, or linkedin profile?
I’ve been stringing this guy along for two weeks now. I told him I tried to wire the money (per his request) but it was rejected by the receiving bank…so I overnighted certified funds. Scam the scammer. 🙂
Also:
https://www.google.com/search?sclient=psy-ab&q=%22I+am+in+China+at+the+moment+and+hope+to+be+in+USA+next+month.%22&btnG=
[…] For more information on this, common scam: Link here. […]
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Well Add KEN CHIN from China-unit 34 XIN CHAOYANG DISTRICT,BEIJING,CHINA-Telephone: 86 96 894 27776, Buy sight unseen, wife and him want to be in by the end of month, Oct. 2013-15,000 Deposit and send a bank statement from the Bank of China in the amount of 1057654.53-Sound familiar to anyone. Got this thru Trulia as a lead, became very suspicious and decided to check it out before pursuing it. Thank you everyone for listing your comments, has saved me a lot of paperwork!! Dumb people can’t even use original things.
Got same one from Kin Chin too! Had a friend send him a questionnaire translated to Chinese and he replied back in broken English and didn’t answer any questions. I got it from Zillow on the 28th!
I think our story is quite important to share. No only because we have the same experience than all of you are having, but also because my husband met the scammer FACE TO FACE!
We have a property in Uruguay (an old house located in a very nice area in Montevideo) and we live in the US. A family member is arranging the sale, and managed to get another neighbour agreeing to try to sell both properties together, for an amount of over 1.2 million dollars.
This agreement is mainly because by offering two plots of land together (the houses are too old now), we potentially could make this offer more attractive, mainly to the construction companies that are interested on building an apartment complex in this location.
So far, we have, two contacts. One is from Italy and this is how this story developed…
My husband was traveling for business in Europe and an “advisor” that has a “client” interested in investing in South America properties and building hotels, contacted him and suggested if they could all meet in a hotel in Rome. My husband in this meanwhile got prepared a portfolio with the property details, pictures and everything also related to the location of the property.
Finally the day of the meeting arrived, and the “advisor” and his “client” appeared in the hotel as they promised. The “advisor” that speaks Italian with a foreign accent, is originally from the East Europe, was also the translator for his “client”, and kept the whole conversation in Russian with him. The “advisor” gave an “Italian name”, saying his father was Italian.
The first thing that caught my husband’s attention was the way that mainly the “client” was dressed. We are talking about making a deal of over 1.2 million dollars, and the “client” had very worn shoes and shirt. However, my husband decided to keep away any wrong prejudices and preferred to give a chance to the “investors”.
Whilst talking, the “advisor” kept pushing to talk about the “deal” but my husband insisted to go through the portfolio of the property before talking about anything else. Whilst showing the portfolio, the “advisor” looked at the picture and said “ahhh, so this is the apartment you want to sell us”, pointing to the building next to the old house that is actually the one for sale. He had other pictures with the property that was for sale, so he should know by then which one he was going to buy it. Unless he wasn’t interested in the property at all…
Things kept being disconnected. The “advisor” that kept mentioning about making deals and investing here and there kept asking to my husband about the gold value in the market (and if my husband had it for exchanging with them) and about British Pounds (as we lived in the UK too). He was pretending to be very interested in business in general and what he could do in the future. But here was the other hint, my husband started to talk to him using very basic economic language and he didn’t have an idea of anything…
So they got to the point where the “advisor” put the cards on the table and said what his “client” wanted. He wanted to give to my husband US American Dollars, and exchange it for British Pounds initially (almost like he was buying British Pounds from my husband), and then pay the amount of the property via bank (wired) later.
Hence here is the deal:
– 120.000 US American Dollars CASH -> exchange rate for British Pounds my husband needed to bring to the “advisor” in a suitcase (sounds like a movie).
– 1.2 Million US American Dollars WIRED later and closing the deal.
Here is the thing. We don’t know what exactly would happen next, because obviously my husband wanted to do this legally, with a lawyer and mainly, with WIRED money. These are the options of what we suspect that happened next:
– They simply wanted to exchange money: they probably had fake Dollars or marked Dollars not allowed to be used either in Europe and NA.
– They wanted to pretend an exchange, giving fake Dollars (or paper) to us and carry real British Pounds.
– They wanted to make an appointment in the future for exchanging the money, but they would just rob my husband.
My husband kept the conversation till the end, to keep the courtesy, but obviously he realized that this was a full scam. There is now another contact made last week. This appears to be from the UK this time. My husband just called him and a similar deal was suggested… Another scam.
From this experience, please bear in mind the different trends:
– Contact details, such as name, surname, address, email addresses are all provided in the first contact (and normally are all fake):
They first of all want to make you think “they are real”, that’s why they provide you more data than what you really need.
You might not find anything bad related to these names provided, as they keep changing this information, so it’s difficult to associate names to recent scams.
RECOMMENDATION:
Do your own research about the individual: check if he exists, if he has a real company, if the company has a website, check for references.
If you find a company that the individual is working, please call the landline numbers (a company should have a proper number and not just a mobile).
If you don’t find anything related to the person, even don’t waste your time to look further information — most likely this is just a new name being used.
– They live in a country but they actually are not originally from there:
Russians with an Italian name and speaking Italian with very strong Russian accent is a good example of being alert.
RECOMMENDATION:
If you have any doubts, try to check with a friend that speaks Italian fluently (or any language being used), and try to find out from him/her if the other person on the phone was genuine or not.
It is very difficult to determine the origin of the person if you don’t talk fluently the language.
– They just want to talk by email – when a phone conversation is make, this normally are very short as they come up with the excuse that the service is not working well, the conversation is choppy, and so on:
These could be for two reasons. One they are afraid of being tracked by the police. Second, they don’t want you working out where they are from.
RECOMMENDATION:
A person that is buying an expensive property MUST have a landline or a phone that work properly. Say that you prefer the phone or face to face contact. This will put them off.
– They are asking you always to call them — and when you call, the conversations are short:
It’s easier to talk via email or chat these days, mainly when you are not real and you want to fake things.
They probably would avoid to be tracked by the police, and mainly, that you work out by his accent that he is not what he is saying he is.
Writing things, make you think in the answer you will give, so you can pretend to be someone else.
Once the “deal” is done, they can change email and that’s it.
RECOMMENDATION:
Push to get this being converse by phone or have a face to face contact.
– They are in Europe but trying to invest in a property without seeing it — they are in a foreign country and they aren’t interested to travel to see the property either:
Even if you are a Russian tycoon, you probably will want to know where your money is being invested.
It’s very unusual to have people buying things (mainly expensive things such as houses) without not seeing them.
You probably will do that once buying a 30 Dollars toaster from Amazon, but not when buying a house of over 1.2 million.
RECOMMENDATION:
Insist to show the property first and see their reaction.
– Properties need to have a high value and they are long time in the market:
They will take, unfortunately, the advantage of your desperation.
RECOMMENDATION:
I would suggest that if your house is in the market for too long, this means that you need to lower the value of it.
– They have huge money and they invest in a lot of properties — perhaps to build a hotel:
This is the way they caught your attention.
You are unfortunately looking for that fantastic deal that will probably help you to the rest of your life.
You are greedy and you cannot think anything else, apart from this fantastic and potential buyer that will save your life, and pay exactly the amount you are asking for.
RECOMMENDATION:
If this is an investor that is buying his new property, ask him to give you more details of what else he bought.
If he is also from a serious company that investing, they will have phone numbers working, a company’s email address (not an email address from Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.), and mainly, the emails will be professionally written, without grammar errors. You need to put attention in every single detail.
I hope that this helps people to identify scams and make your life easier. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Chang Lee just pulled this stunt on me…fotoshopped proof of funds and phony certified check drawn on the Scotia Bank. We required him to send wires to title only and cancelled his deal.
Tell this guy to get lost!
Tim
Hello below is an email that represents recent attempt to scam. Please note the persons name used and information. We did a little homework and the information provided is not valid.
ACTUAL EMAIL FROM MR: KEN CHIN:
I have been to the area last year and liked the location. Understand
that I and my wife are OK with pictures and information we have seen
so far as we would like to initiate the purchase process from China
before we arrive USA before the end of next month.
This for we would not like to lose the property. I am in China at the
moment and hope to be in USA next month. The home would be a cash buy
as I have attached a scanned copy of my bank statement for your
reference.
My contact information is Address: unit 34 XIN CHAOYANG DISTRICT,BEIJING,CHINA
Telephone: 86 96 894 27776
I would like to settle an up front deposit of $15,000 and close Early
October Kindly get back to me with the next step in accord.
Regards,
Ken Chin
I have received this e-mail and it matches perfectly with the ones above. SCAM-SCAM
I have been to the area last year and liked the location. Understand that I and my wife are OK with pictures and information we have seen so far as we would like to initiate the purchase process from China before we arrive USA before the end of next month.
This for we would not like to lose the property. I am in China at the moment and hope to be in USA next month. The home would be a cash buy as I have attached a scanned copy of my bank statement for your reference.
My contact information is Address: unit 34 XIN CHAOYANG DISTRICT,BEIJING,CHINA
Telephone: 86 96 894 27776
I would like to settle an up front deposit of $15,000 and close Late October Kindly get back to me with the next step in accord.
Could you also draw up a contract(preferably in Docusign) so I can start this purchase in earnest? I just need my name on the Title. That is all
for now. I would want us to speed this process up so I can make this purchase as soon as possible
As regards payment of the earnest money, I would love to have an attorney represent me. He will receive the monies and hold the monies in Trust. Could you make arrangements for this?
Thanking you for your assistance
Aiguo Jingguo
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Sounds like a repeat!
“Thank you.
I have been to the area last year and liked the location.
Understand that I and my wife are OK with pictures and information we have seen so far as we would like to initiate the purchase process from China before we arrive USA before the end of next month.
This for we would not like to lose the property.
I am in China at the moment and hope to be in USA next month.
The home would be a cash buy as I have attached a scanned copy of my bank statement for your reference.
My contact information is
Address: Flat 124 Yuanjing CHAOYANG DISTRICT,BEIJING,CHINA
Telephone: 86 78 764 24443
I would like to settle an up front deposit of $15,000 and close Mid January.
Kindly get back to me with the next step in accord.
Regards,
Chang”
There is a site called Twimboe that claims it deals with Real Estate since 2007. Members are reporting very funny behavior that the site is indulging in with customers who had invested here. Whether it is a den of crooks will soon be apparent if no payouts are made and it keeps giving out excuses of hacking. Will post again.
When I invested in this one two and a half month back, it didn’t look bad. Support was good . It has an escrow account as well. I am also waiting to see how things turn up by the end of November. I am still hopeful.
Hello Safemarketer
What’s your experience with this crook ? Got any payout ? You got trapped dude. This one is a low Thailand criminal . It should be easy to get him if the local police is serious.
This guy was named Ping Chong
Thank you.
I have been to the area last year and liked the location.
Understand that I and my wife are OK with pictures and information we have seen so far as we would like to initiate the purchase process from China before we arrive USA before the end of next month.
This for we would not like to lose the property.
I am in China at the moment and hope to be in USA next month.
The home would be a cash buy as I have attached a scanned copy of my bank statement for your reference.
My contact information is
Address: Flat 124 Yuanjing CHAOYANG DISTRICT,BEIJING,CHINA
Telephone: 86 78 764 24443
I would like to settle an up front deposit of $15,000 and close Mid January.
Kindly get back to me with the next step in accord.
Regards,
Ping.
Hi Brenda,
I am a Real Estate Broker in Banner Elk, NC, and I received the identical email from a Ping Chong, November 27th 2013. He also sent me a copy of his bank statement from the Bank of China.
We went as far as signing an Offer to Purchase and Contract, but Ping Scammer would not wire his earnest money funds to the attorney. He only wanted to mail a check. I am glad that I read your blog, before we went any further.
Thank you,
Mountain Mike.
Kin Chan is not who he is. The check he sent me…I called that company directly. I spoke with the CEO and VP and they said that they were dealing with a box of stolen checks and now check fraud. I amost deposited the check. Kin Chan will never speak to you over the phone, so you will never see his face or hear his voice. Kin Chan gets easily offended when you call him out for being a fraud. Kin Chan targets realtors to look like he’s buying a home and attorneys to look like he needs some kind of escrow account. I am based in San Diego and the realtor, los angeles. Wasted so much time with him, but feel fortunate that my bank did not suspect me of fraud if I had deposited that check.
The letter that Brenda received was exactly like the letter my agent received on 11/282013. It was from Ping Chong, same address. Since he agreed to wire the funds we played along. The offer was $771K on a $771K list with $15,000 earnest money. However, in NC, we have a due diligence requirement which is nonrefundable. He agreed to $2,000. Just for the heck of it, we have asked that the $17,000 K be wired to the Attorney by the end of the day, our time tomorrow 12/3/2013. Of course it will never happen. Yet, it does, I will suggest the Attorney, Agent, and I, the Seller, split his funds. (We never signed the contract).
I am a Broker in California. We had something similar last year. If you receive the funds – not wired, but fed-exed in the form of a cashiers check – beware. the one we got looked good – from Chase Bank, but was a fraud. If you deposit in the bank, you end up spending money and then it comes back as a fraudulent cashiers check and you have spent money against it, and the bank will hold you to it. They will ask you to pay a small amount (in our case it was about $10,000 to another person, after you deposit the cashiers check. They had made the cashiers check for more than the real estate deposit. You will get stuck with $10,000 out of your account that you are responsible for.)
We took the cashiers check to Chase Bank and had them check to see if it was real. It wasn’t. So, we did not lose money. Just be careful. Ours was a different Chinese name.
J. Wakefield
NC Foothills
I have been in contact recently with a Japanese man. Different name from the rest. I googled him and found someone with the same name but in reverse. The address in Japan was an Institute of Foreign Languages and everything looked legit except the phone numbers were different.He also emailed a copy of his “Bank Statement” in excess of two million. Wanted to offer $100,000 less than asking price. Googled the financial advisor name with no results. The bank statement from Scotia Bank in Canada had a Canadian address for him. I googled the address but couldn’t find an exact match. Although this feels and sounds like a scam, I checked the web to verify information. I will also like to say, this email was very well written in perfect English and a hotmail address used. I’m a 30 year veteran in the real estate profession and have found your stories most helpful.
Looks like HISATO MAEDA, Tokyo Japan should be added to the list. He also sent an attachment to the email but I know better ! It will never be opened.
Hisato Maeda is the “nephew” who helps Bando Akiyama. They are from Japan with the funds at the Scotiabank, and financial advisor Fidelis Smith.
I was contacted to find them a home. The scenario played out as many described above. It seemed fishy but I went through the offer process and sure enough, they sent a check for $150k to the attorney (The EMD was to be $20K). I had explained the process to the “buyer” of how escrow handles the funds and document collection several times and asked them to wire the funds to escrow. As expected, they disappeared.
My email today 1 17 2014
From: Kenneth Hang
Date: Fri, January 17, 2014 6:57 am
Thank you.
I am currently on an oil rig in the coast of South Asia as I would
call you as soon as I get to shore.
I would like to make an offer now so I do not lose the property to
another buyer.
However, my contact information is;
Home Address: Chiba-ken Ichikawa-si Tajiri 3-8-14-801
Telephone number: +86 047-700-4444
Below are my terms;
I would like to close early March
I would like the contract in my name only, i.e Kenneth Hang
I would like an inspection but it would not be contingent to the purchase.
I would like an appraisal on the property.
I would deposit $10,000 for the property.
FYI I have attached a scanned copy of my bank statement for the
purchase would be a cash buy.
This is the same ring of people doing the scam with a different twist.
Thanks a lot for sharing this with all folks you actually recognize
what you are speaking about! Bookmarked.
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We may have a link trade arrangement between us
I have a similar situation with a twist. The buyer is in Miami Florida, and my home is in Palm Beach Florida. I received a call from someone named Joseph who said he works for a firm that would like to buy my house (sight unseen) for the full asking price and pay cash, but with an Inspection clause; and close in 30 days.
Then I received an email from a real estate firm in Miami, with a standard contract for sale attached. The buyer was a Delaware L.L.
I checked with the Florida State Department. The Real Estate firm was formed last month. The Delaware L.L. was licensed to do business in Florida last month. Both are new companies with no track record.
The name of the person signing the contract on behalf of the Delaware L.L. is not listed as an officer of that firm. He insists on using a title company in Miami, but Florida Real Estate transactions require closings be held in the County where the property is.
I “THINK” this is a scam, but sure would appreciate any suggestions or advice your good folks may be able to offer.
Frank D.
[…] Click here for a long thread of people who have received this kind of solicitation. […]
Way cool! Some very valid points! I appreciate you writing this post
and the rest of the website is really good.
Scam has found its way to Buena Vista, Colorado. Scammers’ name is Lee Takuya from Tokyo, Japan. He or she pretty much follows the format outlined by all the others. He offers cash & full price. Wants
representation by a Lawyer with no Title or Escrow Company involved.
Money to be held by Lawyer. Close in a couple weeks and wants a home inspection. Beware!
Same name here, Lee Takuya, from Tokyo Japan. He offers full price cash, etc.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on gold watches.
Regards
Here’s my latest email I received after sending a few listings, I work as an agent in Boston:
Thank you for your respond to my mail, this property listed MLS :#********** / $629,900 is of my interest and I will like to put in an offer to purchase. I will like to retain the service of an attorney in this transaction to handle the financial part of this purchase and also to represent my interest at the closing on this chosen property. Please recommend an attorney for me. Because of time difference, it may not be possible for me to reach the attorney on the telephone during business hour. I will like to ask you to contact the attorney on my behalf or send me their email address so that I can introduce myself to them regarding this transaction. I will be very delightful if you can send to my attention the documents (the purchasing contract offer) that require my signatures via electronic signature software like DocuSign or any other software because I do not have a scanner at home. Attached is a copy of my bank statement as a proof of funds for this transaction. Below are the information’s you will need before you can write the purchasing contract.
1). Name: Masao Nakamura
Address: 233, Hokkeji, Namerikawa,
Toyama 936-8558 Japan
2). It is cash buy on the property. Will like to make an Offer: $600,000
3). and Closing date: 30 of May, 2014.
4). I will like home inspection to be done on the property.
5. Telephone: +81-6-6365-7741
If you have any question you can contact my account adviser, Mr. Larry Jackson if you have any question at: larryjackson@financier.com.
Sincerely,
Same people – they will send a cashier check for the deposit – way too much – then ask for you to send the balance back to them. SCAM!
I just wasted a lot of time with the same bunch.
1. First red flag is financier.com is not a business web site. Nakamura email was a gmail account.
2. He wanted to buy site unseen and didn’t care about furnishings.
3. I should have checked the bank statement he sent. Later when I was looking if it was a scam I check the file info the bank statement and it was created by Photoshop. I called Scotiabank and they told me to make sure you get a bank statement printed by the bank and that the bank can stamp it to prove it is from the bank. The other thing I was told is to have them send you the name of a bank representative so you can verify the account is real.
4. Nakamura kept on wanting to send the check to me instead of title company. I told him it had to be a cashiers check from the bank and go directly to Title Company. I wasted a lot of time and emails. He also asked for my Fed Ex account to send the letter. I told him if he is legitimate he can send his own FedEx letter.
5. He is very crafty and convincing.
6. I checked his address on Google Earth and it was a commercial building. Google blocks views of buildings so it was just a white square.
7. I googled his name and he used a name of a famous person.
I just got the same email JLucas as you did. Identical email that he sent me.
Sabrina Wickham Real Estate Agent Jacksonville Florida
Thank you for your respond to my mail, this property listed MLS :#688635 / $442,990 is of my interest and I will like to put in an offer to purchase. I will like to retain the service of an attorney in this transaction to handle the financial part of this purchase and also to represent my interest at the closing on this chosen property. Please recommend an attorney for me. Because of time difference, it may not be possible for me to reach the attorney on the telephone during business hour. I will like to ask you to contact the attorney on my behalf or send me their email address so that I can introduce myself to them regarding this transaction. I will be very delightful if you can send to my attention the documents (the purchasing contract offer) that require my signatures via electronic signature software like DocuSign or any other software because I do not have a scanner at home. Attached is a copy of my bank statement as a proof of funds for this transaction. Below are the information’s you will need before you can write the purchasing contract.
1). Name: Masao Nakamura
Address: 233, Hokkeji, Namerikawa,
Toyama 936-8558 Japan
2). It is cash buy on the property. Will like to make an Offer: $422,000
3). and Closing date: 30 of May, 2014.
4). I will like home inspection to be done on the property.
5. Telephone: +81-6-6365-7741
If you have any question you can contact my account adviser, Mr. Larry Jackson if you have any question at: larryjackson@financier.com.
Sincerely,
Masao Nakamura
Here it is in 2014 and I believe the same scammer is out there – now Han Chin and I noticed his address in email was different from one on actual bank statement – he also said he works on an oil rig off shore and I had sent him the CAR contract for E Signature at first not catching the address and before presenting the actual signed offer, I thought I’d check him out online and instead I came to this BLOG. This is good. I had an instinct yesterday because I called the # not knowing it was from China and no country code listed and when I called the # I got a gal in Tennessee saying she got calls from North Carolina and just recently CA and I thought well it’s probably a scam. Then I got an email back saying the # did not work because the country code wasn’t on the email and that he wanted to make a cash offer on a nice home for 400K – list price 439K and 15K deposit more than what I suggested and also close end of July and that he did not want to lose this home. The interesting thing is I have worked with many wealthy Chinese buyers and clients from out of the country and it was completely legit, but this is sounding a bit like one of the posts above so I am clearly in red flag mode and shall see how this works out! I am 99% sure it’s a SCAM now after reading these posts. Kathy in Northern CA – home was in Cordelia – looks nice in photos and newer home so could see why someone would want it and with the fast paced market I can see them wanting to write offers without seeing first – especially if they know the market. If you wait you lose out. So I will have fun and am seeing what else plays out – the email is also from a gmail account.
It sounds similar to Lara’s from 2012 – these scams keep on going! I have had 3 real estate scammers in 29 years. You have to be an investigator as well as a salesperson. Too good to be true – may be. I had one in my first year of real estate – the person called through his Secretary and I will be connecting you to Mr. X, hold on, and when I gathered all of his info, I asked him what PMB stood for and he said Personal Mail Box and it actually is Prison Mail Box! That was hilarious. I even called the Prison once I realized who and where they were calling from (now they announce if someone is calling from a prison just for that very reason!). I asked the guard what he was in for and I never heard from that man again – they must have told him someone called checking on him! The 2nd one was a Christian Group supposedly and they even had a couple people, appeared to be normal folks, meet with me in my conference room about a commercial building. I was handling a home purchase for the head of this “Hope Ministries” and I said I will work on this once the house is closed as I had a suspicion. They wanted to close by New Years and the seller said fine. So the seller boxed up things. The buyer’s wife was in a wheel chair and they had two teen daughters. Seemed perfectly normal “from Hope Ministries” and they took a personal check to the title company right after offer was accepted and the title company waited more than a week to tell us it bounced. Now we have proof of funds or full pre-approval up front typically before any offer is presented. Even then the bank statement could be bogus!
The 3rd one, or my suspicion is Han Chin, all cash 15K deposit close end of July on perfectly nice home, so be on the lookout for Han Chin working out in an Oil Rig off South Coast of Asia. Show me the “real” money 🙂 These leads are coming through normal real estate channels. Trulia or Zillow…
Sometimes in real estate you could write a book! Hope this helps someone else who googles these names.
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Here’s mine from Mr. Mark Lee
“Hello , and i just received a confirmation that the check payment for the rent has been issued and mailed out to your address, so keep an eye on it.There was a mix up before the check was mailed out.The accommodation fee and my travel expense was included in the check that was sent to you.So i would want you to deduct your cost price for the accommodation and send the balance via Money gram Or western union to my travel agent that handles my flight and transport to my home.Finally, let me know when you get the check, I am very sorry for the inconveniences caused for you sending the money down to my travel agent . Do you know any Money gram or western union outlet close to you , you can find them at any store or any Walmart or Kmart outlet.. I WILL LIKE TO MAKE FULL payment .
Mark”
They’ve hit SWFL with different names, but same phone number:
Thank you for your respond to my mail, this property listed MLS :#2141126 / $789,900 is of my interest and I and my wife will like to put in an offer to purchase. we will like to retain the service of an attorney in this transaction to handle the financial part of this purchase and also to represent my interest at the closing on this chosen property. Please recommend an attorney for me. Because of time difference, it may not be possible for me to reach the attorney on the telephone during business hour. we will like to ask you to contact the attorney on my behalf or send me their email address so that we can introduce myself to them regarding this transaction. we will be very delightful if you can send to my attention the documents (the purchasing contract offer) that require my signatures via electronic signature software like DocuSign or any other software because we do not have a scanner at home. Attached is a copy of my bank statement as a proof of funds for this transaction. Below are the information’s you will need before you can write the purchasing contract.
1). Name: Mr. Teiko Yoshiko and Mrs. Michiko Yoshiko
Address: 1-3- 701, Maesato-Cho, Minami-ku
Yokohama-Shi, Kanagawa, Japan
2). It is cash buy on the property. Will like to make an Offer: $769,000
3). and Closing date: 30 of July, 2014.
4). I will like home inspection to be done on the property.
5. Telephone: +81-6-6365-7741
Sincerely,
Teiko Yoshiko
Just wanted to let you know the EXACT same person just emailed me that EXACT same message on a listing here in Hawaii.
Received the same message in SE Florida
Just had the same scammers in Vt. Same names, address, etc. When I looked up their bank statement- the bank, Industrial Bank of Japan, merged with another corporate bank 14 years ago! Non-existent!
Same here in Maryland.
I just got the same e-mail from Mr. Yoshiko looking to buy a $900,000 home in upstate NY.
Hi, of course this article is in fact fastidious and I have learned lot of things
from it about blogging. thanks.
I just received the exact same email from Mr. Teiko Yoshiko and Mrs. Michiko Yoshiko here in the Seattle-Tacoma area in Washington. I agree he is very crafty and persistent. At first I treated him like he was wasting my time and he kept responding as if he was a very serious buyer. Sight unseen? He originally wanted a list of homes sent to him and then chose a home that was a new construction pre-sale. As soon as I responded with an email, stating he had a 2 week feasibility review period and thereafter be required to send a $25,000 non-refundable deposit, he left me alone.
It’s hard to take someone seriously when the first and last names including the wife’s name end with ‘iko.’ The phone number belongs to a company called Okanura Patent Firm located in Osaka, Japan.
I’m so furious about wasting my precious time on this scam, but thankful I found this blog.
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You realpy make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this matrer to be really something which I think I woud
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for me. I am looking forward for your next post, I’ll try to get the hang of
it!
I am currently on an oil rig in the coast of South Asia as I would call you as soon as I get to shore.
I would like to make an offer now so I do not lose the property to another buyer.
However, my contact information is;
Home Address: 24 Jianguomen Wai Street,Beijing China
Telephone number: 0086 -5217947990
Below are my terms;
I would like to close early November
I would like the contract in my name only, i.e Han Chin
I would like an inspection and it would be contingent to the purchase.
I would like an appraisal on the property.
I would deposit $25,000 for the property.
FYI I have attached a scanned copy of my bank statement for the purchase would be a cash buy.
I hope the above information meet you well as I await the offer document to review in accord.
Han Chin
This is the same exact letter my Realtor received. So, now that I’ve done an e-signature on the sales contract, what does that mean? What kind of scam can he run from that? Am I in danger of identity theft?
I got the same email from Han Chin. After I prepared the offer for him and asked him several questions, here was his second email. I had a similar guy who tried to scam me in Craigslist. This is the same idea only in a bigger scale.
“I have acknowledged the offer document you sent as I hope it met you well
As I have said before, the home will be a cash buy and I and my wife will fly to USA for the closing but before that I would like my stock broker in America to send the money to your firm via a lawyer/solicitor.
I want to make the funds available in USA before coming to view the property, please I would want you to retain a lawyer for me so that my stock broker can send the funds directly to him to keep in a trust account until I arrive in USAwith my wife.
Please let me know the lawyer retaining fees and charges so that my stock broker can include all in the payment he would be sending to the lawyer.
Kindly get back to me with a candid response as I plan to be in USA soon.
Regards,
Han”
Han has been very busy! Trying to scam us in Oklahoma, glad I found this information!
Here’s one I just received…
Dear Sir / Madam,
I am interested in your property listed for sale. I will like you to send me a general description of the structure with photos for display properly with my family.I will contact you as soon as my family approve the property for the purchase to allow us to relocate to your country.
My English is not very good, so there is no need to call. send email to:d.scariseli@hotmail.com
Thank you.
regards, Mr. Douglas Scarselli
Just noticed after posting that his name in his email address is spelled “scariseli” but he ended his letter with the name “Scarselli” which is spelled differently.
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Seller in small town NM-now the name used is Jiemen Jiang, offered $2k less than asking, putting down $12k earnest money on $599k house. Wants our Realtor to set up an inspection and local attorney. Scammer uses “hotmail’. Google the name and he’s one of 25 influential people in Asia, so there was a red flag. Sent a brokerage acct. statement showing $8m. He and “wife” will be here at the end of Oct. We knew this was too good to be true. But these people are pretty darned good—I’m so grateful that people are willing to share their experiences, so thanks to you all.
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This is what I received today after my response to a Zillow contact. Thought it was to good to be true, so I searched the name and found this site.
Thank you.
I am currently on an oil rig in the coast of South Asia as I would call you as soon as I get to shore.
I would like to make an offer now so I do not lose the property to another buyer.
However, my contact information is;
Home Address: 24 Jianguomen Wai Street,Beijing China
Telephone number: 0086 -5217947990
Below are my terms;
I would like to close late November
I would like the contract in my name only, i.e Han Chin
I would like an inspection and it would be contingent to the purchase.
I would like an appraisal on the property.
I would deposit $20,000 for the property.
FYI I have attached a scanned copy of my bank statement for the purchase would be a cash buy.
I hope the above information meet you well as I await the offer document to review in accord.
Han
Knowing that this is a SCAM now is there no legal action or anyone that has reported this with any kind of out come????
Same here..same exact letter.. Happy to have this site. Thanks everyone!!
Same scam. Here is the email I received.
Please find attached a scanned copy of my bank statement/proof of funds for your perusal
I was in that area last year and i was ok with that location.
I and my wife will not like to lose the house as we are in China at present.
The house would be a cash buy,and please understand i and my wife are satisfied with the pictures and information we have seen so far as we would like to start the purchase process from china before we arrive USA by the end of next month.
Please find below my contact information.
Address: No 8 zhenwumiao road, xicheng district, beijing 10004
Telephone: 86 76 734 25522
I am willing to pay an up front deposit of $12,000 and close Mid November.
Kindly get back to me with the next step in accord.
Regards,
Guang.
I have been working with a couple from Ohio since april. He also supposedly just sold a home in scarsdale, ny. They need a 5-6 bed/6bath home on the waterway with a dock for a 52ft yacht. They need a pool and fenced yard for a dog. Price range 1-2million. they do not have internet where they are staying and I have had to send them pictures of all the properties available in Myrtle Beach. There are not many.
They are wanting to buy just from the pics I send them. I have sent contracts to them on 2 homes that they never signed, because she decided she didnt like them. After a few months of nothing new on the market, I sent them the latest one and they love it. Sent contract and it was signed with 2,500 emb included in the 1,500,000 offering price to be wired 10 days after the seller accepts the offer.
In some ways this sounds like the above, but in other ways it doesn’t I talk to them a few times a week and are both very pleasant, but there is something still not right about it. They are both American and the her home that they are staying at is attached to the phone number that I call them on. That is why I am not posting their names here.
So what do you all think?
Track down their residence and their telephone to verify all. Google them and their address and their telephone numbers. Accept ONLY wires, should be non reversible non ACH wires. Do not accept any cashiers or official checks.
I think someone inside the US is just as capable of trying to scam unsuspecting agents and sellers as those from foreign countries. I’m in the upper Midwest and two out of the four offers I’ve received after having the property on the market for three months have been clearly an attempt at some sort of fraud or scam.
The first “gentleman” approached our agent (always via email, text and cell phone), presented a cash offer and provided proof of funds from (you guessed it) ScotiaBank.
Interesting twists to this one included: a) Proof of funds were from Scotiabank Mexico and in pesos; b) Potential buyer was using a local cell phone number though he said he was in Texas on business most of the time; c) Therefore, was not able to view the property in person, but wanted to make a cash offer which was about 80% of the asking price.
I called the ScotiaBank office in Texas in an attempt to verify the proof of funds statement provided or to get guidance about how to do so for a Mexican account and was told I would have to contact the main office in Canada.
The gentleman there told me it was impossible to verify account balances held in ScotiaBank accounts in another country and if he was in my shoes he’d also be suspicious about the integrity of the bank statement that had been presented as “proof.”
I could have attempted to call one of the three Scotiabank branches in Mexico that these funds were ostensibly lodged with, but not being a native Spanish speaker I figured my chances of talking to the right person and getting accurate information was just about nil.
But, I also decided it wasn’t worth my time, as…
When the statement was provided to my agent, the prospective buyer acknowledged it was in pesos, but conveniently noted the current exchange rate and what the equivalent was in US funds.
The agent didn’t bother to double-check the figures — I did — and the guy was a few tens of thousands of dollars short. Needless to say, I told the agent to reject the offer and also instructed if the guy was persistent to tell him he needed to wire his EMD to the title company in USD before we would accept the deal. Thankfully, he just vaporized.
I was selling my house “by homeowner” in Florida. I became a Russian Ravin Mogul, who was interested to buy my house unseen and wanted to wire the money to any account of my choice! The money should be wired from China and I had to add 29 000 more. He offered the full asking price. At the beginning, he asked “normal buyer questions”, but then he only wrote ASAP. He never addressed me by my name but wrote “Dear, ….” His English was perfect. I speak Russian and now the Russians, he spoke English too good for a Russian with typical new and modern idioms. Of course Ravin exists, he is the director of LUKOIL!! It can not be mOre suspicious. The emails ended when I asked him to sign a contract because I did not wanted to get someone’s money without a “reason” on my account.
HOpe this helps.
I’ve been approached by scam but I thank God for inquiring,I believe knowledge is power,some promise compartment of good,saying I must pay for international fee,which I refuse to pay,some will promise to marry you I think we need to be alert,recently someone wanted to use my account to transfer funds and to show letter to my bank I refuse,because I have a knowledge about scams. Be advisable especially women we are a victim of this. Be careful.
Yamato Himari Sokuto from Japan! Same scam…….
Same letter in Reno NV – Oct. 2014
Thank you for your respond to my mail, this property listed MLS :#140013636 / $650,000 is of my interest and I and my wife will like to put in an offer to purchase. we will like to retain the service of an attorney in this transaction to handle the financial part of this purchase and also to represent my interest at the closing on this chosen property. Please recommend an attorney for me. Because of time difference, it may not be possible for me to reach the attorney on the telephone during business hour. we will like to ask you to contact the attorney on my behalf or send me their email address so that we can introduce myself to them regarding this transaction. we will be very delightful if you can send to my attention the documents (the purchasing contract offer) that require my signatures via electronic signature software like DocuSign or any other software because we do not have a scanner at home. Attached is a copy of my bank statement as a proof of funds for this transaction. Below are the information’s you will need before you can write the purchasing contract.
1). Name: Mr.Yamato Sosuke and Mrs. Himari Sosuke
Address: 1-3- 701, Maesato-Cho, Minami-ku
Yokohama-Shi, Kanagawa, Japan
2). It is cash buy on the property. Will like to make an Offer: $630,000
3). and Closing date: 30 of November, 2014.
4). I will like home inspection to be done on the property.
5). Please note the first payment is going to be paid by a cashier’s check.
5. Telephone: +81-6-6365-7741
Sincerely,
Yamato Sosuke
FROM = yamatohimarisosuke@gmail.com
Below is my recent interaction with the charlatan. Thank God we found this post prior to the money transfer. Kelly (above) we’re just up the hill from you in Truckee.
=========>
Thank you.
I am currently on an oil rig in the coast of East Asia as I would call you
as soon as I get to shore.
I would like to make an offer now so I do not lose the property to another
buyer.
However, my contact information is;
Home Address: 120 Xinghai Road,Ouhai District Wenxhou 325005 Zhejiang
Telephone number: 00852 – 58085564
Below are my terms;
I would like to close Late April
I would like the contract in my name only, i.e Wang Jianlin
I would like an inspection and it would be contingent to the purchase.
I would like an appraisal on the property.
I would deposit $25,000 for the property.
FYI I have attached a scanned copy of my bank statement for the purchase
would be a cash buy.
I hope the above information meet you well as I await the offer document to
review in accord.
On Fri, Mar 6, 2015 at 9:11 AM, Todd Braden
wrote:
>
> [image: Zillow]
>
> Thank you for contacting me on Zillow.
>
> We are very successful at helping home shoppers locate, negotiate and
> purchase their homes. What time is best for you to talk?
>
> I truly appreciate the opportunity to assist you with your real estate
> needs.
> © 2006-2014 Zillow, Inc. 1301 2nd Ave, Floor 31 Seattle, WA 98101
Has anyone seen this type of email yet? I will not click on the link. No property address, no company name, agent (Glenda Bramblett) is not listed with our local Maryland Realtor Association, etc. Thanks
On Apr 15, 2015 10:49 AM, “Glenda Bramblett” wrote:
Please review and present offer to your seller. We are ready to negotiate and we do expect a counter offer if necessary. Please find enclosed Purchase Offer, Trust Advisory., and per-approval letter from Direct Lender.
CLICK HERE to View the Document.
We are in need of the Property and we are ready to Close any moment from Now..
Thank you for your time and efforts.
This is a fraud that has been going on for some time. They send you a “Cashiers Check” for more than the amount requested for a transaction. Great forgery, looks real. They then ask you to wire transfer the overage back to them. By the time their check bounces back to you they are gone. Always REQUIRE bank wire transfers to you in any foreign transaction and have it wired directly to the escrow holder.
CHENG GONG has contacted me about 2 homes in Carmel IN. First contact was a generic web lead. After I responded, he asked, “Thanks for your respond, please what is the price for the house.” I repeated the cost of each home. He answered, “Thanks for your response, I will offer” … $440,000 for one and $448,800 for the other.
He sent me the following email along with a copy of a bank statement from the Bank of Communications, Shanghai:
“The house would be a cash buy, and please understand I and my wife are satisfied with the pictures and information we have seen so far as we would like to start the purchase process from china before we arrive USA by the end of next month. Please find below my contact information.
Address: Flat 103 South Guangshun Road Wangjing Chaoyang District China.
Telephone: 86 76 734 25522
I am willing to pay an up front deposit of $15,000 and close Mid Oct
Kindly get back to me with the next step in accord.”
The PHONE NUMBER above was identical to the number given to Matt Kellam by Guang and mentioned in Matt’s 10/6/2014 post.
HIsato Maeda, mentioned by JLucas 12/24/2013 above in this thread also contacted me about buying a million dollar home and sent me a bank statement along supposed copies of his and his wife’s Passports. I demanded he deposit total funds for the purchase into a local bank and put him in contact with my RE Attorney. Didn’t hear from him again.
YOJI SATO from JAPAN — same scam in Rhode Island. His co-conspirator is “JOHN GLENN” from California. I traced the IP address the emails came from and it was a little side street outside of Tokyo with stores and apartments above. Also a college nearby. Spoke to him on the phone as well as his partner. He demanded an attorney to send a cashier’s check to. The proof of funds bank statement looks fake if you really look.
The play a good game.
Beware!!
Hi JT,
I too was contacted by “Yoji Sato from Japan.” He asked for the contact information for a local attorney to advise him in his all cash offer on a $1mm+ home he’s never seen.
Did you continue your contact with “Yoji” and if so, what did he do next after sending the POF?
Atlanta, GA Just received the same type “cash offer” from Chao Chi wanting to pay cash for my listing – sight unseen – same deal that he will contact me by phone when he gets on shore off his oil rig! Wants to make a 20K down payment to make sure he doesn’t lose the property. Quick close after inspection, appraisal, etc.
Scam in Wisconsin…here it is 2016 and this guy is still at it. I am representing a seller of a $400k+ home. Received a cash offer from an agent at another company. Of course the offer was cash and closing in 30 days. The guy was from Japan. I immediately googled his name and found it was a name of a popular Japan cartoon character. Same phone number as many of the above entries. So, I had my doubts and told buyer’s agent that we would not accept any checks of any kind and that all money would have to be wired in advance. He asked his agent to recommend an attorney, which she did. The attorney received a cashiers check for $375k. Suspecting fraud, he verified the routing number only to find it did not match the bank that was named on the check, and the signature looked like it was photo copied. I guess my question here is: isn’t it a felony to give checks that are false? I see many of the above entries say they received checks. Shouldn’t the FBI be informed of this scam?
I’m pretty sure I’m dealing with the same thing now near St. Louis, MO. I just told him: “ABSOLUTELY DO NOT SEND ME ANY MONEY AT THIS TIME! IT WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED OR DEPOSITED!”
I hope that works.
Has anyone received a real estate scam from Mr Jeff Heung in China?
2 people in our office have. They were almost duped. Lots of red flags.
Hi Don, we just received this email from Mr Jeff Heung in Hong Kong:
Kindly proceed and draft the offer. I am presently residing in Hong Kong and my investment broker is on standby to issue payment as soon as documents are reviewed and signed.
I would like to settle all the upfront and full payment via a lawyer that is vast in Business purchase dealing prior to the closing of this purchase, hence i will solicit your help in helping to get a reputable firm within your jurisdiction to help out with escrow.
I will solicit for the service of an appraisal team to visit the location on my behalf and report findings to me.
There are two Realtors in Crosby TX who have received the same email from Jeff Heung
The article raises awareness about the potential risks and scams that buyers, sellers, and agents may encounter. Being vigilant and informed is vital to protect ourselves and our clients from fraudulent activities. Homestead Title has done a great service by shedding light on these scams and providing valuable tips on how to identify and avoid them. It’s a timely reminder for all of us to exercise caution, conduct due diligence, and seek professional guidance throughout any real estate transaction. Let’s stay informed and work together to keep the industry safe and secure for everyone!
The author has done a great service by shedding light on the various scams that can victimize unsuspecting individuals. From fraudulent title companies to deceptive investment schemes, the information provided here is a wake-up call for everyone to exercise caution and due diligence when engaging in real estate transactions. It’s crucial to stay informed and be aware of the red flags outlined in this post to protect ourselves and our hard-earned investments.
Paul White scamming realtors in Phoenix. Counterfeit cashiers chks for rentals. Fake military award ltr. African American, bad knees, heavy set
I got this one years ago same guy, from the same area in the UK.
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