by Michele Gillis
Staff Writer
We all get those emails where someone in a foreign country wants to us accept a check, deposit it into our bank and send them the difference. We all know they are a scam and we hit the Delete button even though the idea seems enticing.
Today, scammers are getting more sophisticated and seem to have infiltrated the real estate business. Amy Vo of the St. Johns Law Group in St. Augustine spoke to the St. Augustine Women’s Council of Realtors last month at the Carrabba’s Italian Grill to alert them of some recent scams she has encountered at her office.
“Real estate has always been an environment for fraud and scams,” said Vo. “But, we are seeing more and more of those coming up in transactions.”
Since most people have smartphones, some banks have started allowing their customers to take a photo of a check, send the photo to them and then deposit the check.
“You send the bank a photo of the check front and back and deposit the check via the application on your phone without ever having to go to the bank,” said Vo. “In closings, the checks are in the file, so people have been taking images of the check when you turn away and will deposit the check into their bank.
“Then they ask the closing agent to void out the check and wire the funds. So, the next day you void out the check and then find out that double the funds have come out of your account. The person is gone, the money has been withdrawn from the account, the account is closed and you’re out of luck.”
Vo said Realtors need to beware of a customer who asks you to contact the title company to have a check voided and the money wired.
“It’s something we all need to look out for because it’s possible,” said Vo. “It’s crazy what the criminals come up with. That is one of the newer scams we’ve seen and heard of.”
Another scam she’s encountered recently is a “Fishing for Account Information” scam.
“A buyer will contact you about buying a property or they will say they just signed a contract and want to send you a deposit,” said Vo. “They will ask if you can send them your wire instructions. These situations are primarily with people you’ve dealt with over email or from foreign countries. You send your bank account and routing number and they create counterfeit checks from that information. They are using the checks to go out and spend money and the next thing you know your escrow account is a mess.”
With technology today, many in the real estate industry do a lot of business over the email or phone without ever meeting the client, especially if they are overseas. Vo said it is hard to fish out these criminals.
“The only thing I can suggest is to listen to your gut instincts,” said Vo.
Vo shared another recent scam that actually happened to her. She calls it the “Canadian scam”.
In this situation, a buyer contacted her claiming to live in Canada. He faxed paperwork to her from what looked like a Canadian phone number and she even talked to the man on the phone. When the check arrived for closing, it came in an unmarked envelope and had misspellings on it.
“I looked at it and it just didn’t feel right,” said Vo. “So, I took the check to the bank and before we deposited it, I made sure the bank called the other bank to verify the funds and the check. It turned out to be a counterfeit check, but it was a good counterfeit check. Thank goodness I caught that. If I had just deposited it and dispersed all the funds, who knows what would have happened from that point. I would have ended up with a very big problem I didn’t want to clean up.”
She has also seen a problem with cashiers checks being counterfeit. Vo said that many times buyers will come to the closing with a check higher than the amount needed, but if the check comes in the mail and you don’t personally know the buyer, watch out.
“The person will come to you with a cashier’s check over the amount needed for closing and you deposit the check and write that person a check for the difference,” she said. “Another tip that the check could be counterfeit is if they ask you to wire the excess funds for another closing and they need it done that day. You send the funds out and find out four days later that the cashier’s check was counterfeit. You’ve already wired the funds out and now you’re in trouble.”
Vo suggests waiting for the check to fully clear before writing them a check for the difference or wiring the money out.
Then there’s the “Vacant Land Scam”.
People will search the records for lots that are owned by people in foreign countries. The owner doesn’t monitor the property and doesn’t visit it because they aren’t local and just plan to build on it sometime in the future.
These people will call a Realtor claiming to be the owner and try to sell the property.
“They claim to be the person who is listed on the deed and basically steal their identity and put the property on the market,” said Vo. “They find a buyer and get ready for a mail-away closing. What you have to look for is when they sign the deed and send the deed back. The deed notarization stamp and owners mail-away address is an African country.”
Vo said one of the things you should request if you have a seller contact you and they are in any of the African countries is a copy of their passport, then make sure the name matches the deed and have the passport checked with the Consulate for that country to make sure it is valid.
“You should also send a letter to the seller to the address listed on the property appraisers Web site,” she said. “If it is a scam, the seller can contact you and stop the sale.”