Scammers want your money. Plain and simple.
Let’s face it… whether you’re a seller or seller’s agent, you want to sell, sell, sell. When an offer (any offer!) comes along you perk up and take notice. But beware. There are scammers out there eager to get you in a pinch and where’s how they try and do it…
If you watch any of the popular million dollar real estate shows you know that big money can potentially come from overseas. It’s important to know that these big cash buyers have numerous people working on their behalf and there are a lot of playing pieces involved in what will eventually be a sale. The scam to watch out for is the foreigner who emails you wanting to buy sight unseen. When a cash offer seems too good to be true it probably is.
Why is this a scam? Buyers (9.9 times out of 10) want to see a property before buying. Let’s say that they are a real live buyer and do in fact want to buy sight unseen. They’ll at least have a long list of questions. Generally these scammers claim to want to send you money and close on the deal ASAP… no questions asked.
Because these “buyers” are “generally out of reach” there are then the scammers who go above and beyond to provide you with loads of information. They’ll send financial information, contact information and so on (all fake). But again, they rarely ask about the property.
Being unavailable is the best way for scammers to keep their distance. There’s a reason they’re emailing you and not talking on the phone with you or wanting to meet with you in person. It’s a scam! They don’t want to be traced let alone have to have a real conversation.
As you know, real estate deals take time. And scammers- they don’t have patience. They want to go, go, go! They’ll blame mistakes on this false eagerness. They may write a check for the wrong amount and then ask you to send them the extra cash back. Days later you’ll realize that the check was forged and they’ll have successfully scammed you out of thousands.
And there’s one word that many scammers frequently use… INVESTOR. Sounds important doesn’t it?
Beware of these signs. They don’t always point to scam, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Ask questions!
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