{"id":22543,"date":"2013-04-17T10:28:58","date_gmt":"2013-04-17T14:28:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/?p=22543"},"modified":"2013-04-17T10:28:58","modified_gmt":"2013-04-17T14:28:58","slug":"bogus-check-doesnt-fool-local-real-estate-lawyer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/2013\/04\/bogus-check-doesnt-fool-local-real-estate-lawyer\/","title":{"rendered":"Bogus Check Doesn\u2019t
Fool Local Real Estate Lawyer"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"A real estate scam that recently surfaced in Southwest Florida serves as a timely warning to those in the business of selling property and\/or representing agents and brokers in the selling of property; be familiar with the red flags of the notorious advance fee fraud. Although this scheme has many variations, one goal remains the same and that is to trick the \u201ctarget\u201d into cashing a fraudulent check or money order, followed by a request to \u201cdisburse\u201d funds through a wire transfer.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s exactly how the scam unfolded for a local real estate agent who received an e-mail from a \u201cbuyer\u201d interested in purchasing a home listed for sale on an online website. The buyer told the realtor he was currently living in the United Kingdom and would be conducting business via e-mail. In order to make the deal look plausible, the \u201cbuyer\u201d also contacted a local real estate attorney to assist in the transaction. After e-mails and an executed contract were exchanged between the realtor and the con-artist, the attorney – who had never been retained by the scammer \u2013 received a cashier\u2019s check for $166,530.00 with instructions to contact the \u201cbuyer\u201d immediately so funds could be properly distributed. Fortunately, it didn\u2019t take long for the attorney to realize he was being set up in an elaborate advance fee scheme.<\/p>\n

If you or your business sells products or services online, you may be targeted in a scheme to defraud. In response to your advertisement (listing), you might receive a generous offer from a potential buyer and accept it. The Lee County Sheriff’s Office encourages you follow these simple safety tips:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Be wary of businesses or individuals that operate out of post office boxes or mail drops and do not have a street address. Also, be suspicious when dealing with persons who do not have a direct telephone line and can only conduct business online.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Be very careful when conducting financial transactions with an individual who is out of the country.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Be cautious of e-mails that provide too much personal information in an attempt to convince the reader the contents are true, urgent response is required, or vague and noncommittal answers to important questions.<\/p>\n

If you would like to report a fraud, scam or identity theft, contact the fraud line at\u00a0239-477-1242<\/a>. If you would like a Fraud Specialist to speak to your organization or community group, please contact\u00a0239-477-1400<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A real estate scam that recently surfaced in Southwest Florida serves as a timely warning to those in the business of selling property and\/or representing agents and brokers in the… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22543"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22543\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelehighacresgazette.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}