March 11, 2014
The tricky Advance Fee Fraud is today's topic. Superb sales people present the promise of no up front fees, the buyer guarantees the payment, any fees required by seller will be deducted from the sale proceeds and the price offered is juicy! After all, we want to make as much as we can from our beautiful units, and many of us may have evolved into a new paradigm that changed our plans to use the units we were so excited about two and three years ago.So the sales person has set the hook. Good sense evaporates when we want the deal on the table to be real.
The buyer is there. The sales person with all his good intentions will see to it we get our money. The escrow company that allegedly is holding the buyer's proceeds will release the proceeds to us when all terms of the escrow are satisfied.
What can go wrong? How does it work?
At the end of the process, we are told that the commission has to be paid outside of escrow. Just wire the funds to a bank in Mexico. All payments made by the seller will be reimbursed from the buyer's proceeds.
Or, we are told that there are taxes due, and they have to be paid to the Mexican government before the transaction will go through. Just wire the funds to a bank in Mexico. All payments made by the seller will be reimbursed the buyer's proceeds.
Or, we are told that the developer requires transfer payments to be paid. Just wire the funds to a bank in Mexico. All payments made by the seller will be reimbursed from the buyer's proceeds.
Well, this tale of the beginning of woe is real. Any money wired is lost. Sure, the sales person will be on your side and take the escrow company to collections. Then there is the collection process, which could also cost money.
In the end, a commission is paid for nothing. Transfer fees are paid for nothing. Taxes are paid into a Mexican bank for the benefit of the scammers.