Description of Potential Fraud:

fraud-warning

Two real estate agents in the U.S. tell us they’ve been contacted by the purported Ellis Wayne with regards to what looks like a real estate bad cheque scam. For details of how this scam works and other names attached to it see our Confirmed Fraud page.

Here is the email along with a fake proof of funds:

From: Ellis Larry
Subject: Re: 143 Sun Chase Court — Aerial Views
To:
Date: Saturday, March 24, 2012, 3:10 PM

ATTENTION

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 MAY , 2012

2. I want to put down $50,000.00 Earnest money

3. I want to put contingency on inspection on the contract.

My legal name is Mr. Ellis Larry Wayne of 12451 Redwood Avenue, Hesperia CA 92345 and am a married man with two kids, I will not be in US before the closing date to wire the funds to an attorney so I will advise you to send me an attorney information for a check to be drawn to give enough time for check clearance since I won’t be in USA to wire funds for closing.

Please forward me a purchase contract agreement to sign as soon as possible.

My Canadian rep will Issue payment in US Funds for the earnest money for the property payable to your attorney, the check will be deliver to your attorney.

I strongly advice that I need an attorney in your state to represent my interest in this transaction, so therefore I would like to deposit all payment with the lawyer.

Please I need the following information from you the attorney information for immediately payment

Law Firm Name……………………………………………
Law Firm Address……………………………………………….
Law Firm Telephone………………………………………………

Lawyer’s Name…………………………………………………..

Regards
Mr.Ellis L .Wayne

How to handle a real or suspected fraud

If you have been targeted by any of these frauds, please forward any of the emails and supporting documents that you have received to [email protected].

If you suspect you are acting on a matter that might be a fraud, call LAWPRO at 1-800-410-1013 (416-598-5899). We will talk you through the common fraud scenarios we are seeing and help you spot red flags that may indicate you are being duped. This will help you ask appropriate questions of your client to determine if the matter is legitimate or not. If the matter you are acting on turns out to be a fraud and there is a potential claim, we will work with you to prevent the fraud and minimize potential claims costs.

If you have been successfully duped, please immediately notify LAWPRO as there may be a claim against you.

For more immediate updates on fraud and claims prevention, subscribe to the email or RSS feed updates from LAWPRO’s AvoidAClaim blog.

Fraud Fact SheetMore fraud prevention information and resources are available on the practicePRO Fraud page, including the Fraud Fact Sheet, a handy reference for lawyers and law firm staff that describes the common frauds and the red flags that can help identify them.