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Notice of Real Estate Services and Phishing Scam
8 December, 2009
We are aware of a new web-based scam, involving a potential real estate tenant who:
- Posts fraudulent online REAL ESTATE SERVICES ads; or,
- Submits fraudulent responses to legitimate online REAL ESTATE ads
To bolster credibility, they are listing Layton Construction and/or principals or officers of Layton Construction as references. They have gleaned accurate contact information on Layton personnel available through the internet and public documents.
This scam is being reported on several Craigslist sites, in multiple, worldwide locations.
The person(s) involved are attempting to extract identity and financial information from respondents.
The fraudulent inquiries will appear in response to legitimate ads for REAL ESTATE SERVICES.
The scam artist(s) claim that they are an engineer, working with a reputable engineering firm. They claim to have recently been retained by Layton Construction for a term of one-year and need to relocate to a new city, wherein they must acquire property for rent or lease. We are aware of six U.S. cities, including Hilo, HI and Portland, OR.
They will initially request a floor plan or description of the space offered for lease. Ultimately, they will seek to transfer a deposit to the owner’s financial institution via wire or check, requiring the disclosure of the property owner’s financial information.
There appear to be several variances on this scam.
If you are contacted with similar information in response to your Craigslist ad, or other online ad service, please submit a complaint to ic3.gov or the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA).
IC3's mission is to serve as a vehicle to receive, develop, and refer criminal complaints regarding the rapidly expanding arena of cyber crime. The IC3 gives the victims of cyber crime a convenient and easy-to-use reporting mechanism that alerts authorities of suspected criminal or civil violations. For law enforcement and regulatory agencies at the federal, state, local and international level, IC3 provides a central referral mechanism for complaints involving Internet related crimes.
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