ORLANDO, Fla. — A new scheme could rip off hundreds of thousands of dollars from realtors and it almost happened to an Orlando attorney. She told WFTV Tuesday that a doctor overseas sent her a check to buy a local home, but the check was for too much and that's how the trap is sprung.
A man claiming to be a doctor in England had mailed a check to Orlando attorney Lorena Cardama to purchase a home in Bay Hill. Cardama acquired Dr. Naved Alizai as a client through an unsuspecting realtor.
"It's devastating for real estate agents. They get paid on commission and they were so close to selling this," Cardama said.
The check was for too much money, $150,000 more than the asking price.
"He's stating that his broker made a mistake," she said.
The doctor started urging Cardama to mail him back a check for the difference, plus another $150,000. That made Cardama suspicious.
"It's a fake check. Wachovia confiscated it and sent us a letter saying they would investigate it," she said.
WFTV searched for a Dr. Alizai online and the name came up on message boards. Realtors in and out of the state are warning each other about the very same scam.
Financial crime investigators are not surprised the classic overpayment scam is hitting the real estate market.
"People are vulnerable right now, because everyone in a selling position wants the most they can get for their property," said Alex Toledo, Office of Financial Regulation.
Complex cases could take months to unravel. Cardama is just relieved this one was caught before she became a victim.
The check mailed to the attorney looked authentic and even had a watermark. The scam is so sophisticated, it took several inspections of the check to determine it was a fake.
WFTV
