Help! The scammers want my house.

[Holmes]

We,ve put up our house for sale on a private sale site. Our first response - a probable scammer. :85:

We emailed him photos and some of our details (name ,address, email address and phone number). Since then we got a warning from the private sales site about him being a possible scammer. A similar scam happened recently in Australia. The owners property was sold without his permission. False identity documents were provided to the land titles office. He lost his house!

He calls himself Julius Fombe.
We can't find this name on the internet. Exactly.

Doing a bit of internet research we think it might be Julius Esegemu Fossung Essua. The email address given is juliusfombe@gmail.com.

We are not willing to lose OUR house to a scammer so we are going to fight.
Any help would be much appreciated. :cool:

[Zzbyrd]

He calls himself Julius Fombe.
We can't find this name on the internet. Exactly.

Doing a bit of internet research we think it might be Julius Esegemu Fossung Essua. The email address given is juliusfombe@gmail.com.

We are not willing to lose OUR house to a scammer so we are going to fight.
Any help would be much appreciated. :cool:

Hello Holmes and welcome to afi!

The chance of being able to identify a scammer on an internet search are almost null and I doubt that the Julius you found would be the scammer Julius Fombe.

Do you think you could post the email exchange you had with this guy? But please remove all of your personal information first.

What is the private sale site that is being used?

[Holmes]

Thanks for the kind welcome Dodobird and thanks for taking the time to have a look at this. I am here unexpectedly and a bit under-protest as this was the first response to placing our house ad on a private sales site.:(

Oct 23
An inquiry has been made regarding your property listed at http://www.owner.com.au

* * * * * * * * * * * *Details below:
* * * * * * * * * * * *Julius
* * * * * * * * * * * *Phone: 0023796540511
* * * * * * * * * * * *Email: fombejulius@gmail.com
* * * * * * * * * * * *Message: Hello, I am writing to know if you still have the house for sale I saw on this website. *I am pretty interested and will like to know if you are the owner of the house or an agent. I do not want to deal with any agent so I home you are the direct owner of this property. Could you send me more pictures and also let me know if you could come down on the price? Waiting to read back from you soon.

Fombe Julius
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Oct 23 9:28 PM me to Julius

Hi Julius,

Thanks for your enquiry. Yes, our property is for sale. We just listed it (on the == of == ). We have reduced the price from ======= to ======= for a quick sale. We are open to offers (but not silly offers). We think this is a very reasonable price for this property which is probably the best small farm under === acres in ========

I own the property outright (no mortgage) and am selling it privately. Its not listed with any agents. Sorry, I have not taken any photos of the house yet, but I can forward you some later if you are interested.
I've attached as many photos as I could find.

Thanks again for you enquiry. Don't hesitate to contact us if you have any other questions on the number below.

All the best,


our signoff names, address & phone no + about 10 photos attached.


Oct 23 3:43 AM Julius to me

Hello,
**** Good day, am sorry for the late response even though I want this home as soon as possible. I will like to let you know that am foreign and am trying to purchase a home in Australia so I can* move with my family because am an international business man. I will be hiring a lawyer who will act on my behalf for the paper works but for the payment I will either send one of my directors or come personally. I will need to know from you if it will be a problem paying you cash when the house is inspected and confirmed by me or representative. If this is okay with you, I can let you know how this will all be done and how I will transport money from my country over to Australia so we can finalize the transaction and proceed with my attorney. I will also like to inform you that the cash will be verified by you in any bank of your convenience before the purchase papers are completed. If this all works for you, please give me more updates on how old the house is and its present state then we can go from there. Waiting to read back from you shortly.
Fombe Julius
Oct 24 5:37 AM admin to me

Dear Valued Customer:<br />
You may have recently received the following message. We believe that this person is a scammer or spammer. *Please use your own discretion to carefully handle this query.We advice you not to respond to the message.
----Begin suspect message----
Julius
Phone: 0023796540511
Email: fombejulius@gmail.com




Oct 24 12:45 PM me to admin

Hi there,

Unfortunately I already replied to this email. I did have my suspicions though. I will be reporting this to the authorities although at present no crime has been committed. Thanks for the warning.

our signoff

Note – I replied to the first email but have not (and will not) reply to the second. <removed> On the plus side you guys are now stuck with me as a rookie scam fighter.

[Zzbyrd]

Hello Holmes,

Thank you for posting these details! His mention of "transporting the money" to Australia is an outright heads up, as most countries' immigration authorities have rules set as to the maximum amount of cash one may carry into any country. Especially that in this day and age, there is no valid reason why someone would choose to "transport" money instead of having it transferred by a bank...no valid legal reason anyways. :rolleyes:

If there is any doubt left in your mind as to the fact that this may be a scammer, take a look at these other scams presently on the net that use the same contact phone;

http://www.hardware-wholesale.com/d-p1115035555694593600-arabica_coffee/

Company Name: DONART OIL
Employee Number: 51 - 100 People
City: Limbe
Annual Sales: US$2.5 Million - US$5 Million
Year Established: 2000
Exportper: 91% - 100%
Contact Person: Mr. MATEKE DONARD
Telephone Number: 237-96540511
Fax: 237
Zip/Postal Code: 00237
Province: South West Region
Country: Cameroon

http://www.ecplaza.net/tradeleads/seller/6928671/scrap_copper_wire.html

Company: Guarantee Transport Ltd
Membership: Free Member since Jul 17, 2010
Coutnry/Regioin: CameroonCameroon
Address: 23 Rue Drouot Ave. Akwa, Douala, Littoral, Cameroon 00237
Contact: Mr. Mateke Donard
Phone: 237-9654-0511
Tags: Scrap Copper Wire

http://cm111802038.en.gongchang.com/contact

Bronze International
* Contact Name: Mr. INTERNATIONAL
* Tel: 237-96540511
* Address: 23 Rue Drouot Ave. Akwa
* Province/State: Littoral
* Country/Region: Cameroon
* Postcode: 00237

As you may see from the above posts, the same scammer uses at least one other different name, which is probably a fake also. This, and the use of a mobile phone make them just about impossible to track down.

At least our members now have a warning to look for; both the email address and mobile phone numbers did not come up as scam in a Google search. This scammer at least now has the due publicity he deserves. :D

[Holmes]

Thanks Dodobird for your keen eyes in spotting that.

Maybe I should set myself up as a practice dummy!(just kidding).

[Zzbyrd]

Thanks Dodobird for your keen eyes in spotting that.

Maybe I should set myself up as a practice dummy!(just kidding).

Don't forget; Mr. Google is your friend! And there is plenty to read here to help one learn about the different types of scams. ;)