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Categoriesinternet marketingLife Real Estate Buyers Sellers Favorite LinksHomes of Madison CountyCentury 21 Steele & Associates Century 21 Julie Ryan, Realtor ArchivesOctober 2007Realtor ScamPosted at 2:48 PM, Oct. 29, 2007I just encountered the below real estate scam. This is the first email that I recieved.
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HOME PURCHASE AND RELOCATION
ATTN, PLEASE I REQUIRE ASSTSTANCE IN ACQUIRING A CHOICE PROPERTY IN YOUR COUNTRY FOR IMMEDIATE PURCHASE AND RELOCATION OF MY FAMILY URGENTLY. IF YOU HAVE READILY AVALIABLE LISTINGS,PLEASE GET BACK TO ME WITH MORE INFORMATIONS THAT WILL ASSIST ME IN MAKING A GOOD CHOICE .YOU CAN REACH ME BY E-MAIL OR PHONE+234-80-83992242 YOUR URGENT REVERSAL IS AWAITED. YOURS SINCERELY SENATOR OSITA IZUNASO MACULAY CLOSE APO VILLAGE SENATORS QUATERS GARIKI ABUJA NIGERIA
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My initial thought was that it might be a scam, something about it just did not feel right, but I wnated to find out for sure. When I replied that I would need more information on what they were looking for, I got the below email:
[quote]
Subject: Home Requirements
Dear Julie Ryan,
compliments of the day.Thanks for your response to my mail.i beg you to
please treat my request with utmost despatch and professionalism so that i can conclude the purchase as soon as possible to enable me guarantee the safety of my family,and these are my requirements. I have funds in excess to conclude the purchase ,what i want is the very best for my family in the region of between $500,000-1M USD .But first and foremost you have to locate the type of house i require. I am making arrangements for my wife& and my 5 children to come over as soon as possible, this is to enable my wife to inspect the property and sign all the necessary documents in regards to the home purchase. What I need is a single family house, with five rooms self contained, a big kitchen, a car garage that can contain up to 3 cars, a flower garden and also a swimming pool in a very secure neighbourhood or a very expansive family home. I will be happy if you can put the pictures together and send it to me or that of a single family home . The life of my family is no longer safe down hear in Nigeria , my political opponents and enemies want to assassinate me and my family, they have several time tried to assassinate us , but the almighty God has always been with us. You know when you are into politics you bound to have a lot of enemies. Please I want you to assure me that you will assist me an d my family relocate to your country safely, also I want you to keep this plan of mine very confidential let it just be between you and me please, this is due to my present situation in Nigeria . Please I await your reversal. Thanks and God bless Sen.Osita Izunaso [/quote]
The last paragraph really bothered me and after talking with my broker who agreed and said that someone else in the office had gotten a message similar to the first one, I decided to try googling a bit of the message and found this link that confirmed my suspicions.
Introduction to Marketing Yourself onlinePosted at 9:00 AM, Oct. 26, 2007Lately, I've been getting a lot of questions from other agents in my office as far as what they need in order to market themselves online. There are some basics, but you do have to build on the basics to really establish an internet presence. The Basics 1. An Email Address, that you check and reply to daily. While it would be ideal if you had a permanent email address that did not change regardless of who your internet provider is, when you are just getting started it's a matter of finding a service that you can and will use. So whatever you have available, whether you are an AOL user using your AOL address, or if you set up a free account on Yahoo or Hotmail... or if you want to go ahead and take that step and get a permanent email address (which I will talk about later), you need an email address that you provide to your prospects so that they can reach you and most importantly that you have access to check on a daily basis. Do not leave your prospects waiting for a response or they will find someone else who will respond faster. 2. A website. It's not enough to just have a website, you have to let people know that you have a website. You have to market your website, just like you market yourself (and I will discuss this more in-depth in future articles, as well). Having a website that you don't promote is like having business cards and never passing them out. That said, it's not enough to just have a website. Using the business card analogy, many people are handing out their business cards but they are forgetting to make sure their phone number is on the card. What I mean by this is that just as you would include your phone number on your business card as a call to action (ie. here is my business card please call me), you need to have a call to action on your website as well. It is not enough to just have your information, or even to have your information and a link to your local MLS where they can search for properties. The goal of your website is to bring you leads, and you need a way to get those leads, you need a call to action - some reason for people to let you know who they are and what they need.
Some key elements of your website (each of which I will discuss more in-depth in future articles) are: { 0 comments } { add comment } { Permanent Link }
View more entries tagged with: Internet Marketing, Websites, Email, Promotion New WebsitePosted at 10:50 AM, Oct. 10, 2007I have a new website. I've given my website a complete make-over with a new look and lots of great new information. You'll find a lot of great information and reports there on home ownership, buying and selling as well as links to everything you need to know about this area.
Please take a moment and check it out, and don't forget to let me know what you think! Julie |
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