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IMPORTANT: Possible Fraud

Dear ATG Agent:


Today I received phone calls from two ATG agents telling me about a strange situation that they both encountered. In both cases, the ATG agent received a call from one of their best realtor clients informing them that they had received an unsolicited request from a party in Canada who wanted to purchase property in the area that the realtor handled.


Both realtors thought this was a strange request because the party was leaving the decision about what property to purchase to the realtor. Both forwarded the names of various attorneys to this party.


After a few e-mail messages back and forth, the party sent a very large check, over $500,000 in each case, to the lawyer to be deposited for a future closing. In both cases the agent had requested a wire transfer and not a check. Both checks have been confirmed as fraudulent. The name of the party, which is the same in both cases, has been researched and there is a long list of realtors who have received the identical e-mail message from him and there were also various alias names. This is very similar to a previous scam that one of our agents became involved in a few months ago.


If you receive any unsolicited offers to purchase property from a party that you don't know and/or receive a large check from someone for a future transaction, please contact me immediately. Do not deposit the check until we have had time to discuss the situation.


For more information, see our October 2010 ATG Trusted Adviserarticle, Check and Wire Transfer Fraud – A Growth Industry.


If anyone has any questions on this matter or would like to discuss it further, please contact me.


Sincerely,

August R. Butera

Senior Vice President and General Counsel

Attorneys' Title Guaranty Fund, Inc.