Foreclosure Rescue ScamsPart 2) 7 Easy Ways Scammers find their victims
1) Road side signs. Have you seen the signs that say, "We will buy your house as-is for cash!!", "Facing Foreclosure? We buy houses!!", "Foreclosure Rescue" "Foreclosure Angel", "We Refinance Anybody - NOW." These signs are usually home-made, hand-written, and posted on fences, trees, pickets, and telephone poles. Unfortunately, a great number of these ads are posted by foreclosure rescue scam con artists. And in this scam, the homeowner actually approaches the scammer. These people are hard to check out, because the only info you have on them is a phone number. If their phone number is all you have, then that is all they should have from you – your phone number and nothing more, not even a last name or street address. 2) The county courthouse. Foreclosure notices are kept on file at the county court house and are a matter of public record. That means they are available to anyone who wants to see them. Some companies even compile lists of foreclosure notices and sell them. 3) The newspaper. Foreclosure notices are routinely announced in the local paper under "public notices" right alongside births, obituaries, and divorces. 4) Real estate listings. Some find their victims through real estate ads for foreclosed homes. Real estate ads are everywhere now, newspapers, real estate magazines, internet web-sites, everywhere. 5) Loan brokers . These people have the inside scoop on pending foreclosures and some are paid by con artists for names, numbers, and details of the homeowners' predicament. With some specific knowledge of your circumstances, a scammer may even knock on your and can work his presentation to sound as though it is the perfect solution for you. Of course, you have no idea that he has prior knowledge about your situation. So it seems that he just knows his stuff and has the perfect plan. 6) Mail outs . Some scams are initiated through mass mail-outs: flyers, postcards, letters. They can look very official. Some play on fear. 7) The internet. BEWARE of internet ads that offer credit repair or foreclosure rescue. Scammers have found convincing ways to get you to disclose personal information over the net. They may say that you must submit this information so they can "review" your case or for the purposes of their "free consultation." Don't believe the testimonials that they provide on their web-site. Check the service out yourself.
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