There are many overseas property scam stories out there. Some are just so unbelievable you wonder how anyone can be so stupid as to fall for them. Some are very clever and you feel sorry for the victims.

When you’re dealing with prospective ‘cash’ purchasers abroad you need to be very cautious and question the motives of anyone that promises you anything for nothing.

That said, I thought you might like to hear of an attempted scam which actually happened to us.

We had a property for sale in southern Spain last year and were contacted by a man looking for ‘investment properties’ in our area.

The hook. 

When he came to see the property he was trying too hard to look the part of the businessman that he purported to be. (Shame about the cheap suit and the ridiculous Panama hat!)

He said he would telephone us in a few days after conferring with his ‘business associates’. This he did and ‘we would be pleased to know he would like to purchase our property’. Well there’s a surprise.

Unfortunately, because of his ‘business commitments’ he couldn’t come back to the house so could we meet him at his hotel in Torremolinos? At this point we had nothing to lose so off we went the next day.

The meeting.

We rang him as we got to the hotel and were not surprised when he met us on the pavement outside and suggested we go to a nearby restaurant to have a drink and talk over the deal.

Needless to say, after a cursory attempt to haggle he agreed to our asking price of 455,000 euros and we shook hands on the deal. There were just one or two finer details to work out!

The line. 

Firstly, because of tax reasons, he would be making the purchase through a colleague in Belgium who would do all the necessary money transfers and sign all the paperwork. No problems so far, it didn’t worry us whose name was on the deeds.

Next he wanted to pay 200,000 by bank transfer and the balance of 255,000 by cash. Now, while this is not unheard of in Spanish property deals, that’s an awful lot of ‘under the counter money’. But we were still listening.

A small problem!

The only cash he had was in £sterling so he would like to give us the euro equivalent in £sterling (plus a generous 10% for our trouble!) We’re starting to lose interest now but in for a penny…

Only one more tiny problem now. For tax reasons (again?) he can’t get to Belgium to pick up the £sterling so ‘would we mind going and picking it up ourselves?’

Of course, once we’re back in Spain with a suitcase full of his cash he would then make the transfer of the other 200,000 euros from his bank in Monaco.

He solemnly makes the point that he’s trusting us with his 280,500 euros in cash as a goodwill gesture to show he’s serious. We’re finding it hard to keep a straight face at this point.

The sinker.

The best he saved until last. His Belgian ‘colleague’s’ fee for processing this deal will be 45,000 euros which our man will obviously pay him. But he wants it in cash and he won’t accept the equivalent in sterling because it would be too risky to change that amount overseas.

Our man then said that he would add this 45000 euros fee (plus 10%!) to the previous cash figure making a total amount of 330,000 euros to collect in £sterling (approx £235,000) and giving us a 32,500 euro profit over the asking price of our house. Phew, are you still with me?

The sting!

So, if we could just take 45,000 euros cash (of our money) to somewhere in Belgium in order to hand it over to a complete stranger (after this trustworthy businessman has handed over to us the £235,000-odd in cash of course) then everything will be just dandy!

Believe me, he was quite serious. But by this time we had completely lost interest and just wanted to go and do something less painful - like sticking blunt needles into our eyes!

We made our excuses and left, saying we’d think about it over the weekend. Do people really fall for this stuff?

Surprisingly enough, the following Tuesday saw him on the phone asking when we would like to go ahead with the deal!! I can’t recall what I said to him but I’m sure it rhymed with cupid stunt.

The lesson.

My advice when dealing with so-called ‘property investors’ abroad is simple: Don’t believe a single word anyone says to you unless their money’s up front and sitting in your bank account.

Oh yes, and stay away from sweaty ‘cash-rich businessmen’ in cheap suits!