The initial call from a telemarketing rep has an offer from an investor wanting to purchase your property. The offer is very attractive.in fact, too good for this market (that is the first indication of scam).
The TM rep needs to send you the offer in US mail, but first needs banking info for the contract so that they can wire the purchase funds directly to your account (because it is such a large sum of money). She needs the ABA and account numbers (which is to be expected), but also needed a check number, even though funds were only to be wired in.
When you then receive the contract from their "Legal Dept" (Patrick) you find that Empire needs to first secure 1/2 of the closing costs (their fee), and will draft the amount immediately from your account.in my case, the amount was nearly $2,200. And this is BEFORE the transaction is completed. (Of course, the TM rep gave no indication that funds would be required prior to the closing of the deal.)
Bottom line: there was no investor, there was no offer, they are a "marketing firm" and can give no guarantee that your property will indeed be sold. The $2,200 fee was for advertising. Good luck trying to get a refund.
Other info: the caller IDs were from upstate NY, 315-334-5263 and -5266. But no guarantees that is where they are located. They have a domain name, but no site (under construction, even though they claim to have been in business 8 years). And they have a yahoo email address!
If they call... Hangup as fast as you can! This is a complete scam.
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