Name That Scam
May 8, 2024 9:57 AM   Subscribe

I received a snail mail at my home addressed to "Estate of [my dad's name]." Thing is, my dad is still very much alive.

It was very amateurishly done. Hand-written address on front, and a rubber-stamped return address.

On the back across the top was written, by hand, my dad's home address.

Inside was a poorly made photocopy of a generic letter to "Dear Home Owner," saying they're a real estate investment firm looking to buy real as-is, occupied or vacant, for all cash, with no commissions, with flexible closing date, and that they would handle title issues, liens, and code violations.

I googled the address of the sender and they're supposedly in an actual office building.

Googling the name of the company turned up no current website, the website for a once-existent company by that name in that approximate location on the Wayback Machine, and a Facebook page with 2 followers.

I'm also wondering how they tied my address to my still-alive father, and why they sent me this letter.

One last thing: My dad lives in a state that does not release death records online.

What's the scam? Do I need to be concerned?
posted by ZenMasterThis to Work & Money (11 answers total)
 
Response by poster: Ah, one more thing: Googling the phone number turned up nothing.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 10:01 AM on May 8, 2024


Are you sure it's hand-addressed? Look carefully at the letters and see if they're drawn the exact same way. I've gotten lots of spam mail that looks like this on the outside.

And yeah; it's probably spam. They plaster a list of names hoping to find someone that's eager to unload a property quickly. Doesn't matter if they're not accurate, eventually they get a bite on the hook.
posted by JoeZydeco at 10:05 AM on May 8, 2024 [2 favorites]


Possibly someone with the same name as your father died somewhere, and the scammer targeted anyone they could find who might be that deceased person or their heir. No idea how they linked you and your father’s names and addresses, but perhaps some combination of public records (e.g. birth certificates, property deeds) and/or leaked private databases (e.g. from insurance companies getting hacked).
posted by mbrubeck at 10:11 AM on May 8, 2024 [3 favorites]


Yeah I'm guessing it's spam, not scam, though as mbrubeck says something might have been hacked somewhere. Are you in a desireable location? Realtors have sent me hand-addressed cards hoping to buy my condo, and they've been relentless about it off and on over the years.
posted by Melismata at 10:13 AM on May 8, 2024 [5 favorites]


I wonder if it's someone that fell for those roadside signs promising to make you a fortune in real estate. You get a list of people to mail and a master sheet to copy and send.
posted by JoeZydeco at 10:25 AM on May 8, 2024 [5 favorites]


Estate also doesn’t necessarily mean they think someone died (although since it was sent to you and not your dad, they may very well think that). But an estate is just someone’s net worth basically, all assets and debts, even before they have died.

I also get these a lot for my condo - usually real estate agents looking for something for a client who wants into the area. I agree it’s probably spam, not necessarily a scam.
posted by sillysally at 10:35 AM on May 8, 2024 [1 favorite]


So ... someone with the same first and last name as the person who formerly owned our house died within the last year and left an apparently "unclaimed" house in Texas. We now get fairly regular mail addressed to that name from people who either want to buy the house or from folks who want to sell "on behalf of the estate". (Our seller is very much alive and also seems to have a different middle initial that the person in Texas.)

Its basically just spam. At first we tried to stop the mail, thinking it was an actual case of mistaken identity, but it quickly became clear they're getting the info from some list and just scattershotting it.
posted by anastasiav at 10:45 AM on May 8, 2024 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Is the house in a trust, so that "Your Dad's Estate" is actually the official owner of the property rather than just your dad?
posted by LionIndex at 11:07 AM on May 8, 2024 [2 favorites]


Best answer: If so, they might just be spam mailing the owner of the property as listed at the assessor under the property tax rolls, which is probably public record.
posted by LionIndex at 11:16 AM on May 8, 2024 [1 favorite]


Do I need to be concerned?

No. It's just some shmuck who went to a "how to get rich buying real estate" seminar and bought some bad data from a data broker.
posted by Candleman at 12:50 PM on May 8, 2024 [4 favorites]


Response by poster: Is the house in a trust, so that "Your Dad's Estate" is actually the official owner of the property rather than just your dad?

If so, they might just be spam mailing the owner of the property as listed at the assessor under the property tax rolls, which is probably public record.

LionIndex It's possible. My dad briefly discussed doing something like this years ago. My brother and I are going to have a call with him this weekend.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 8:57 AM on May 9, 2024


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