Over the past week I have been subject to a potential scam regarding my property in Spain. I have it listed with a couple of online free listing sites and have my own website with photos and details. I received, to summarise, several e-mails from a Mr. Alex Henri (in French) saying he wished to purchase the property for his two children, who no longer wished to go backto boarding school. He wanted the bank details of my solicitor (he said Notario) so he could deposit 20% of the purchase price. He attached files purporting to be photo-copies of his psssport (Resident of Cote d'Ivoire = Ivory Coast) and his Marriage Certificate. It was pretty obvious the passport was forged as his details were clear and sharp whereas the rest was a muchy mess. My soliciotr and I discussed this and although he wanted either me or her to call him (he gave what he said was a private telephone number) when asked to call my solicitor (who speaks only Spanish and I speak only a little Spanish but we get on OK) as she speaks some French too, he simply replied again saying it was necessary for her to call him to discuss the arrangements. In the end, I decided to just e-mail him to say I was selling to a local resident. I am mentioning this in case it can help others. I would like to send the file attachments mentioned to someone in authority in his region as there is the passport copy with, presumably, his photo and that private telephone number. Anyone any ideas on this please?[/img]
In the end, I decided to just e-mail him to say I was selling to a local resident.
That was exactly the right thing to do. This person should just move on and leave you alone.
Sadly, there won't be much the authorities can do with the passport or phone number. As you surmised, the passport has been faked. This person either found a copy of it on the internet and then used a graphics program to doctor it up, or it came from another target of one of his scams and that person's details have been altered.
The phone number is most likely a mobile phone (probably disposable) which can't be traced back to the scammer.