A new scam hitting home sellers around the world is even making realtors nervous

PHOENIX - There’s a new scam on the rise and it’s got realtors nervous.

It’s a scam that can affect a house you’re selling or even the value of houses in your neighborhood.

Realtor Lindsey Vaughn has more than a dozen homes listed for sale and recently she was contacted by e-mail from an out-of-town buyer looking for a home valued around half a million dollars.

“He said, 'I am in urgent need of a four bedroom home. I don't have any children, and I need it to be between $400,000 and $600,000, and my plane lands in 16 weeks, and I just need a home,” says Vaughn.

She says the buyer quickly selected a home and agreed to pay the listing price in cash.

It is not uncommon to get inquiries about a house sight unseen, so Vaughn sent a contract to the buyer, and that's when things started to seem strange.

Vaughn says, “I sent him all the information and all the contracts, and within about 20 minutes I had it back, so I knew he did not read it.”

Vaughn says the buyer also wanted to send her a check for the earnest money.

Sounds like an easy deal but a little too good to be true.

So Vaughn started researching her buyer and found realtors around the world who had dealt with the same man.

"I called a realtor in Honolulu, and he told me all of this was bad news that they were sending fake cashier's checks,” Vaughn says.

The fake checks could have done real damage to Vaughn's bank account.

“Once you put it into your account, then they would say, 'oh that bounced,' send it back to me, and now all of your bank account information is on the back of their check,” says Vaughn.

This is definitely an easy scam to fall for because it’s such a relief to know that you’re selling your home so fast and getting cash up front. Scammers are good at playing on your vulnerability so don’t let these too good to be true offers fool you.