anyone heard of investment property group they say they have a buyer for my house

iB1

Another person on another site fell for the IPG scammers as well. They probably made quite a mint

http://www.lovemoney.com/blog/scammagnet/exclusive-one-readers-4760-property-scam-10326.aspx?source=1000555

inforeq

This is going more far reaching than anyone ever thought.

Purchaser

In regards to the IPG threads, i have been a victim and conned out of !£1190, the trust worthy person i am i thought this was completely legit due to the professionalism of the contacts on the phone, professional letters, reciepts and contracts issuef.

Prior to sending the money i checked google and companies house and when i saw no complaints and a legally registered company I just felt relieved as a single young lady to have just sold my house in the current climate.

The prospective buyer came to my home on Friday 21st May and had a thorough look around, apparently he was Spanish and went by the name of Stavros Capello, he looked very serious and was on the phone most of the time he was looking round. I now realise he was nervous as hell and seeing a young innocent lady he thought, this is the perfect victim to take advantage off.
Not only does it sicken me that these criminals who may now have been polish or portuguese has been inside my home but that his posh speaking cronnies on the phones were also scam filthy criminals just after a quick buck.
I believe in God and it scares me to think what there recompense will be for the hurt, upset, shock and damage this incident has caused me. I feel stupid and naive, to twist the knife in even more the police and trading standards just dont want to know. I have all the bank details for the Letting Agent, they bank with Lloyds but the police are still not willing to investigate the fraud of £1190.


I've just been made to feel that its the law abiding, hard working citizen is the criminal in all this. The reason i am posting this is that i dont want to see anyone go through the stress i have had to. I posted my property for sale on houseweb.com and this is where i was approached by IPG, I have notified the Director who has in turn notified his clients that this in fact a SCAM.

My biggest regret is not following up when my solicitor said that he didnt need to see the contract for payment, I think he feels guilty so has not charged me for the time and effort he spent chasing this up. Also the police have reviewed the contract and have stated it is in fact a legit company.My other concern is that the buyers solicitors seem to be saying that they are representing the client on at least 2 phone calls and then depending on who answered they know nothing about this client so it makes me wonder if people are working in collobaration on this. The solicitor details given were Breeze & Wyles Solicitors, Bishop Stortford, Herfordshire

IPG address is :
Property Investment Group ( change in name)
Kemp House
152-160 City Rd
London
EC1 2NV

I'm considering contacting Lloyds to find out who owns the bank account I paid the amount into but not sure what my rights are.
I have put my house sale on hold for now until i can gain the confidence to trust again.

Please note the incident above occured between May 21st - Sept 20th 2010 so please watch out.

poppy10_2

Purchaser wrote: »

My biggest regret is not following up when my solicitor said that he didnt need to see the contract for payment, I think he feels guilty so has not charged me for the time and effort he spent chasing this up.

Screw that, he should be worried about more than guilty feelings, sounds like he has been professionally negligent and could be financially liable.

maninthestreet

Purchaser - was your solicitor 'recommended' by IPG, or one you chose yourself?

80schild

Its sounds a bit dodgy to me. There are home buying firms who won't charge fees and will in fact pay your legal fees for selling. We are selling our own house to an investor for 75% of the value-the estate agents sorted it out for us and got us a good deal the house we are buying so we did not mind losing the value of the house.
Could you see if your estate agents can do this?

GDB2222

poppy10 wrote: »

Screw that, he should be worried about more than guilty feelings, sounds like he has been professionally negligent and could be financially liable.

Why? Did she ask him for advice about IPG, or did she do the deal with them and then inform the solicitor? I suspect it was a done deal by the time he was instructed. After all, who instructs a solicitor until they have a seller lined up?

Oldcynic

Purchaser wrote: »

I'm considering contacting Lloyds to find out who owns the bank account I paid the amount into but not sure what my rights are.

According to earlier posts the account has been cleared, and the names and addresses that Lloyds had will undoubtedly be false. But anyone who has tried to open a bank account recently must wonder how this can be, given all the identity checks that are carried out. Were Lloyds negligent in this respect?

More significantly, we informed Lloyds Fraud Unit when this scam was still in its infancy (mid June) that IPG was a criminal enterprise, and gave them full details of the scam. They were extremely interested and said they would keep a close eye on it. What happened? IPG continued to receive an inflow of £1199 payments and then the account was cleared. So much for the Fraud Unit - about as much use as the police, whose deplorable attitude has been condemned all round in this thread.

I think you and all the others who were conned have grounds for a claim against Lloyds. They knew the operation was a scam, but still let it happen.

Oldcynic

raybonda wrote: »

I WOULD BE PLEASED TO BEE PART OF AND PAY A PERCERTAGE OF THE COST TO TAKE LLOYDS TO COURT....IF SOMEONE (CYNIC) WERE ABLE TO ORGNISE IT.
RAY

I'm not going to organise it, as we didn't lose anything (smelt a rat and backed away) but if anyone else wants to take this on I'm happy to provide details of what was said to Lloyds and when.

GDB2222

If you are going after Lloyds, just make a complaint to them. If, as likely, you are not satisfied with the response, go to the Financial Ombudsman. No cost. No risk. It's still better to make a joint complaint, rather than all do it separately.