The transaction was a sale where the buyer, a Limited Liability Company (LLC), assigned their rights and interest in the purchase agreement to an individual we will call "Willie Waite." The assignment agreement required Waite to pay an assignment fee of $10,000 to the LLC. The buyer was paying cash for the property.

The closer went on vacation so her colleague, Nga Tran, agreed to take over the file while she was out. Neither the buyer nor the seller were available to come in for the closing. Nga prepared the closing documents. She overnighted the documents to the seller and emailed them to the buyer.

Nga wanted to talk to Waite to review the documents with him and be sure he understood he had to wire in his closing funds. She wanted to be sure she verbally verified the wire instructions with him in order to confirm he wired the funds to the correct place.

Nga searched the file and discovered the only contact information she had for the buyer was an email address. She sent the Master Closing Statement and wiring instructions to the buyer via an encrypted email. In a separate, unencrypted email she explained to Waite the password needed to open the encrypted email was the zip code of the property he was purchasing. The buyer responded asking what the zip code was.

Nga sent the closing documents via DocuSign^®. She also requested a copy of the buyer's photo identification, confirmation he sent the wire and urged him to call her. The buyer electronically signed the documents, but did not send the other two items; and he did not call. Nga replied asking Waite to send her his mailing address and phone number.

Waite replied with his address — minus the zip code — and this statement, "My doctor asked me to swift off my phone number because of my health condition." Nga searched the buyer's address on USPS.com. The website search results read, "The address you provided is not recognized by the U.S. Postal Service as an address we serve. Mail sent to this address may be returned." Nga decided she needed a second opinion and contacted her legal counsel, Gerri Lacey.

Gerri carefully reviewed the documents. She traced the IP address in the document summary, which revealed the documents were eSigned in Ghana. She also searched the public records in the county where the buyer stated he lived and found nothing.

Nga reached out to the assignor for more information about the buyer. She discovered no one — not the assignor, selling agent, seller nor listing agent — had communicated with the assignee other than by email.

The assignor claimed the buyer was a member of the LLC which assigned the purchase agreement to Waite. Nga had a copy of the LLC agreement and Waite was not named as a member at all. The gentleman representing the LLC claimed they assist members by purchasing properties and then managing them for their members.

The assignor stated sometimes they take title in the name of the LLC but then immediately transfer title to the member and the LLC continues to manage the property for the member. Yet they have never met nor talked to Waite? Something was just not adding up.

Nga was very uncomfortable proceeding with the closing. She identified three concerns:

• The buyer provided an incomplete and possibly fake mailing address.
• The buyer refused to talk to her on the phone.
• The language in the emails was peculiar. One email read, "I prefer email to email conversation because of my health condition. I'm suffering from Stroke attack which affected major parts of my body, I'm experience difficulty in speaking."

A few days before the closing date, Waite began stalling the closing. Nga received two emails from him. The first one read, "I need some time to transfer ownership of the funds to my name."

Nga asked him to explain and he replied, "My investment funds are deposited under my former Wife's name since the first stroke attacked me. I have to transfer the Ownership of the funds in my name, get the necessary back up documents that will allow me to wire the investment funds successfully to you. Since my former Wife is dead, I can't send the funds out from her account without changing the Ownership of the funds legally to my name and getting the important documents."

It was at this point Fidelity's District Manager advised Nga to resign from the transaction.

Nga was relieved. She notified the buyer, seller and their real estate agents she was resigning. The representative of the LLC finally admitted this was the first time they worked with this buyer and he too was concerned about the fact he only communicated by email.

This story is puzzling on so many levels. What was the scam? We will probably never know, but we do know we rely on closers to trust their "escrow gut." If something does not feel right, ask for help. Nga did just that. In the end she was not even sure she was communicating with a real person.

For her keen insight, and for saving herself and the Company the time and expense of working on a transaction that ultimately would never close she is being rewarded $1,500. When Nga learned of her reward, she decided to split it with her colleague Gerri Lacey, saying, "It was truly a team effort."