Bogus Earnest Money Cheque Scam Alert

The Missouri Real Estate Commission issued an alert informing real estate licensees of a scam involving fraudulent earnest money checks that has been reported in other states and Canadian jurisdictions. The alert references resources from the Real Estate Council of Ontario and Realtown.com for additional information on the fraudulent scheme.

Real estate professionals conducting transactions involving earnest money should verify the authenticity of all checks and be cautious of transactions where funds exceed the required amount with requests to return excess amounts. Licensees should review the linked resources to understand the fraud pattern and warning signs.