A Member received a voice mail with an (808) Hawaii area code from “Donald” who said he was calling from Maui, but resides in Beverly Hills, was originally from Toronto, and was calling on behalf of his friend “David” who resides in Vancouver and is looking to purchase a horse farm and home in Toronto for $10 to $15 million.
After playing phone tag with him, including a rude message that he left with reception, they were able to connect. They chatted for a while and the Member feels he was very passive aggressive with her. He name dropped local Toronto people, and said he knew a lot of details about Toronto and other neighbourhoods, but has not lived here in years. He also mentioned that she was referred to him by the president of a Toronto brokerage and others.
Donald asked for her email in order to show her photos of his homes so she could use them as an inspiration to find a property for David. She was never to deal with David, only him, and it was to be done by October 1 and would be an all cash deal.
The Member told him that in order to proceed, she would need to see photo ID and fill out a FINTRAC form. Donald became very heated, asked her to repeat what she said and then proceeded to swear and tell her that she was rude and unprofessional. She repeated that she required his ID and then told him that she was hanging up and would block his number.
She suspected real estate fraud so she researched him and came across many salespeople and brokerages that have warned other female reps about him. Several have restraining orders on him, and there is a detective that has a file on him as he has threatened and harassed other female reps, including contacting their family members. The Member noted that she spoke to a manager in California that warned her not to further engage him, he cautions all new hires about “Donald,” and this is the first time he has heard of him “venturing” up to Canada. His real name is Jim C., but he goes by many aliases.
Brampton Real Estate Board 