Following on .....

I was close to buying house and was told by the agent that the Swedish owners had accepted my offer

Thsi agent wanted me put 100K deposit to secure all ..... Not a problem but ......

On the evening I was discussing the house via messenger with the owners in Sweden who informed me they had never accepted my offer !!!!

Obviously the Thai agent was trying to pull a scam

Should I inform the police to safeguard others ??

Inform them if you like but information about a crime that never happened is unlikely to result in much action in my experience.....

Even if it did happen, you would be lucky if they tracked down the person and got your money back....

I presume you were not going to give the agent cash or transfer it to their personal account, so I dont really see how they would get their hands on it.

I would be more worried that it is a more elaborate scam and you now believing that you can trust the 'owners," deal with the Swedish owners directly via messenger (if they are indeed the owners), and end up out of pocket for the whole amount rather than just 100K.

There are plenty of Scandanavian scammers in and around Pattaya/Jomtien etc, so tread carefully.

Good advice Thks guys

Buying a second hand house can present problems. Who has the house book? If the house is paid off then the current owner should have. If money is owed on the house the creditor, usually the bank, has the house book. Who's name is in the house book? As you want to know the legal owner. I would want to see the house book or a certified copy of it. If you are dealing with an agent? Is it a reputable agent. How long have they been in business. Do they have references. Just a few things you should know.

Myself and friends that have bought either land, houses or condos through agents have always paid a deposit to secure the properties which has normally been 10% and held by the agent when signing contracts until transfer is made at the land office. In the event the owner pulls out or something is untoward with the property the deposit is returned in full., likewise if we had changed our minds for no other reason than changed our mind the deposit is handed to the owner. I personally found the less contact I had with the owner the better, they tried to adjust my accepted offer with a lower price saying I should pay all the tax which they quoted at 25,000, on the day of transfer 190,000 was due, so having an agent as an intermediate saved me a lot of money as they not only worked on behalf of the owner but also myself as their customer. Real estate in Thailand is full of people out to scam everyone, especially owners that don't want to pay commissions, buyers that lowball offers direct to owners after agents have been involved and of course unscrupulous agents, especially those that freelance. I view the situation as same as UK, use a established agent and let them work for you as they will have expererience and know the process step by step

Personally I would never use an agent here. They are all usually scammers. Deal direct with the owner , no middleman. Agents in Thailand are not professional, no training and act like cowboys.

For every scammer agent there are <deleted> owners, and time waster clients.......

There are good professional agents who work hard, and there are good owners and clients.