Real Estate Discussion Board Networking Case Study - Lucius Foster "aka" Lufos

Really don't remember much about the sixties, except serving my country in the Marine Corps. I know, I know, the old saying if you remember the nineteen sixties you weren't there, but the Corps is something a person has a tendency not to forget. Maybe the rest of the sixties is a little vague, however. Really don't remember much about the sixties, except serving my country in the Marine Corps. I know, I know, the old saying if you remember the nineteen sixties you weren't there, but the Corps is something a person has a tendency not to forget. Maybe the rest is a little vague, however.



This is to let you know I am not some new guy giving advice to those that are just starting out. Old sure, but my cell phone is a Droid Bionic, enjoy my Motorola Zoom and my computer has the latest i7 technology. I do stay up with our ever changing technology and really enjoy all my electronic toys.



Been involved in the creative real estate industry for many, many years, as a real estate investor, teacher, course writer and last but not least a Moderator on a few real estate boards for the past 10 years.



So now we move along to today's happenings on the web. Networking's albeit all the social networking sites, or specifically the real estate discussion boards, which I have posted on for years. Not always popular with those who I called out for board hustling or other infractions of the rules, but as the saying goes someone has to do it.



I will drop back a few years to 2004, when up popped a poster by the name of Lufos, actual name Lucius Forster, the father of Jody Foster the actress. Suave, funny and made great posts to the general population of the discussion board I was on. He was developing a following in great numbers on the board.



Then came the post that I believed he was up to more than trying to help fellow posters with his quick wit and snappy posts.



His post was about the end all of what a person should get into as far as investing, turning Cargo Containers into homes. Here is excerpt from one of his posts:



“All of the following areas are still unselected the requirement at this time is that you live within the area.



San Diego, Galveston Texas, Florida, Georgia, New Jersey, Other areas of the country are also available but it is suggested that if you are interested you research the need for low cost housing within the area of your choice.



It is our plan to erect 30 of these dwelling which will produce to us a profit input of about $1,600,000. With those funds we will proceed to the National Expansion and from that The International Expansion.”



When looking at the post in my eyes it was blatant advertising, so because of his popularity rather than delete it, I reported it to the owner of the site saying it is an ad and needs to go, because it also reeks of being a “scam”. I was told that “he was a great poster and had a following and the post would stay”. I Posted in the Moderators forum and had a few other Moderators tell me basically, I did not know what I was talking about.



In a few months I started receiving private messages from members of the forum who had sent Lufos money for this great housing project; however nothing promised to them was delivered. They were asking me for help, probably because I had taken Lufos to task in several of his posts, basically saying this program of his had a fishy odor coming from it.



I did help the posters who asked for help get a return of their money by going directly to Lufos and explaining what could happen should he not return their money. It had to do with the law of the land, this should be explanation enough.



After my requests to Lufos for the return of these posters money he disappeared from the board and nothing more was heard from him until recently.



“Earlier this week, Lucius Fisher Foster, the estranged father of actress Jodie Foster, was convicted on 21 counts of grand theft after bilking elderly investors out of more than $150,000 in a home building scheme.



Mr. Foster, 89, faces 25 years behind bars for his crimes.



According to a report by the Washington Post , Lucius scammed 21 elderly and low-income California residents into putting $5,000 down payments on modular homes made from Chinese shipping containers. However, the homes were never built.


'Not one of these homes has ever been built in the city of Los Angeles,' Deputy City Attorney Don Cocek told the jury, according to the ContraCosta Times. “It’s all a big scam.”



In response to the allegations, Foster, who acted as his own attorney, insisted he was offering a creative solution to the affordable housing crisis when he promised to build low-cost modular homes out of cargo containers.



Fox News Reports that following his verdict, Lucius asked to be sentenced as soon as possible so he could get out and build houses to repay his victims the $200,000 he stole.



“I don’t think you get it,” judge Gregory Dohi replied. “You can never do this kind of work again.”



Foster’s sentencing, originally scheduled to take place on Thursday (Dec. 8, 2011), was pushed back a day after a transportation issue at the jail where he is being held caused him to miss the the bus to the court house.”



There are many more stories (caught one poster pulling a real estate Ponzi scheme, they also are doing time) of posters who have been caught looking for the easy money by doing a “walletectomy” on discussion board members or for that fact anywhere networking is happening.



How do we protect ourselves from this happening to us in the wonderful world of networking?



If it looks to good to be true, it probably is not true.



Fortunately on this site you have Moderators that try their best to look out for the board scammers and hustlers, not that we catch them all, but we are here for you if you need help.



John $Cash$ Locke