FBI warns property owners to be on alert for scams
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 ก.พ. 2025
- Some scammers are faking documents, pretending to be the owner of a property and selling it, forcing the real owners to head to court to reclaim their property.
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If it’s a scam and not legal, how is that “you no longer own the home”?!? It doesn’t make sense.
Exactly, it doesn’t make sense, if beginning of a transaction is illegal fundamentally how is the result of it in anyway legal
The attorney general(s) need to protect the people!!
Right...WTF
It makes sense to me that those responsible for selling a home should be accountable: the realtors who are licensed (and bonded?), who work with the title companies, the escrow companies to know all that can happen. They not only should lose their licenses, but should be held financially accountable.
It happens because the system is not modernize and easily will accept forged deeds as legit documents no matter what, which every time the actual owners have to go to court to prove their property is theirs.
amazing that theres is still no laws to protect home owners in this aspect
WTF is wrong in USA, this is literally impossible in europe, because it would be blocked in million mini steps before that and considered illegal
This would have not happened if the records where private as it used to be. Putting everything online was the invitation to the criminals. No Brainerd that this is done on person. Title should not be on line.
remember government gave away your ssn information and now are like deal with it yourself
Seriously
There are laws, criminals break laws.
Three things will stop this cold:
1. Listing agents should be required to meet the seller in person at the property before listing the property on the MLS.
2. E-signing documents should not be a thing on the big documents, such as right-to-sell and anything at closing.
2. Title companies should require closings in person and two forms of ID. If you can't be bothered to show up to a 20 minute closing, or at least appoint an attorney in your stead, you don't need your property sold.
THEY NEED TO GET FINGERPRINTS AND EYE SCANS, SO THAT EVEN IF ALL DOCUMENTS ARE FALSE, THEY CAN USE THE FINGERPRINTS TO IDENTIFY WHO THE PERSON ACTUALLY IS IN ORDER TO PROSECUTE THE SCAMMERS.
Yes and no. We’ve had to both buy and sell a house while in another state due to work reasons with no way to go to the house for the buy/sale. There needs to still be a way to do that, but I do agree the E signatures are used way too much.
The so called "Alert" system is a joke, by time you get an alert from your Deeds office it's too late. The recording of the new deed has already occurred. Every state should require seller verification processes before any property can be sold or transferred.
My sister had someone try to sell her property. They had contacted a realtor via email and he had an electronic contract to sell it without ever asking them for ID. This was a mistake on his part and he should have been reprimanded by his broker. His lack of due diligence could have cost my sister her property. However, when he put his sign in the yard, my cousin who lived next door, called asking if my sister was selling her property. My sister contacted that realtor and provided proof that she was the real owner, and he realized he had a fake electronic contract. The attempted fraud was reported, but not much else could be done. My husband then signed us up for fraud alert on our own property, but I told him it doesn't help. All it will do is let you know someone just stole your property.
There are too many people out there on-line pretending to be someone else. Perhaps we need to go back to in-person transactions and paper documents. Every owner has a notarized paper copy of the deed to their property. If they want to sell the property, they should be forced to produce this deed, along with a picture ID (and possibly another form of ID). It's sad to realize how criminal many people in the world have become.
Because this has become so prevalent, doesn’t it shine a light on an obvious flaw in the real estate sale process? Rather than telling property owners to be more vigilant, just fix the flaw in the sales process.
Always putting the onus on the consumer
exactly. vigilance cant stop this.
Make this makes sense? The whole damn thing doesn't make sense. Why do I need to fight for something that is mine, and the criminal does not? This just pisses me off.
Right. System is ass backwards!
Why would the criminal fight?
Really this should not be a problem!!
If you’re the legal owner and haven’t signed off on it, no sale happened.
Until your government gave me all your information free of charge and is now public information
Wrong......a sale did happen
@@TheBierman19An illegal sale and if I was the owner I would sue all involved.
@@cassandrajackson8560 yup...everyone...the listing agent, the selling agent, the 'title' company.....for MILLIONS!!!
I agree, that is the definition of theft, the realtor, attorney involved and title company should be held responsible.
It is not legally owned if it was illegally sold. That makes no sense.
Just watched this and thought the same thing.
That is exactly what i said!!!
I've seen cases like this before and the problem is, once the deed has been transferred, the broker doesn't legally have the authority to change it back. I think it's a case of the law not catching up to criminals.
In the end, this can be solved with due diligence. There's an easy way to make sure this never happens.
* the seller MUST BE PRESENT on the final day of sale so that everyone can see him/her. I don't care if you're out of the country.
* the broker must independently contact the seller to verify they actually want to sell the property
* all documents must be checked for authenticity.
Something simple as running the driver's license would be enough to catch these thieves, because if I find out John Smith is a 6'1" black man, yet there's a 5'8" Indian man in front of me, then I know something is up.
This is a tough crime though, because technically, the only person you can go after is the thief. Like who is the person that should suffer? You the rightful owner or the buyer? If the scammer took the money and spent it on hookers and blow, someone's going to suffer. Who cares that the scammer lands up in jail. Financially, someone is going to suffer.
These are all very valid questions and points so far! We really need to get some more representatives on our side because once more scammers get the details, they'll surely give it a try. 😰
Edit: small spelling correcting
GMA uses sensational editing to mislead people. The title company is on the hook if this actually went through.
Start suing the realtor and title company and they will start doing their job, in some cases they have been behind these scams as well.
Broker will do ANYTHING to get a commission including turning a blind eye.
Exactly what I was thinking, they have every incentive to make the sale
Most Lawyers are lazy wrt real estate sales. Best bet is to get the title insurance company to insure YOU as well as any bank holding a note. It is extra money, but keeps them in YOUR loop ( not just the mortgagor) if there are problems . My son did that and the Title Company had to step in and resolve a parking space issue . Real Estate agents are in it for one thing and one thing only- a commission . Especially true when times get rough for them.
There’s always to option of filing a formal complaint against the broker to his/her professional licensing board.
Brokers have turned into predators and are preying on their “customers”.
The only compass that guides them is the $$ sign and they will violate their customer’s trust in every way to get their hands on a check.
I’m about to file complaints on my broker as well as my seller’s broker. They walked away smiling like alley cats when my broker “encouraged” and did everything he could to facilitate my buying a bad deal and they both walked away with huge commission checks.
I’m timing my complaints to land on their desks around the holidays so it can affect the Christmas, New years, and the rest of 2025 like this purchase last year affected me.
remember government gave away your ssn information and now are like deal with it yourself
Having to go to court after someone falsely sold your property is bogus. It's still YOUR property! That's just the courts trying to make money.
Yes & it’s a huge mess to deal with. Saw a lady on the news. Took her two years of fighting in court to get her title back.
The realtor and the title companies should be the ones charged for not doing their jobs!!!
How in the heck do they get away with no consequence putting a property for sale without doing their verification with various forms of identification and confirming the name of a deed !!
Also it is freaking stupid the owner has to now waste money “battling a case to get back the property”??!!!
As soon as it is demonstrated the scammer is not the owner (put that person in jail), then the real estate company should pay back the buyers money and the actual owner should not have to spend a penny as there should not exist a case in the first place. It is just ridiculous!!!
So real estate agents are not going into the tax records to see who currently owns the property for verification? Just listing property not even knowing for sure if it’s the owner.
How can they sell your property because that’s illegal? That’s your land.
When I bought my house I had to show up to the title company and present funds and ID. WTH!
Vietnam?
How can somebody from another nation randomly make a phone call and sell an American property? Without showing up on U.S. soil? The realtor and/or real estate agency needs to be held liable.
THIS JUST SHOWS HOW FLAWED THE WHOLE SYSTEM IS
Nuts. So everybody knows the problem and nobody is improving or fixing it, but instead telling owners to be vigilant. Why kind of crappy civil service that?
People move out of the country all the time. Or it could be inherited property. There are lots of loopholes for scammers to exploit.
New laws need to be in place
The old ones enforced and actually personally signed docs not electronic with proof of who signed and record and keep off internet. This is beginning to happen in car sales
Congress is on it as we speak.
The seller isn't present and the illegal transaction should be void by LAW.
MAKES ZERO SENSE!!!
that real estate agent should be in jail, she didn't do any work to verify they were real
exactly! Otherwise, a realtor could team up with scammers to "sell" all the properties in their area left and right and make money on the buyer's commissions.
Realtors are guilty here. Doing business over the phone should be illegal.
Even on email too
It became so normal with Covid. People bought houses over the phone all the time property was moving so fast.
Why is the real property owner out anything? It should be the real estate company and financial institution for not doing do diligence in the process.
Totally. Makes you feel like signatures mean NOTHING.
Realtors are incredibly gullible at every single step. Never take them at their word and always question every single bid they present.
they are not gullible, they are GREEDY
To me … the real property owner should get to keep his property. the person that paid the 70k should be the one to take the hit and looking to get their money back.
Or the real estate agent. They’re supposed to make sure everything is legit
💯
Stupid lame that it is ON THE ACTUAL OWNER to protect themselves against these scams. Like what is the Title Insurnce Company doing in all of this? Plus if a signed contract was based on fraud, why is it still legally enforceable?
Title companys are there to make money too, they don't care if its verified...
Your tax dollars sleeping on the job as usual
@@JoanCouncil you act like corporations help anyone
@@JoanCouncil investor money is proven to fund black market trades
@@168tsai8 Re title insurance - when a mortgagor (bank, lending co. Etc) requires title insurance , they ,the mortgagor, are the protected party , not you , unless you request and pay to be an additional insured party. If the mortgagor is paid off the title insurance essentially expires if they were the only named insured. The electronic signatures and wired payments all have to be carefully monitored and validated and still there can be fraud.
How do you set up alerts if someone looks up your property address online? Also, ALL of my data is on the dark web. Every single bit of it, medical, social security, date of birth, addresses, emails, phone numbers, medical identity cards, drivers license, employer, you name it. All in data breaches, none of it is my fault. So now what? I can’t do anything other than freeze my credit? I mean someone can commit a crime and give my info. Some one can sell my house, claim my deed, file my taxes, file social security, buy anything they want. There’s no hope. It was simpler when nothing was online and everything was on paper only.
I went to look it up. It says, "Use Google Alerts and enter your full address as the search term; this will send you an email notification whenever new web content appears containing that address." Then it goes into the break down of setting it up. But it also points out, "Privacy concerns:
Be aware that setting up an alert for your address can potentially expose your personal information to anyone who knows how to use Google Alerts." 😑
@@Diamond7192 thank you!
The legal homeowner shouldn’t be out anything. The realtors and financial institutions were scammed.
I don’t understand how this is still happening.
This is baffling to me. Many years ago my dad bought a car from someone who had papers. He transferred the title at the DMV and a month later found out the guy didn't actually own the car and had stolen the records. My dad lost his money and the car. Why would it be any different for property? It should revert to the owner and the buyers & realtors need to go after the theft.
Realtors get blinded by the idea of commission. Its not right that homeowners needs to go to court to get back property.
The government needs to do something about this. This is in so many ways
FBI warning property owners instead of warning tittle companies and penalizing them for doing sloppy work 2:35 “nobody suspected anything” yet she’s selling property ONLINE 🙄🙄🙄
How do you set up alerts for when someone searches your address online ?
Google alerts. It's a good idea to set up alerts on your name also in case somebody ever tries to impersonate you. I have all kinds of alert set up also on people just in case they show up in the obituaries or anything. Now I'm going to add my address after learning this
@@involuntarilycelebrate Is there a guide on how to do this ? please share
The crazy part is the real estate agent did all the transaction without seeing the person.
I am sure laws will change fast once they get hold of a law makers house
This been going on for year's nobody's done anything yet.
How the fk does someone who doesn't own the property is able to sell the property and the owner is out of luck, that don't make any fking sense.
So basically, I was robbed and now I have to sue the thief to get my money back.
That’s how this country started
Lol
How this is a scam. We take America by force
EXACTLY!!!! Stolen land
I believe the title company always require the presence of the parties involved. I remember 30 years ago when mom purchased her home. She was on vacation abroad and she had to come back to sign all the papers in person. Meanwhile the title company was clearing the title of the home and making sure every thing was ready for mom to make a cashier check for her down payment. I can't believe you can purchase a home online like this.
How is it not suspicious that the person selling the house, was in Vietnam? tf??
Realtor happily cashing the check for her cut anyway, not their problem right?
Yup, that’s the name of the game fore realtors. They only care about the check.
So what happens to the commission the real estate agent makes after they find out it’s a scam ?
States should do more to protect homeowners! This shouldn't be this easy! Same with realtors, it's easy enough to verify with the homeowners, contact them is the first thing they should do!
County recorders are adding automatic email systems that alert owners to any changes in their property's title.
@@BenKlassen1 by that time it's too late
@@carmichaelmoritz8662 You can at least stop them from building on your property. The title company and buyer are required to make sure that the sale is legitimate.
The problem is if the thief shows enough convincing ID that they're you, then that allows them to bypass all of the checks and balances. The key is due diligence on broker's part.
* no sales can happen without the seller actually being there
* you want to sell the property on 123 Main Street? Great, I'm going to contact you on my own, independent of the email correspondence we've been having. Interesting, I looked up the contact info of 123 Main Street and he says he's not trying to sell the house. Who are you?
* did you actually run the driver's license number to confirm that the person sitting in front of you is who's described on the driver's license?
* did you call the notary to confirm they signed the paper work?
Basically, if this happened to me, I'd be suing the broker, because they didn't do their homework.
I used to be a notary. There should be a number you can call to verify the notaries number. They might have falsified the notary stamp.
What on earth is the purpose of the attorney if this can happen?
What is happening in America? Unreal.
WTF 😤 💔 😱
This is outrageous.
You should protect homeowners right from scammers.
Shame on you 😕
Forgive the ignorance, but shouldn't the real estate agents verify who truly owns the property, by vetting any listing they may receive? This looks like the onus is on the real estate company.
If someone sold my property and I didn’t sell it, then I am still the owner of the property. The person who sold it is going to jail and the person who bought it, loses the money they paid for it. Buyers should do their research before they spend their money.
Why is the owner, who is no part of the scam, being held responsible & who is at a loss? Isn't it actually the Real Estate agent and the Attorneys, who stand to financially benefit by the sale, who are the ones being scammed and therefore responsible for all costs to restore the original ownership? If Real Estate Companies and Real Estate Attorneys were required to get documents on who is paying the taxes on these properties, they would know immediately who the true owner is. How hard is that??
How do you set up alerts on others searching your home information?
Legislators need to get to work on protecting property owners.
You would think that since this has been talked about so much, the lawmakers would prioritize securing American homes from this kind of theft.
Especially in an election year. No, wait ... what were the incumbents doing all this time? Why hasn't this been fixed already?
HOW IS THIS ALLOWED TO CONTINUE?! Everyone involved (except the oringinal owners) needs to go to jail🤬
The real property owner should not be on the hook for this. It should be the real estate agent and anybody else involved in the part of selling it not the real owner. That’s ridiculous.
This is ridiculous!!! How can that be legal?!?!
This is an example of where the federal government needs to put in legislature. You can see how this was pushed back to local government. We have to rely on the for profit title company, notary and agent???!!!We can lose our property??? !!! Really? What if it was in probate, tax lien, or asset protection for the elderly?
How does the property owner have no rights to the property they own? So, I really can sell the Brooklyn Bridge, my neighbors home, walk down any street and have my pick?? The burden should be on the scam transaction! Not the property owner that was scammed! The realtor and deed agencies should also be liable. I bet they helped write these laws for their own benefit.
Is there a way to lock your home's deed???????????????????????
Title lock. Not all states have this. Ga does not have it.
@@elizabethmadron1336how do you get that done ?
@MichelleVoegtline I have no clue because Ga does not have it. I live in GA.
If you have a mortgage, doesn't the bank protect you? Your home is collateral. Rest assured that a bank is not going to risk losing out.
Not all homes have a note
Why would you be able to sell a property from owner to buyer without a physical presence ? Like seriously !! Show up …. In person …. Show id ….. and verify ! No government agency should allow sales like this without meeting someone in person ! Oh you live in another state ? So what ! Make the drive ! Show up ! You have problems with that - get a lawyer !
Okay but it doesn’t make sense that any property can be sold without the owner’s approval, with fake documents shouldn’t even be possible in a country like this. Even in countries people call third world the person buying a property from a scammer is the one that loose. Changing deeds without owners being present shouldn’t be allowed
The counties, realtors, and title companies should ve held accountable for stealing property.
They know the fraudster is not the owner.
If it doesn’t belong to them it’s not theirs period. It’s not a sale.
If such documents can be forged and faked then there needs to be a better system for authenticity of ownership.
The scam is insane
The title company should be sued and take the title back instead. Otherwise, why do we even pay for them? For what?
This is sickening.
One reason not to pay off your mortgage.
It good that the media is warning homeowners. But it's also how crooks are learning about it. Which is probably why it's gone up 500%
The title company and realtor (who have literally zero accountability) need to be held accountable.
The problems is doing business online. The real estate agents and/or the title company should do their due diligence.
Common people. So easily identifiable as a scam.
This is absolutely absurd!!!
You buy a property, and someone sells it illegally and the government says it’s perfectly legal.
You loose your property. It’s a scam and there is nothing you can do about it????
Good god
God not god
Agency needs to be set up to verify identity of seller and ownership. If verified then they should be liable if fraudulent sale.
2:58....... no the due diligence of the legal owner is not their burden. the county records clerk is at fault for not verifying the sale with the county seat which has maps of every parcel of land on photographic file with the names of every land owner on every plot in the county on file and is rechecked every american census
The blame for this issue falls entirely on the incompetent realtors and the poorly handled work by the title company. It's their responsibility-especially the title company's-to verify the owner's identity and conduct a thorough background check on the property.
We need to hold the real estate agents, and the title companies responsible. They are negligent
That what a title search is for.
My office said they don’t do alerts. So everyone needs to contact who ever is in office
What's the point of title insurance?
I always tell them I would be happy to do what they ask but they have to come and get the money.
Absolutely mind boggling 😲!!!
Don’t understand how is this possible to do. It should simple not be feasible. If a property has an oficial register owner, the moment someone tries to do anything, everyone involved should be questioned and the fake “seller” immediately in jail.
The true owner should not have to do anything r spend a penny.
When its come to money greed kicks in not even knowing it was a scam even realtor doesn't think something is wrong. Most scammer will used their love one is ill or no longer is alive
Who was the greedy and gullable realtor who thought Graceland could ever be for sale?
And the stupid con artist who thought to target one of our nation's most iconic homes?
Sounds like the realtors and the buyers got scammed -not the home owner. The home owner would be considered theft or an attempted theft of deed. This happened bc the realtor and buyer did not do their due diligence. No one can buy/sell a car with a fake title and show up to the actual owner like well this car is mine bc I paid some random person for this car and drive off. They would get charges with possession of stolen goods or told well, you are out the money you paid bc you gave it to a random person WHO DOES NOT OWN SAID PROPERTY. Besides, unless it's cash in a briefcase, all money transfers are with an institution and they should be able to stop/reverse it bc of fraud. I mean who waits until all transfers are cleared to see if the home is empty or not?
Requiring more ID from the seller like tax records from the county would put a stop to all of this. This person has not been paying taxes on the land. They should also have to provide a utility bill. In person at the residence.
Stop doing transactions online smh.
Seems to me this is on the county clerks. And because they are government employees they are getting a pass. They should be required to only make legal legitimate property transfers and if they screw up they have to resolve it.
This doesn't have to happen. "Must be present" can solve a lot
Well, it’s PAST TIME that we put legislation in place that doesn’t allow these scams to happen so darn easily‼️ Banks and Realtors need to be held accountable for not doing their due diligence instead of just trying to make a fast buck‼️Realtors have a lot of legal and law enforcement websites at their disposal to check the validity, identification and criminal records of those who they do business with..
My wife is a realtor and she caught the same scam a few months ago. Scammers were from New York.
@CarlZealer-bx9dw My sister had a fake contract put on her property in AL. Fortunately, my cousin lived right next door and called my sister when the for sale sign went up. The realtor had accepted a contract via email without any ID.
The elephant in the room - on line dealing and stupidity. Mix these two and you have an open door to (easy)crime
So it all comes down to you didn’t check the documents they gave you, the id, or the notary? I would sue the people that would allow this to go thru
What made that lady think she could sell the Elvis mansion 😅
Well, I sold MJ's Never Land 🤫
Due diligence is on the shoulders of the banks and realtors
In the UK you can put a ‘Restriction’ on your property which gives extra protection against this. You can also sign up to get alerted by the Land Registry if there are any searches hits on your property registration. This is a free service. They send an automatic report every six months but I think immediately if there are enquiries on the title.
When politicians or legislators start to get affected, they will find solutions.
Oh so because it was graceland it was caught and the person is behind bars when this happens to millions of peoples deeds being stolen or switched and supposedly nothing can be done? Maybe the laws need to change where they have to come in person and take pictures and give finger paints. Just calling or over the internet should not be acceptable.
and WHY would the realtor NOT meet with the client in person???? Greed would be the reason. these fn scammer losers need to get a real job & life. and there needs to be severe consquences
If the title company caught wind of the scam why did the owner have to go to court and get his property back? The transaction never should have gone through.
No rights if you lose your home to this, then having to prove it in court is ridiculous. How does a real estate agent not know the land is occupied and is currently owned. What the hell.