How Does Property Fraud Work?
Property scams vary greatly in how they are executed, but they all aim to steal money
from unsuspecting individuals who are interested in renting, buying, or leasing a property.
In these types of scams, the fraudsters often pose as property owners, landlords, real
estate agencies, property management companies, or other property-adjacent businesses to
trick their victims into handing over money or sensitive financial and personal information
that they can use to steal from them.
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Key points
• Don’t pay anything upfront to view a property or before you have a written and signed
contract that is approved by a lawyer or an independent expert.
• Don’t share any personal information, such as your social security number or band account
number, with anyone until you’re sure a deal is real.
•Do you own research to verify the authenticity of rental or property sale companies.
•Don’t click on unknown links or attachments in emails and don’t enter sensitive
information into unfamiliar websites or landing pages.
• Don’t give in to high-pressure sales tactics, especially for refinancing your mortgage or
paying for foreclosure relief services.
Common Property Buying Scams
Escrow Wire Fraud
In escrow wire fraud scams, the fraudsters typically gain access to an email account
associated with a real estate sale that’s currently in progress. They usually do this
through some sort of phishing attack targeted at a real estate agent, a lender, a title
agent, or a buyer.
They then contact the buyer at the appropriate point in the sale process
and pose as someone from the title or escrow company, asking the buyer to wire funds to a
bank account. They then disappear with the wired funds.
Loan Flipping Scam
Loan flipping scams involve ill-intentioned lenders convincing homeowners to repeatedly
refinance their mortgage, borrowing more money each time. This results in the property
owners eventually ending up with more loans than they can realistically afford to pay off,
and the malicious lender earns more and more in fees and interest
Credit card Phishing Email
Credit care phishing emails are one of the most common ways scammers initiate contact with
their victims. They craft emails to resemble official emails from banks, credit card
issuers, and other financial institutions to create a false sense of trust. The emails
usually masquerade as notifications about your credit card account that require some type of
action on your part and ask you to visit a link to provide sensitive personal financial
information. Links or attachments in these types of phishing emails may also install malware
on your device to steal data from you without you even knowing about it.
As with credit card phishing websites, credit card phishing emails vary in how realistic
they are. Some are full of errors and weird wording that make it easy to tell that they are
not really from who they say they are, while others are more polished and harder to
determine the authenticity of.
Foreclosure Relief Scam
In foreclosure relief scams, the scammers target people who have homes in foreclosure by
advertising foreclosure relief services or acquiring lists of properties in foreclosure.
They promise to help the victims keep their homes for a fee, but never actually provide the
foreclosure relief they promised.
Commercial Real Estate Scam
Buying or renting a commercial property comes along with the risks of different types of
commercial real estate scams. Scammers may pose as property owners and demand money upfront
to see a property, then never appear to actually meet you in person.
Or, they might show you
a property that’s different from the one you saw online. Other commercial real estate
scammers forge documents in order to obtain sensitive datat from you that they can use to
steal funds or your identity.
Common Rental Property Scams
Fake property listings
Scammers often place fake property listings on rentals sites, or copy existing listings from
them, and use these to trick interested renters into giving them money as a deposit for a
showing.
Of course, they never show up to the property to give you a tour – if the
property
even exists at all
Fake letting Agents and Landlords
Fake letting agents and landlords show potential renters around spoof properties, then ask
them for a deposit or a month’s rent upfront.
They then disappear with all the
money before
the victims realize that the individuals weren’t who they say they were and weren’t
authorized to rent the property or receive payments for it.
Fake letting Agents and Landlords
Fake letting agents and landlords show potential renters around spoof properties, then ask
them for a deposit or a month’s rent upfront.
They then disappear with all the
money before
the victims realize that the individuals weren’t who they say they were and weren’t
authorized to rent the property or receive payments for it.
Fake Overseas Landlords
Scammers sometimes use the excuse that they are “overseas” as a reason to ask interested
renters for holding deposits in order to not rent a property to someone else before the
interested party views it.
The properties usually don’t exist or the listings are
clones of
real listings that are instead operated by fraudsters.
Property Scams Online
Fake property Scam Websites
In more complex property site scams, the con artists will even go to the lengths of setting
up a whole fake website for property listings.
They may even clone the websites of
legitimate listing companies, real estate agencies, property management companies, or rental
agencies.
How to Spot Property Scams
The property itself looks like a scam. Any property you
actually go view should look like it does in the pictures you saw online and match the
listing description.
Lack of proper documentation. Scammers often create bogus
documents designed to steal information from you or trick you into thinking a sale or
rental is legit.
The property “owners” or “landlords” won’t meet you in person.
You can’t verify whether a real estate company is real or not
by looking them up online.
Victim of a Property Scam? To Retrieve Your Money, Start by
contacting us
If you’ve fallen victim to a property scam, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed and defeated. But
don’t worry because we can give you the tools you need to pursue your funds.
Our
Property
Scam Investigation services can help you expose the scam by thoroughly investigating your
case and analyzing documents, communications records, and other evidence to reveal the
fraudulent activities. The Investigation Report and Actbrion Plan we provide, are the tools
you need to retrieve your losses.
How to avoid property scams
Never pay anything upfront before you’ve seen a property and are sure the deal is legit.
No one should ever charge you anything in order to show you a property you’re interested
in renting or buying.
Have a lawyer or a real estate agent review all contracts for
sales or rentals before you sign anything.
Be aware of current market values for renting and buying in
your area. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Do your research about property companies or individuals
selling or renting properties. Google their names and check any reviews to make sure
they are legit and have not already been flagged as scammers.
Make sure to get a written estimate and have both parties sign
a contract when you hire movers.
