Do You Own Property? Protect Yourself From Seller Impersonation Fraud

In this real estate scam, criminals use public information for identity theft and title fraud, then sell properties out from under the legitimate owners

Matt Alderton,

Updated August 05, 2025

AARP

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En español

Published July 16, 2024

/ Updated August 05, 2025

a picture of a house with a fishing hook through it

Photo Collage: AARP (Source: Shutterstock; Getty Images)

When you own a house, you think it’s yours. Full stop. That’s why it was so shocking when a couple in Tampa, Florida, Dreama and Larry Bilby, discovered that a pair of scammers had filed a deed that transferred ownership of their home. It was a quitclaim deed, which is typically used for transferring properties without a sale, such as from a parent to a child. But in this case, criminals exploited it to steal from the unsuspecting couple. It was made easier because the Bilbys lived elsewhere while their house was being renovated.

The good news: the Bilbys had a camera on the property and saw the scammers, which helped with their eventual arrest and 15-year prison sentence.

(Listen to this episode of AARP’s The Perfect Scam℠ podcast to hear more on their story.)

Real estate fraud expert Tom Cronkright says scams like this one — which take the form of home title theft, title fraud and seller impersonation — are increasingly common and often successful. It’s not always through a quickclaim deed, however: Sometimes a scammer will impersonate the owner, hire a real estate agent to list and sell the property, and then the scammer walks away with the sale proceeds after the closing.

“Title theft is … the perfect real estate crime,” says Cronkright, cofounder and executive chair of CertifID, a wire fraud prevention firm, and Sun Title, a residential and commercial title company in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Unlike other forms of identity theft that require access to victims’ online accounts, Cronkright notes, “everything that the [criminal] would need to [perpetrate title theft] is publicly available.”

The crime, which is not commonly reported (scams are notoriously underreported), can be a mess to untangle if you are targeted. You’re particularly at risk if you own an unoccupied property, including undeveloped land or a vacation home.

How seller impersonation fraud works

“Fraud and theft are, unfortunately, pretty common crimes. And what we’ve been seeing over the last couple of years is an uptick in seller impersonation fraud where an individual will … essentially create a persona that they are the owner of a property,” says Deanne Rymarowicz, senior counsel at the National Association of Realtors. “They will dupe a real estate professional into listing the property and, in some instances, successfully sell the property to an unsuspecting buyer even though they’re not the actual, legitimate owner of the property.”

Impersonating property owners is easy with public records and personally identifiable information acquired from hackers. “All the scammer has to do is look up who the owner is,” Cronkright says. “They run a simple search of the property tax records to identify the owner and see where the tax bill is being sent, and then they can create identity documents to impersonate the real owner with information purchased from paid sources or through the dark web. Those documents — a passport or some sort of state-issued ID — typically have a money mule’s picture on them, but with information about the real property owner.”

Cronkright adds that “over the past year, the quality of these documents has increased, making it harder to identify a fake ID from a legitimate one.”

Criminals can use those documents and a forged deed to hire a real estate agent and eventually present those documents at closing to complete a sale. Sometimes they’ll even impersonate a notary and control the entire closing process.

“They’ll find a commissioned notary in the state. They’ll create a stamp that looks legitimate. They’ll receive the documents from the title company by email or overnight package. They’ll sign and notarize. It goes back to the title company or closing attorney. The documents get recorded and reviewed. And then the scammer receives a wire transfer for their net proceeds,” Cronkright explains.

A quitclaim deed, used in the Bilbys case, makes filing a fraudulent claim on a property even easier.

Both owners and buyers are victims

To succeed, scammers committing title fraud must be able to fly under the radar and go unnoticed by properties’ legitimate owners. Some properties are therefore more vulnerable than others.

“Vacant land, second homes and rental properties are often targets because there is a lower likelihood that an owner will discover the fraudulent sale before it happens,” explains Sarah Frano, vice president and real estate fraud risk expert at First American Title Insurance Company.

Because scammers are interested in money, not land, properties with no mortgages or high equity are particularly attractive targets, adds Frano, who says victims include real estate owners, buyers and lenders — particularly those without title insurance, which in many cases offers protection against home title fraud.

The good news about home title fraud is that it remains relatively rare despite an apparent uptick in cases, says Stewart Sterk, a professor of real estate law at Yeshiva University’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where he also is director of the Center for Real Estate Law & Policy. “For the most part, you shouldn’t worry about it too much,” Sterk says.

If you are victimized

If you become a victim of home title theft, the law is on your side. “Title theft is a bit of a misnomer,” Frano says. “Legally, a forged deed is invalid and the true owner only superficially appears to have lost title.”

Still, the risks and headaches associated with home title fraud are real. Buyers are protected if they have title insurance — as most do — but if they’ve made a cash transaction with no mortgage and don’t have title insurance, that money may be irretrievable.

Victimized property owners will need to prove ownership and that the transaction was fraudulent, which probably means hiring a lawyer and potentially going to court. That costs money, unless you have title insurance that covers post-purchase fraud.

Bottom line: In a world with increasingly rampant fraud, it pays to protect yourself — just in case.

Home title lock insurance

Don’t buy it. The FTC recently issued a warning about “title lock insurance.” The agency notes that this is different than title insurance, which protects you against challenges to the title. Title lock insurance, however, is basically bogus, according to the FTC: “It’s a service that claims to monitor your deed to protect you against title fraud. You’d only find out after your title got transferred to someone else without your authorization. So much for the lock.”

How to protect yourself from title fraud

If you’re a property owner:

Set up a Google Alert with your property address. “If the fraudster lists the property for sale, an alert may help you stop a sale before it happens,” Frano says.
Consult county records if you’ve missed an expected tax bill or assessment. “While silent, this is often the first alarm bell that [criminals] have transferred the title,” Frano notes.
Check on vacant land and unoccupied properties. Mysterious construction, unauthorized occupants and unsanctioned “for sale” signs can be visual evidence of potential fraud. If you own vacant land, an unoccupied home or a rental property, you should therefore make regular visits to inspect it, Rymarowicz suggests. “If you’re out of state or not in the same town, have someone watch out for the property,” she says. “Ask the neighbors to keep an eye out.”
Check your title insurance policy for post-event coverage. Although most purchasers opt in to title insurance when they buy property, “not all title insurance policies cover fraud after you purchase your property,” Frano says. “This is especially true if you purchased your property before 1998,” she explains, noting that most title insurance policies issued after 1998 include enhanced coverage for forgery and fraud that occur post-purchase. “This enhanced coverage provides owners additional protection should a fraudster try to sell or put a mortgage on your property while you own it. If you purchased your home before 1998 or your policy does not have the enhanced coverage, contact your title insurance underwriter to inquire if the enhanced coverage is available as an upgrade to your existing policy.”
Sign up for notifications from your county. “You can check with the county recorder’s office or the office that records the deed in your area to see if they have a notification system,” Rymarowicz says. “Sometimes the property owner can file a notification that says, ‘Hey, if there’s anything recorded on my property, you need to tell me about it.’ That would generate a notice to the property owner … and alert them much earlier and faster to potential fraud.”
Ask a real estate attorney about preventive measures. “You might want to seek counsel to ask, ‘Is there something I could record on my property that would prevent fraud or at least slow it down?’ Laws vary state by state, and there’s no clear consensus as to what could practically be done, but maybe there’s some affidavit of interest or something that you could attach to your file that would require a third party to find you to obtain a signature to release that interest,” Cronkright says. “That could do two things. One, it could alert the title company or the closing attorney that an interest needs to be cleared. Two, it could be a deterrent. If criminals are looking at 10 parcels in a certain county and nine of them are free and clear, but this other one has some interest on it, they might simply skip that one.”

If you’re purchasing property:

Buy title insurance. If you have a mortgage, most lenders will require you to have title insurance. If you’re a cash buyer, however, you might need to go out of your way to get it. “Select a title insurance policy with fraud coverage,” advises Frano, who stresses the importance of a policy covering forgery and impersonation fraud that occurs both before and after you close on your property. (But, as noted above, don’t buy “title lock insurance.”)
Be skeptical of bargains and rushed closings. “One of the hallmarks of fraudulent sales is a price well below the market price. So, if you’re getting the deal of the century, that could be a red flag, in which case you may want to look a little bit closer at the seller to make sure they’re legitimate,” says Rymarowicz, who cites quick closings as another potential red flag.
Be cautious if a property is listed as for sale by owner. Criminals are likely to avoid “the additional scrutiny” that a real estate agent would bring, points out Frano. She adds that you therefore should “be suspicious of a seller who pressures you to avoid involving an attorney or title company in the transaction.”
Beware remote notarization. “Remote notarization is completely legal and legitimate, but there are bad actors,” explains Rymarowicz, who says fraudulent sellers will insist on remote closings due to location, illness or other circumstances. In that case, she notes, the buyer or title agency could consent — but should insist on choosing the remote notary to ensure that the notary is legitimate.
Verify the seller. While it’s not unusual for buyers and sellers not to meet in person before closing, your real estate agent, attorney and/or title company should be able to verify that the seller is authentic. Your agent should also confirm that they met the seller at the property and verified their identity and ownership by asking them to bring the most recent tax bill, a certificate of insurance showing the property’s address or the closing statement from the property's original purchase. Criminals like to hide behind email and texts, Frano says. “Be cautious of a seller who never makes a personal appearance or makes excuses why they can’t talk on the phone.”

Report home title theft

If you think you’ve been a victim of home title theft or another type of real estate fraud, contact your local law enforcement agency and your county recorder’s office, consult a real estate attorney and report it to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.

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Matt Alderton is a contributing writer who specializes in health and wellness, travel and technology. His work has also appeared in USA Today, Forbes and The Washington Post.