REAL ESTATE SCAMS ON RISE
International scammers falsely listing Florida real estate for sale
FORT MYERS, Fla. – Catherine Greenleaf opened an email from her real estate company with links to new listings, like she did every morning.
The owner of 2.4 acres in Pine Island’s St. James City, she and her husband, Tony, hoped to buy a lot adjacent to theirs. They plan to build a home on Pine Island and want to create a bird sanctuary on the property, as well.
But when the property sale search results loaded, the first listing on the page was her own property.
She thought it was a mistake. Greenleaf refreshed the page. After all, she owned her lot and hadn’t listed it. But still, when the page reloaded, the top result was her own: 5366 Western Drive, available for purchase at $185,000. “I freaked out,” she said.
Greenleaf was the victim of what is known as a land scam, which real estate and law enforcement experts say is becoming very common in hot real estate markets like Southwest Florida.
Many of these land scammers are being traced back to Nigeria, Russia, or Eastern European countries, and data shows elderly people are often targeted. They’re leaving many Floridians embroiled in paperwork and civil litigation trying to prove that their land was sold out from under them, or trying to recoup money they spent on land that was never truly for sale.
Older people most at risk
While Florida is the third most populous state, it is the second most defrauded state behind only California, according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, which handles internet-based fraud such as what Greenleaf experienced. Its hot real estate market and its older population makes it a popular target for scammers.
According to 2022 U.S. Census Bureau data, Florida led all U.S. states in net migration, and its property market has been booming for quite some time.
Furthermore, seniors are particularly vulnerable to these kinds of scams. A study in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine indicates that as we age, we become more vulnerable to falling for fraud or scams as we become more socially isolated.
Per census data, Florida is home to two of the six oldest counties of the nation: Charlotte and Sumter counties. The latter is home to The Villages, a popular retirement destination.
A 2016 study by AARP estimated that 50% of the wealth in the United States was held by those 50 and over. And in its 2021 annual report, the FBI found people over 50 are the most frequent targets of scams, with the likelihood of being the victim of a scam increasing for every decade you age.
The FBI’s data show there has been a steady increase in real estate or rental scam losses reported by victims over the last three years. Nationwide, in 2021, 11,578 people reported losing about $350 million due to these types of scams, up 64% from 2020.
Another study out of New York state estimated only 1 in 44 cases of financial exploitation or fraud is ever reported, meaning the amount of money lost is likely far higher than official statistics show.
‘I knew right away’
Upon realizing her property wasn’t listed for sale by mistake, Greenleaf immediately called her real estate agent, Jeannette Udwary, to help her get the listing taken down.
“I knew right away what it was,” said Udwary, a Realtor with Jones & Co. Realty in Fort Myers and Cape Coral. “A scam.”
Udwary contacted the listing Realtor, Amanda Ritter of Exit Select Realty in Fort Myers. Ritter had posted it after she was contacted by someone who called himself Anthony, Greenleaf’s husband’s name. The man claimed he wanted to sell the Pine Island lot.
The scammer provided Ritter with an abundance of information, she said. He gave her email addresses for a Tony Green and a Cathy Green – both false – as well as a phone number that started with New Hampshire’s 603 area code. The number was a fake, but Ritter didn’t know that.
“It wasn’t your typical scam,” Ritter said. “They’re getting smarter, or they’re getting more (bold).”
“Anthony” seemed very knowledgeable about the property, she said. He passed the unofficial test real estate agents put potential clients through with flying colors, answering all her questions about the property history without issue.
When Udwary contacted Ritter on Greenleaf ’s behalf, Ritter, shocked, called the 603 number he’d given her, but it was a dead end. She messaged him on Zillow, where he’d initially contacted her, and told him she had more questions for him. In the meantime, she removed the listing.
An hour or so later, he called back from an Orlando number.
“I said, ‘Why are you trying to list someone else’s property? Do you get something out of this?’” said Ritter. “I basically lectured him like I do my 5-year-old. And then I heard a ‘click.’ ”
Calls The New-Press/Naples Daily News placed to the Orlando number affiliated with the fraudulent listing went unanswered.
How to spot a land scam
Jones & Co. Realty owner and broker JJ Jones said these scams are common enough that real estate agents are getting wise to them. She estimated her real estate company, whose site lists more than 130 certified Realtors, sees one of these scams a week.
Typically, Jones said, scammers claim to be from a foreign country, such as England, Germany or China. They’ll provide false documentation, say they can only talk via email, and tell an agent they want to sell quickly for cash. Oftentimes they’ll say they’re willing to accept a below-market price to sell it fast. “We get their paperwork, we get them listed ... and under contract, and all of a sudden, we find out they’re not the owner,” said Jones.
Jones and her Realtors now require potential sellers to at least get on a Zoom meeting with them, so they can verify they are who they say they are, and they employ a third-party company that reviews the documents their sellers provide to ensure they are real and unaltered. Other brokerage firms require new sellers to use their inhouse notary, or they won’t accept the listing.
But Jones said that no matter how careful you are, people can still get taken in. In one instance she recalled, a client attempted to sell his property through Jones & Co. Realty only to find out that he had never owned the property in the first place, she said. He’d been scammed long before he tried to sell it through her company.
“This has been ongoing,” Jones said. “It’s really ramped up over the over the last year because the values are so high.”
How you can protect yourself
If you believe yourself the victim of a land scam, Jones advised to immediately call your real estate agent, broker or title company to alert them to potential fraud. Beyond that, she said, your next step should be to file a complaint with the IRS or FBI.
In Florida, older or disabled adults can freeze their finances if they think they’ve been scammed, giving them time to speak with law enforcement or an attorney. Additionally, your local Realtor group may even have additional tips or educational classes for landowners worried about land scams.
Lt. Chad Parker, the head of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office Financial Crimes Bureau since 2009, also owns his own brokerage in Naples, called Prime Real Estate of SWFL. He said he’s seen these land scams ramp up in 2022.
“Criminals are targeting vacant land because you don’t have to show it,” Parker said. “The possibility of running into the actual owner is slim to none.