Day in the Life

Vacant Land Scams

"Hey, I was hoping if you could help me market my property located at  - - - - - - .  It's a piece of land, you can do your research on the property and get back to me about the price on the market. I prefer that you use my email address for communication. Thanks!" 

This was an email I recently received. At first glance it seemed legitimate. The sender’s email address used an actual name and the property was a real address. Momentarily blindsided by having a property to list that seemingly fell into my lap, I was excited to have new business, but knew I needed to investigate. Doing what any good agent should do (but many do not), I conducted my due diligence. There were questions and red flags. 

Odd that the email did not have my name as the recipient. It felt like it was perhaps a “blanket” email, sent to multiple recipients. Next it was interesting that the seller wanted to only communicate through email, but had provided a phone number. After researching the ownership of the property to see if it matched the name that was given, I found that the seller was an out of state owner and the property was vacant land. After investigating further, I discovered that the phone number given went to a completely different name than what appeared in the email or as the owner’s name. It was then that I researched the name of the property owner and found a phone number that matched that name. I called the number, and then the fun began. 

The actual owner of the property had no idea that someone was using his name and property in a real estate scam. To say he was upset would be an understatement. He felt violated and understandably so. Unfortunately, he is not alone. This was not a random scam event. Once ascertaining I was dealing with a fraudulent seller, I notified the Greater Portland Board of Realtors and the Maine Association of Realtors. Both real estate organizations continue to hear about these scam situations involving fraudulent sellers that try to sell properties in Maine that they do not own. These scams are happening across the country, most commonly involving vacant land with non-local owners. 

Surprisingly, this story continued to unfold. A few days later, I happened to be in the neighborhood where the supposed property for sale was located and was shocked to see another agent’s for sale sign. Sigh …someone hadn’t done their due diligence and had been taken. A call to the real seller resulted in the seller calling the agent and the sign coming down. Fortunately my chance encounter with that for sale sign stopped a potential sale that was about to close. An unsuspecting buyer was about to purchase property that they thought was for sale. The listed price was sizable at over half a million dollars. And THAT is the scam. A closing takes place. Money is wired to the fraudulent seller and the real seller, being out of state, has no idea what is happening to his property. The real owner keeps his property. The buyer has lost their money. 

So what should all agents be doing in this situation? For any prospective sellers who are not physically located near the property, I will ask the sellers to Zoom, Google Meet, or Facetime with me and to show identification on the screen. While scammers might have fraudulent identification, they are more than likely reluctant to show their face on a screen. For any local seller prospects, I am meeting them in person either in my office or at their property after I have vetted them. Before any meeting, I have checked with the town records to confirm ownership and further checked names as stated in property deeds through the Registry of Deeds. 

As Maine agents, we are provided a resource used to conduct checks on phone numbers. If a search comes back with an unexpected name, then I need to investigate further. When a phone number for the owner has been obtained, I will call to confirm the person’s identity and whether or not they did in fact contact me to list the property through an email. Just this week I received 3 more of these scam emails, basically verbatim to that first email but with different vacant land addresses. I deleted all 3. 

I have always trusted my gut … my instincts … when setting up appointments and meeting new clients. The real estate profession can be physically dangerous, especially for female agents, but now there are cyber attacks on agents with these property scams. I will continue to stay sharp and always do my due diligence. Just another day in the life as a real estate agent.