Category: Fraud

According to the Federal Trade Commission, tech-savvy folks aged 40 and under are far from immune to scams and frauds. And most scams that hook them begin in an email. And the coronavirus economy is creating even more opportunities for fraud risk.

A bogus email can appear to be a message from an ecommerce or business site, or even from the government. Millennials are twice as likely as people age 40 and older to report falling for a scam while browsing messages or social media posts and clicking on one of the advertisements. There are phony giveaways, the sale of tickets to fake events, and undelivered or counterfeit items. Young adults are also the targets of education, employment, and investment scams.

Some of these tricks can be life-changing. While online shopping fraud might involve just a few hundred dollars or less, millennials also face real estate scams, such as organized wire fraud and mortgage relief ploys.

Continue reading “Fraud Watch: Real Estate Scams and the Millennial Home Shopper”

Some years back, the state of Georgia, under the Georgia Code (GA § 44-2-43), made stealing houses by recording fraudulent or counterfeit real estate deeds a felony, incurring 1-10 years in prison. Witnesses who help perpetrate Georgia deed fraud are subject to the same potential penalties. 

Georgia is not alone in its resolve. The FBI reports that real estate fraud ranks among the fastest-growing U.S. crime categories. Now, laws are catching up to the fraudsters, deed recorders are starting to alert people to filings on their homes, and cities are helping people confront the con artists.

Continue reading “Real Estate Law Enforcement: Catching Up to Deed Fraudsters”

Well-known schemes are being repackaged for the time of COVID-19. Here’s an overview of how real estate fraudsters are approaching their targets — and how to avoid becoming one.

Scams flare up during natural disasters and financial crises, so we can expect a spike in deed fraud in 2020 and beyond. Battered by the pandemic, facing snowballing debts and possible defaults, many people are now considering risks they would have rejected in the past. Deed fraudsters can be counted on in times like these to aggressively seek new opportunities.

Any wiring directions or changes to money transfer requests over the phone or by email should arouse suspicion today. Rather than act or answer, recipients should call the company and deal with a real person. And rather than use phone numbers supplied in messages, recipients should take the extra step of visiting the company’s website, copying the published number, and calling that number. Personal details should be volunteered only after the identity of the party making the request if verified, or by physically going to the company’s office.

Of course, COVID-19 itself is making in-person meetings less possible or at least less palatable. Part of the fraud risk involves the way online transmission of our personal and financial data can be so easily and rapidly handled.   

Continue reading “Viral Fraud: More Deed Crime Targets in the Coronavirus Economy”