identity theft Archives

March 25, 2024April 25, 2024

Now It’s the Deepfakes. Protect Deeds and Accounts From AI-Generated Imposters

Real estate transactions involve large money transfers. Creative swindlers love those. And now, progress in artificial intelligence (AI) brings new opportunities for real estate fraud.

Shady actors are using real people’s voice or image samples to create recordings and persuade buyers and sellers to respond to questions with key information. Then the scammers hijack the target’s accounts. That’s right. A new breed of AI-powered wire fraud can manipulate familiar voices and grab online pictures to create whole recordings — just to get at people’s funds.

Remaining in the dark is not an option. To keep transactions safe, what do we need to know?

August 28, 2023April 25, 2024

Look Out for These Bizarre Real Estate Listing Scams

Nationwide, real estate scams siphon hundreds of millions of hard-earned dollars into the accounts of fraudsters. Some new and unusual scams can fool real estate professionals.

Consider the use of AI by cutting-edge scammers. As the news show 60 Minutes recently noted, hackers now use artificial intelligence to copy someone’s voice, and have access to apps that change what comes up on a caller ID.

Here are a few hallmarks of scams that every home seeker or home lister should know. Keep in mind that tech-savvy scammers make these sneaky ploys all the harder to avoid or trace.

July 12, 2023April 25, 2024

Quitclaim Forgery Is Snatching Florida Homes From Seniors and Dead People

Some people will steal their own mothers’ homes.

In a stunning case of deed fraud, a woman named Wanda donned a wig and pretended to be her own elderly mother, then tried to steal her home in Hillsborough County, Florida. A video recording shows Wanda using the Notarize computer-based notary service, signing a quitclaim deed. She signed her mother’s name to take the deed for herself.

In May 2023, the Tampa police apprehended Wanda on counts of forgery and elder exploitation.

A weird and unusual case, surely? Alas, there are quite a few deed scoundrels alive and well in Florida. The state is among the top three for identity theft, according to the 2022 figures from the Federal Trade Commission.