A real estate scam is a fraudulent practice that uses misrepresentation, lies or illegal practices to exploit unsuspecting homeowners or buyers. Scammers will often target those desperate to sell and buy new homes and those who may have recently inherited property.
Be on the lookout for red flags that indicate you are being scammed, such as an unusually low purchase price, promises of a quick and easy sale, or pressure to sign the deed to your property without consulting a lawyer.
While real estate scams can happen anywhere, they are particularly common in areas where housing prices are high and demand is low. Be extra vigilant if you’re considering buying or selling property in an area with a tight housing market. If you suspect you’re being scammed, you must contact local law enforcement immediately.
So here are the ways you can protect yourselves from various real estate scams:
Be wary of urgent or rush requests.
As a general rule throughout the process, remember that no one should be pressuring you to make a rushed decision, and no one should have any issue with verifying information or explaining why things have changed, especially if it pertains to sending huge amounts of your hard-earned money to a third party.
Make sure you’re sending documents safely.
Real estate agents, at times, freely send around contracts as PDF attachments. These are documents containing incredibly personal and sensitive information—everything from the price, deposit terms, loan amounts, closing dates, etc. Instead of sharing these documents via email, which is proven to be less secure, it’s advisable to share them through a transaction management system.
Voice-verify wiring instructions.
Before sending a wire transfer, call the recipient to verify account information. If you have any doubt, call the sender of an email to verify that they sent it to you, especially if it requests that you do something unusual or that you forward sensitive information.
Watch for changes.
Beware of any new or changed information. You can’t trust wiring information that comes over email. You cannot trust changed wiring information. The probability of that changing is so low. It’s just not going to happen—not in a 30-day window.
Double-check email addresses.
When communicating with anyone involved in the transaction, make sure that the email address is the same email that you’ve been corresponding with since the beginning of the transaction. Throughout the transaction, be on the lookout for inconsistencies such as changes in email addresses, the name attached to the email address and the phone number listed in the email signature. Whenever you’re unsure about something, call the person by finding a public phone number via a web search or a phone number you’ve used before, especially since the email may not actually be coming from your agent or representative.
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