Land scams are on the rise. Here’s what to do to prevent yourself from falling victim

PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. —

There is another scam on the rise that buyers and sellers should be on the lookout for — land scams.

“This is a dirtbag and a dirt scam,” Jeff Lichtenstein, president of Echo Fine Properties in Palm Beach Gardens, told WPBF 25 News.

Lichtenstein said his agent was approached by someone who was posing as a seller in Jupiter Farms. At the time, everything seemed normal. They had signed a listing agreement, and buyers soon became interested in the property.

“Thirty-five thousand dollars went into escrow,” he said.

But, soon enough, something started to feel off.

“Our agent started conversing with them and knew the number where the area code was coming from. And was talking about something in that area, and the person on the end, the ‘landowner,’ didn’t know anything about it,” Lichtenstein said.

He then collaborated with Next Wave Title, a title agency in Palm Beach County. Soon enough, another red flag popped up with the scammer.

“That’s when they failed the authentication program,” Tom Paschen, senior vice president of Next Wave Title, told WPBF 25 News. “The scam artist had fake IDs with the seller’s title and picture.”

He then decided to send a certified letter to the Jupiter Farms property’s listed owner. That address was located in New York.

And a couple of days later, the real owner let the agents know that their land was not for sale.

“That was the final verification we needed that this was a fraud,” Lichtenstein said.

They stopped a total of $350,000 being potentially wired to the scam artist had not all the checks and balances been in place. They reported the scam immediately.

“In so many situations, you’ve got buyers and sellers and agents who have never met each other and that’s where a lot of that fraud could be perpetrated,” Paschen said.

So, what can buyers do to prevent this from happening to them?

“Make sure that the owner of the property is verified. So one thing, is I want to make sure that the listing agent has actually met or the seller knows them,” Lichtenstein said.

And for sellers?

“You can actually go onto the website, and you can register and anytime a deed or a document is recorded against your property. It notifies you automatically,” Paschen said.