TRUE STORIES
Read True Stories from real people who have been victims of property scams. This is real! The danger is out there! Included below is OUR STORY and we would be most grateful if you would SHARE YOUR STORY.
TRUE STORIES
See the actual texts, emails, and telephone conversations with a scammer that impersonated a seller, listed the property with me, and accepted an offer. This experience inspired the reason for PropertiesNOTforSale.com. See the calculated moves and methods the scammer used for 2 ½ months until the police were able to verify the driver’s license was fake as well as the bank statements provided. (Click bar at the bottom of the page to read the full story).
Blindsided: No! It is not for sale!
We own an empty lot in the Bonita Springs area. On 3 different occasions, there was an attempt to sell it right under our nose! Our lot was not for sale, but someone contacted a real estate agent, posing as owners, and tried to initiate a sale. We are absentee owners, living out-of-state, so we were grateful that alert neighbors and friends who knew us reached out to ask if we were selling.
We were shocked to learn that such things actually happen – property sold and money exchanged without the actual owners being aware of it. Yikes! We were one of the lucky ones! There are bad people out there trying to take advantage of unsuspecting owners such as us. We are grateful that friends and neighbors caught it.
And we are glad to see that there is finally a process by which this type of crime could be avoided. Sign me up!
R.T.
A very reputable Title Company who I have done business with for 25 years was fooled and closed on a vacant lot unknowing the seller was a scammer posing as the owner. The discovery was made when the new buyer showed up at the lot after the closing to discuss building plans with their builder. A neighbor who was the real owner saw them on his property and walked over to see what was going on! End result…real owner still owns the lot, buyer lost their money until the title company reimbursed them out of their own pocket, and the scammer got off scot-free!
A very knowledgeable and well-respected local agent represented a buyer on a condo purchase and the settlement agent wired $400K at closing as directed. But it was too late when the scam was discovered and buyer lost their $400K.
The top 10 states where over 60+ Real Estate scams are most prevalent in 2025 are: 1. California 22,157 2. Florida 17,147 3. Texas 14,410 4. Arizona 9,834 5. New York 8,537 6. Illinois 7,701 7. Pennsylvania 7,088 8. Ohio 6,948 9. North Carolina 5,942 10. Michigan 5,731
Real Estate by Age
Under 20 20 – 29 30 – 39 40 – 49 50 – 60+
$189,875 $7,294,459 $23,316,890 $33,724,892 $46,373,027 $123,671,936
Nationwide, imposter scams are the most common fraud type. Aug. 4, 2023. (trulia.com/blog)
OUR STORY & OUR MISSION
Read our story, plus first-hand experiences about these horrific scams that steal the equity out of our homes and our investment properties. We share our story because we want you to know that normal people have experienced these scams and they are real. It is more important now than ever to protect our homes, our properties, our lifestyle, and our retirement.
Why? It is somewhat unusual for a Realtor to be advertising Properties NOT for Sale! I will have to say in my 53+ years in the real estate business I never thought I would be doing so. Patricia and I thank you for your interest in our searchable website, PropertiesNOTforSale.com, and the huge benefit of additional property scam protection it offers you as a property owner.
Both of us have held active real estate licenses in the Naples-Bonita Springs, Florida area for 35+ years. She also owns and manages Florida Rentals by the Gulf, LLC, a private leasing company. I hold a Kansas Broker’s license #8682 and am a Florida Broker-associate, license #BK553555. I am fortunate to have been voted a 5-Star Agent in Gulfshore Life 14 times.
We have seen a world of change in SW Florida with the most startling challenges being scammers selling property and stealing owner’s equity without their knowledge. This is not just a Florida problem as nationwide almost $400 Million were lost to property scammers in 2022 and to date literally BILLIONS have been lost. We have witnessed first-hand how it is done and have vowed to put our years of experience to work into putting a stop to it. Won’t you join us by following the thought process, which is our creation with a Patent Pending and has proven to be tremendously effective.
Customers – The “24-7 Property Fraud Protection System” protects your property two ways BEFORE a fraudlent transaction is closed and recorded. Scammers target properties that are easy to sell or could be easily mortgaged. High on the list is anything FREE & CLEAR… Lots, Homes, Duplexes & Multi-family Apartments, Farm and Ranch Land, some off-market properties, and Commercial and Industrial Properties. Also, high of the list are properties with a lot of equity and small mortgages. Even privately mortgaged properties with large equities make good targets.
Our Mission – Stop property scammers AT THE SOURCE! By being TRANSPARENT we can keep a fraudulent transaction from ever taking place in the first place. And, if it does get to the closing agent’s office, proactive owners will have a stopgap in place so the title will be clouded and a clear title should not be issued to the new buyer. The second step of the process creates public transparency, so a property can be quickly located and the owner’s intent easily identified as being NOT for Sale!
I CALLED THE POLICE…
When I was searching for resolution on a potential scam the “Local officials” told me they had been bombarded with property scam after property scam. When I called to ask the police department for help in verifying if the seller who had presented me with a driver’s license and bank statements was really the seller, I was told they would add it to the list for the week. They already had 12 other potential property scams ahead of me waiting for results. I thought, if officials could go to our website and do a quick check on an address to see if the “Owner’s Intent” were NOT to Sell their property it would save hundreds of man hours that could be spent on locating and arresting the crooks. Let’s help law enforcement by doing our part! We are here to help everyone but the bad guys!