If it came across your mind that you could be a victim of a real estate fraud or scam, then it is very much important for you to move and act quickly. Here are some steps you can follow to get help that you need when this happens to you.

First, report what had transpired and everything that happened to your local police department. Second, tell your lawyer and adviser about what happened and scrutinize them by asking what steps you should make and inquire on what concerns you.

Lastly, contact your Local land registry officer as soon as possible as to prevent further harm.
You can also consult with someone at your bank, if you want.

Image Source : scamhunters.blogspot.com

It is a shame for an Ex-Mayor’s to be tarnished with scandals—more so if the scandal is related to real estate fraud . New Jersey’s Ex-Mayor Sharpe James, together with his girlfriend Tamika Riley, were found guilty on all 5 counts: three counts of mail fraud (by selling low valued city lots to Riley), one count for obtaining funds from the state for the local government and one count of conspiracy in an effort to fool the public.

The flipping scheme allowed James to obtain low priced lands which he sold to his girlfriend for $46,000 (9 properties all in all). Riley then sold the properties for more than a total of $600,000.

Photo taken from http://blog.kir.com

The FBI indeed has changed its focus. They have been working hard to pin down real estate fraudsters and scammers, making this white collar crime as one of their top priorities. In 2003, a total of 215 case initiations were filed but come 2007, the data indicated that there were at least 490 cases filed against the fraudsters. The FBI is still keen in chasing behind scammers since the real estate economy is not doing well (due to the sub-prime issue). They have released in their recent press release that they are investigating a total of 1,300 real estate fraud cases (more or less) to date.

Photo taken from http://www.ersnews.com

This ploy involves career criminals who know how to reel in possible buyers without arousing suspicion, using fake land titles to hook them in. Document forgeries is the easiest way to call these documents that have the feel and look of the real thing but are really fakes under the skin.
Using originals to get more value from them or altered through some method they can be entirely fakes or modified to make them reflect a totally different property or at a different more than actual value amount. The unsuspecting buyer, agrees to make the down payment and may even pay the full amount to take advantage of the low proce, only to find out the document is a forgery, forgetting to get the land title verified for security’s sake.

People have been trying to find ever craftier ways to get over the recession with as little cost as possible. And in this case, real estates agents have begun to record some new ones on the block that are quickly adding to more problems in the already distressed world of reals estates, Buy and Bail. The scam has a homeowner signify to purchase a new home while letting their old home settle into foreclosure, using a lease with the lender to boost their income levels.
This results in a higher credit standing so they qualify for mortgages at both instances, bailing out of their old homes as they get the new one. The crafty ploy leaves the agent and lender both to lose investments as the homeowner leaves and takes their mortgage payments with them plus some extra cash they make form the bailout process.
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Identity theft continues to wreak havoc on the economy and hardworking honest people who can simply do without it with all the problems we are facing today. Even an innocent looking e-mail can be used for phishing and include the information for financial stuff and you get vishing scams. All of the above mentioned activities designed to get your information for use in criminal activity that you would surely hate.
As stressed over and over again, under any circumstance, should you provide information to people you cannot be sure of their credentials. When using the internet, be sure you are on a legitimate page with the proper security in place such as an intrusion prevention system (internet security software), (more…)

As if people never learn, or maybe they are so desperate they are willing to try anything without verifying the legality of their actions. Mortgage rescue company scams have the homeowner signing over their land title to lenders who should take over the mortgage payments to prevent foreclosure. The problem is that the agent who seemingly acts as the middleman, pockets your rent and doesn’t send it it, leaving the homeowner with the foreclosure and losing more cash in the process instead of saving their much earned cash. (more…)

Staged short sale scams are also being noted by the FBI who describes the activity as that which is very much alarming due to increasing number of cases. The scam takes hold when a buyer seemingly takes the cause to purchase with the intent of not making any payments and pockets the lean they filed with the bank to finance the home purchase. He doesn’t pay for the home leaving the homeowner to deal with the foreclosure, the lender then seeks for a pre-foreclosure buyer to help dispose of the home. A second buyer pretending to be a pre-foreclosure buyer then goes to the lender and opts to buy the property for the current loan amount with the previous fraudulent buyer damaging the home to obtain lower rates. (more…)

It’s really sad that despite the hardships many are facing right now with the financial crisis and all, there are still many scammers out there who seek to take advantage of those looking for a way out of the dire financial straits they’re in.

One of the most common ways scammers hit people is through the internet. Usually, the victims receive an email telling them they are qualified for a loan, even if they have a bad credit rating. The victims are then asked to fill out a form and put in their personal information, and then asked to pay a “processing fee”. Then the supposed loan company is never heard from again. Besides the bogus processing fee, it is also possible for these people to use your personal information for their benefit. So be careful in giving out sensitive information through the web, if you can’t avoid it completely.

The federal government has released information saying that cases of fraud that have been reported to various law enforcement offices shows an increase of 26 percent. This alarms them for as the government prepares to release the bailout money that is part of the $700 billion bailout funds, their aim is to get the money to those who need it and out of the hands of these crooks. They have mobilized information campaigns on all forms of media from large print (posters and billboards), newspaper and even paid for movie-time showing of ads that aims to make people aware of such activities in hopes of steering them away from fraud. People are also given the numbers to call just in case they do get into such scams who promise to give them cash till their bailout funds come enough to make their mortgage payments.
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