Guilty was what Anthony Fields, a mortgage scammer from Pennsylvania, pleaded before Judge Ambrose to one count of mortgage fraud conspiracy. He connived with his sister-in-law, Kelly Fields who was an unlicensed real estate broker. Their modus operandi involved recruiting buyers to buy properties with a much higher price compared to the true value of the property involved. The sister-in-law then gave lenders fake documents that have higher loan amounts in them and doctored documents for the buyers just to get the said loan. The law states a total of 20 years behind bars and/or a total of $250,000.00 fine.

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The IRS has long been after the mortgage scammers. About $606 million was included in mortgage fraud and this has alerted the FBI too, since they included real estate fraud in their list of white collar crimes. Let us take a look at the available statistics of 2001 to 2003.

In 2001, a total of 107 cases were filed and 85 of those were convicted. In 2002, case initiations rose to 166 but only 57 were convicted. 2003 came and case initiations rose to 215. The convictions, however, was not far from the 2001 data as 81 fraudsters were put behind bars.

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The human race has been ingenious in today’s era. It is in fact good, but if it is paired with a failing economy, chances are, that ingenuity will be used wrongly.

There are actually a lot of schemes that these real estate fraudsters are adopting. Every year, their methods change. There is this one common scamming style that most people are familiar with, yet, they still fall into the trap.

It’s called the “two sets of settlement statement”. The fraudster gives the seller a real copy of the settlement statement, indicating the real price of the property. He or she then produces a fake one and gives it to the lender. If the lender gives in, the excess will then be for the connivers to split.

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Since real estate in the United States is not doing well (real estate market values are plummeting), lenders are more lenient in lending money to those who wish to have a new home. Also, since this is the case, a lot of scammers try to abuse the status quo.

A certain Mr. Cox was charged of real estate fraud in Atlanta, having scammed people from Florida to Nashville. He was able to accumulate $25 million for bank wire transfers, and he stole identities of the homeless just to get mortgages. The FBI classified real estate fraud as a white collar crime, describing it as robbing the people in a nice way.

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One of the common modus in real estate scams is identity theft. Identity theft refers to involvement of stealing money or obtaining other benefits such as properties and land pretending to be another person. It is actually a misnomer to a lot of persons, since it is not implicitly plausible to steal someone’s identity and use it.
Various problems can occur to the person whose identity is being used; this comes when they are held responsible for the perpetrator’s activities under their identity.
This is becoming more and more of an issue in Real Estate transactions. Information gotten from wicked actions can be exploited and might leave your credibility damaged which might cost you more financial problems, not to mention, the legalities that surrounds it.

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.

Here are some common fraudulent scams that fraudsters are most prevalent doing for the past few months.

First is property flipping, it is when the buyer buys a part of property for a very small price and sells it for a much greater price. It might be legitimate but, if it comes with false conversations and statements to the lender, it definitely is not.

Another is two sets of settlement statements. One settlement statement is given to the seller showing the true selling value. Then, a second false statement is provided to the lender presenting a highly inflated selling value. The lender then gives a loan in change of the property value and after the loan ius finished, the proceeds often are split in half by the instigators.

Also are fraudulent qualification; real estate agents aid buyers who would not pass by fabricating their employment history or credit records.

Because of the past year’s abundance of real estate market, mortgage fraud and other fake real estate related scams increased. The perpetrators of these range from brokers looking to make fast money to drug dealers laundering ill-gotten wealth.

Year by year, fraudulent scams victimize people and businesses from many walks of life, even struggling families lured into home loans which they cannot afford and honest real estate investors fleeced out of their investment money.

By federal tax fraud investigations and money laundering, the Internal Revenue Service plays a vital role in order to fight real estate fraud.

It is impossible to completely prevent fraud, though some countries have good protection and security.Homeowners can take a very essential role in securing their property by protecting themselves from identity thieves. Swindlers have been known to steal identities of the owner of a property by getting a false identification and moving the property of that identity to their name. Here are some things you may want to consider to avoid identity fraud:
- Always store personal information in a secure place that no one can get access to.
- Never carry your birth certificate and SIN card in your purse or wallets.
- Dispose and shred files, such as credit card statements.
- Never send back e-mails to spammers in the web which asks for bank information and credit card details. Be sure not tell your password to anyone.
- Check refererences from potential renters if you are renting your property and check on your rental property often.

First, make sure that the Transfer Certificate of Title is authentic. To check this, request a Certified True Copy of the title from the Register of Deeds. Next, verify that the title is clean; this means that the property is not mortgaged. Also, make sure that the land identified on the title is the one you are really buying; this can be validated at the Resgister of Deeds you can also hire a land surveyor or a geodetic engineer to check it for you.
Important thing is that the real owners are the ones who’s selling the land to you. Make sure of this by asking for identification papers. Talk to the neighbors if possible and confirm the identity of the seller. Lastly, confirm if the annual taxes are paid completely, before buying.