A woman in Seal Beach, Orange County, California was recently indicted for trying to impersonate an FBI agent so that she can cover up a real estate fraud.
The suspect, Karen Hanover, conducted real estate seminars with pricey premiums and offered investors buy various commercial and residential real estate. She offered a money-back guarantee to her clients but she never honored them when they tried to claim this guarantee. She then created an FBI caller ID using spoofing software in order to harass the complainants and prevent them from making a complaint.
She has now been indicted on federal charges.

If you do not know anything and much about mortgage fraud, you should take a class or read some articles over the Internet. On the previous article here on All About Real Estate Fraud, I talked about taking classes and seminars about real estate fraud. Good thing, www.tampa-bay-real-estate.blogspot.com outlined some things on how you would spot a mortgage fraud.

1. Having a real estate license, it does not mean they know anything about real estate.
2. Anytime a buyer wants to get a mortgage for more than the asking price, be very suspicious.
3. If you don’t know much about mortgage fraud, take a class.

Source: Tampa Bay Real Estate
Image source: www.banks.com

From the years 2002 to 2005, Georgia has been consistent on the top among mortgage and real estate fraud cases in the United States documented by The Prieston Group. The Prieston Group is a fraud protection and prevention group. The types of fraud operations preying on Georgia real estate investors include false rent verifications, occupancy fraud,appraisal fraud,investment schemes, broker fraud, and identity theft. Because of this, the state now upholds the Georgia Residential Mortgage Fraud Act which names misstating, omitting, and misrepresenting facts and intentions in real estate deals as criminal acts. The Georgia Residential Mortgage Fraud Act continues to boom the real estate industry of state.

Source: http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/6-19-2006-99686.asp
Image source: www.filebuzz.com

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.
Image Source :nuwireinvestor.com

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…)

Loans of this type are sure to be a scam and should be avoided to prevent being one of the increasing numbers of victims of Mortgage Fraud. According to the FBI, as the economy sinks deeper, the chances of fraud also increases due to the dire need for money. People have been known to engage in anything in desperation which is what these crooks are counting on.
Any coercion by a broker or agent to issue false pretenses regarding your mortgage is also a good indicator of such activity so do your homework. With regards to brokers, get referral’s from friends and family so you don’t get victimized. Be sure to secure your personal information and deal only with honorable brokers. Those who help you for free might be after more than just your thanks!

What is affinity fraud? It’s a term in real estate where someone uses their position in a religious community to build faith with investors. This usually happens with devout members of an organized religion, that are active in their local community. Affinity fraud is especially devastating because of the level of trust and confidence the victims give to the scammers. Often times, people who are behind these scams are people who are looked up to or are viewed to have a high ethical and moral standing in the community. That’s why some victims, even after the scam has been revealed and their finances endangered, refuse to believe that they have been used. They may even refuse to prosecute the scammer, choosing to believe instead that the scammer will return their investments. Tragically, in most cases, the victims are regular wage-earners who have chosen to invest life-savings they can ill afford to lose.

Image Source: www.cbc.ca
Nowadays, many people are fooled easily by the great promises that some real estates agents say. Here are some tips to avoid real estate fraud:

Always, always, always understand what you are signing and agreeing to, and, always seek assistance from a skilled real estate attorney. If you do not understand something you’re being asked to sign, ask for clarification and re- read the document again before signing.
Ask for and check referrals and references for real estate industry professionals. Check the licenses of the real estate professionals with state, county, or city regulatory agencies. Make sure that the people you’re dealing with are in good standing with the appropriate regulatory bodies.

Be suspicious of such low investment. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Be wary of strangers and unsolicited contracts, as well as high- pressure sales techniques and people who play to your emotions.

Extreme caution against this kind of people should be greatly measured.