The $275 Million Warning: AI Scams Targeting Home Buyers and Sellers Right Now

Kip Barnard has been selling real estate in San Jose, California for 22 years. He has watched markets rise and fall. He has walked buyers through their first offer and sellers through their last walkthrough. But in the last two years, he has added something new to his pre-listing conversations: a lecture on how someone might steal the house out from under his clients, and how someone else might steal the money meant to pay for it.

"Scammers are using AI to mimic property owners and professionals, targeting unencumbered homes or vacant land," Barnard told HomeLight in a survey of 950 top-rated agents published this spring. "The seller won't meet in person or on a live video call. Communication happens exclusively through email or text. And the price is often meaningfully below comparable sales with little explanation." ^[1]

Barnard is not being alarmist. The numbers back him up. According to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, cyber-enabled fraud accounted for total losses surpassing $20 billion in 2025 alone. The agency logged more than 22,000 AI-related crime complaints tied to nearly $900 million in losses. Real estate sits squarely in the crosshairs: in 2025, there were more than 12,000 reported real estate-related fraud complaints with losses exceeding $275 million. ^[1]

Here is what those 12,000 complaints look like on the ground, and what you can do to make sure your closing is not one of them.

The Five Scams Hitting Home Buyers and Sellers Right Now

Seller Impersonation

This is exactly what it sounds like: someone lists a property they do not own, collects a deposit, and disappears. The mechanics have gotten dramatically more sophisticated. Scammers use forged identification, AI-generated documents, and stolen public records to create the appearance of legitimate ownership. They pull property tax records, pull the assessor's parcel number, and build a paper trail that looks real until you dig.

Barnard's description of the tell-tale pattern is specific enough to memorize. "A motivated, legitimate seller doesn't care which reputable title company you use. Only someone with something to hide cares deeply about controlling that relationship." He advises asking the seller for documentation tied specifically to the parcel: a property tax bill, a recorded deed, something that connects them to the APN. "If they resist, you have your answer." ^[1]

The fast close is another marker. Barnard says impersonators typically push for a quick close with minimal contingencies. Legitimate sellers, especially in a market where inventory is tight, are usually willing to negotiate terms and timelines. Someone who is aggressively pressuring you to skip the normal process is someone who does not have time on their side.

Wire Fraud

This is the six-figure killer. Cybercriminals hack the email accounts of real estate agents, buyers, or title companies to intercept closing communications. They watch the transaction. They know the closing date, the dollar amount, the escrow officer's name. Then they send fake wire instructions that look exactly like the real ones, complete with matching logos and communication styles.

Gina Bentley, an agent in Livermore, California, watched it happen in one of her own listings. "A buyer received fraudulent wire instructions that appeared legitimate, but they did not independently verify them with the escrow company before sending the funds. The victim lost hundreds of thousands of dollars." ^[1]

Bentley notes that the scammers can mimic emails, logos, and even communication styles from trusted parties in a transaction. "These fraudulent messages often look exactly like they are coming from your escrow officer, lender, or real estate professional." ^[1]

Jennifer Hupke, an agent in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, gives the clearest single piece of advice in the entire survey: "If you get an email about money, you pick up the phone and call a known number, not the one that is in the email. This isn't about being overly cautious. It's about protecting your money at the most vulnerable point in the transaction." ^[1]

That last phrase matters: the most vulnerable point in the transaction. When $200,000 or $400,000 is sitting in an escrow account or about to be wired, you are at peak vulnerability. The people who benefit most from the deal closing have the least incentive to slow you down when something feels off.

Fake Rental Listings

Before you even get to closing, you can lose money to rental scams. Scammers steal listing photos from for-sale listings and repost the properties as rentals, collecting upfront deposits or fees from would-be tenants who never get the keys.

Barry Monday, an agent in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, sees it constantly. "I see so many of our homes that are for sale being listed by scammers as rental properties. Unfortunately, a lot of people don't verify that the house is actually for rent before sending money." ^[1]

Anne Skinner, who works in Colorado's north-central mountain communities, says the victims are often out-of-area renters who cannot scout the property in advance. "Many tenants are coming from the area, so they may not be able to see the home prior to their actual arrival for move-in." ^[1] This scam is especially prevalent in second-home markets where properties sit vacant for months and would-be tenants have no reason to know the house is listed for sale, not rent.

Mariah Little, an agent in Middletown, Delaware, cuts through the confusion with a simple check: "If someone is renting out a home and they won't let you tour the house without a deposit, that is a red flag. Check to see if the property is also listed for sale. If so, it's probably not for rent." ^[1]

Fake Video Meeting Links

Scammers are also targeting the transaction process itself, not just the money. Judah Sameth, an agent in DeKalb County, Illinois, describes a pattern where a supposed buyer claims to be relocating from out of state. "They say they want to have a Zoom call to discuss the buying process, but the link installs malware on your computer to steal your passwords." ^[1]

Jessica Smith, an agent in Mobile, Alabama, says the fix is verification before the call, not after. "Ask for identifying information and a pre-approval letter from their lender, or proof of funds." She also recommends using only video links you create, not ones sent to you. ^[1]

Deed and Title Fraud

This one does not necessarily involve a transaction at all. Scammers transfer property ownership to themselves using fake IDs and forged signatures. AI has made this faster and more convincing. They target vacant land, rentals, and vacation homes because those properties are less likely to have an attentive owner watching for changes.

Brian O'Malley, Cuyahoga County's director of transfer and recording, told News 5 Cleveland that the scam leaves two victims in its wake. "You have the victim who really owns the property and doesn't know any of this went on, and the victim who just gave up their life savings, thinking they're now a homeowner." ^[1]

Julianne Clark, an agent in Beaufort, South Carolina, notes that many county recorders offer free fraud alert notifications for property filings. "Register with your local county courthouse for deed scam protection, especially if your property isn't actively being used." ^[1]

The Structural Problem No One Is Telling You About

Amanda Stanford, a San Antonio agent with 30 years of experience, distills the pattern across all five scam types. "Every scam leans on urgency, emotion, or confusion. Most people don't lose money when they are calm and methodical." ^[1]

That is true, and important. But there is a structural feature of real estate transactions that makes calm and methodical harder to maintain: everyone in the room is paid only when the deal closes. Real estate agents, lenders, title companies, settlement attorneys, mortgage brokers, home warranty sellers. They are compensated only at closing. That structure creates a real incentive misalignment. Every party has a financial reason to keep the deal moving, even when slowing down would protect the consumer.

Your real estate agent is not a legal, tax, or lending expert. NAR's Code of Ethics, Article 11, explicitly prohibits Realtors from providing specialized professional services outside their field of competence. When an agent tells you not to worry about a wire instruction that feels off, or pushes you to close faster, that agent is not neutral. The agent needs the commission.

The same applies to title company referrals. Many agents have financial arrangements with specific title companies that are not disclosed to you. A "preferred" title company is often a referred title company, and the referral chain involves money that your agent is not required to tell you about.

None of this means the system is irredeemably broken. It means that in a system where the parties are paid at closing, you are the only person at the table whose financial interest is identical to your safety interest: not losing the house or the money.

What This Means for You

The $275 million in real estate fraud losses in 2025 is not a statistic. It is 12,000 families who thought they were protected by the people helping them buy or sell a home. The scam mechanics are specific, the red flags are consistent, and the defenses are learnable.

Wire fraud is the highest-stakes vulnerability in your transaction. The FBI's data shows real estate wire fraud is not rare. It is the most common six-figure loss event in home purchases right now. The fix is not paranoia. It is a single protocol: always verify wire instructions by calling a known number, one you looked up independently, not one provided in an email or text.

What you can do this week:

1. Before you wire any money, call your title or escrow company at a number you have looked up yourself, not one in any email. Confirm the routing information verbally. This single step prevents the most common wire fraud scenario.

2. Ask your agent: what is your verbal confirmation protocol for wire transfers? If the answer is vague or absent, escalate directly to the title company yourself.

3. Check whether your county recorder or clerk offers free fraud alert notifications for property filings. Register if they do. This is especially important for vacant land, rentals, and vacation homes.

4. If a seller specifies a title company they will only work with, ask your agent to verify the seller's identity using a property tax bill or recorded deed tied to the APN. A legitimate seller does not care which reputable title company closes the deal.

5. If you receive a video meeting link from a buyer or seller you have not met in person, do not click it. Ask for a pre-approval letter and identifying information first, and use a link you create yourself.

Kip Barnard has been selling houses in San Jose for 22 years. He still does the identity verification lecture on every listing appointment. He wishes someone had done the same for him when he started. "Ask your agent to verify the seller's identity before you spend a dollar," he says. That advice costs nothing. It takes ten minutes. And it is the difference between a closing and a catastrophe.