The Vacant Land Fraud Wave Hitting Home Buyers Right Now

The FBI is warning home buyers and sellers about a surge in a specific type of property fraud that is different from the wire-fraud schemes most closing agents talk about. In this variant, criminals impersonate property owners, sell land they do not own, collect the proceeds, and disappear before anyone detects the scheme.

Jim Dennehy, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI's New York field office, framed the stakes plainly. "Who would ever think that somebody would sell your own property from right under your nose, without your knowledge, and be able to dupe the system and everyone involved in that transaction?" Dennehy said in a September 2024 ABC News interview.^[1]

The bureau has reported a 500% increase in vacant land fraud over the preceding four years.^[1]

What the Randolph Case Reveals

A transaction in Randolph, New Jersey illustrates how the scheme operates. A man contacted real estate agent Lisa Shaw in 2024 and claimed to own a vacant investment property there. The man said he had owned the land for more than 25 years and had never visited Randolph, according to Shaw's account to ABC News.^[1]

"He said, 'Well, real estate is really high right now.' He thought he could get the best dollar for it," Shaw said. "He also told me his wife was ill and he needed the proceeds from that money for his wife's illness."^[1]

The man provided what appeared to be Canadian driver's licenses from Ontario containing the real property owners' names but fake addresses in Ontario, Canada and England.^[1] Shaw said she did not realize the actual owners were a husband and wife from Texas.^[1] An official with Canada's Peel Regional Police confirmed both identification cards were fake.^[1]

Shaw said no one involved in the transaction suspected the fraud. "No one suspected it, not the attorneys, not myself, not the title company," she said.^[1]

The fraudulent seller asked for the $140,000 payment to be split between two different banks, $70,000 each, according to Shaw.^[1] The deal closed in December with paperwork purportedly showing the deed was notarized at the U.S. embassy in Vietnam.^[1] The initial $70,000 payment went through before the scheme was detected.^[1] The second $70,000 payment triggered a red flag at the title company, which then contacted the real owners' son.^[1]

Dennehy said the aftermath typically involves extended litigation. "It's probably going to be a whole lot of litigation for many, many months and years to come, if that money is already gone," he said. "Technically you're no longer the owner of the property, so now it has to get into civil lawsuits, a lot of lawyers with a lot of litigation involved in order to try to reclaim what's yours to begin with."^[1]

The buyer who paid $70,000 to the fraudulent seller remains listed in municipal and county tax records as the property's new owner, but because the original owners did not authorize the sale, it remains unclear what will happen to the land.^[1]

The Red Flags That Should Trigger a Pause

Jim Vanderpool, a real estate attorney who first documented fraudulent seller scams in Tennessee in 2022, documented 22 known fraud attempts in just two quarters across Williamson, Davidson, and Rutherford counties that year.^[2] "In over 25 years of practice, I've never seen property fraud evolve this quickly," Vanderpool said.^[2]

Vanderpool and the Sussex County Association of REALTORS in New Jersey have identified recurring characteristics of fraudulent transactions:^[1][2]

• Unimproved or vacant land: Criminals almost never target improved properties with structures on them. Vacant lots often sit unmonitored for years, giving criminals time to execute their schemes before real owners notice.^[2]
• No mortgage on the property: Free-and-clear properties are prime targets because there is no lender conducting title reviews.^[2]
• Rush to closing: Legitimate sellers of vacant land rarely need instant sales. Urgency is a primary warning signal.^[1][2]
• Remote seller never met in person: The supposed owner cannot or will not meet face to face.^[1][2]
• Below-market pricing: Criminals want quick sales, not top dollar. An unusually low asking price on vacant land should raise questions.^[2]
• Reluctance to provide documentation: Excuses about lost deeds or paperwork may signal that the seller cannot produce legitimate proof of ownership.^[2]
• Identity documents that do not match public records: Driver's licenses with addresses inconsistent with tax records or prior ownership filings are a direct red flag.^[1]

Why the Old Verification Standards Are No Longer Enough

Traditional identity verification is failing. "The old standard of just checking an ID is dead," Vanderpool stated. "Criminals can fake IDs that would fool most people."^[2]

Criminals have added AI-generated deepfake videos for virtual meetings, sophisticated fake IDs that pass basic inspection, hacking of real owners' email accounts, and creation of fake attorney websites and phone numbers.^[2]

In the Randolph case, multiple verification checkpoints failed. The seller's identification documents contained the real owners' names but wrong addresses. No party in the transaction cross-referenced those addresses against tax records or ownership filings.^[1] The notarization claim involving the U.S. embassy in Vietnam went unverified.^[1]

Emily Bowden, executive officer of the Sussex County Association of REALTORS, recommended that agents try to meet sellers in person whenever possible, verify that mailing addresses align with public records, and assess how well sellers actually know the property they claim to own.^[1]

What You Can Do at Your Closing

Real estate attorney Jim Vanderpool and industry groups have compiled a verification checklist for high-risk transactions:

1. Require two forms of government-issued photo ID, then conduct a reverse image search on each document to check for duplication across multiple listings.^[2]
2. Insist on a live video call with any seller of vacant land before proceeding.^[2]
3. Independently verify ownership through county tax records. Confirm that the person claiming to sell the property matches the name on file, that property taxes have been paid by the claimed owner, and that no recent deed transfers have occurred without the owner's knowledge.^[1][2]
4. Contact the seller at a known address from public records, not at a number or email the seller provides.^[2]
5. Use title insurance. Even buyers purchasing vacant land should confirm whether a title insurance policy covers fraudulent conveyance. Ask your title company specifically whether the policy covers a situation where the grantor did not own the property being conveyed.^[2]
6. Register for property fraud alerts. Many county recorder offices offer free alert services that notify property owners whenever a deed or mortgage is recorded against their parcel.^[2]

The FBI is encouraging real estate agents and property owners who suspect fraud to contact authorities before money changes hands. The agency can be reached through its Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov.

What This Means for You

The Randolph case did not fail because of a sophisticated technical breach. It failed because no party in the transaction cross-referenced the seller's stated identity against public ownership records. Every participant in a closing, including the agent, the title company, and the attorneys, has a financial reason to keep the deal moving. That incentive structure is exactly why scammers target real estate transactions. A title company earns its fee when the deal closes. An agent earns a commission when the deal closes. No one at the closing table is paid to slow down and verify that the grantor on line two actually owns the property.

The buyer's exposure in a fraudulent conveyance is particularly severe. The buyer who paid $70,000 to the fraudulent seller is still listed as the owner in county records, but the true owners did not authorize the sale. That buyer may have no legal claim to the property and no practical path to recovering their money. Title insurance may cover some losses, but only if the policy was in force and only if the fraud falls within the policy's specific coverage terms.

The actions above are straightforward and cost little or nothing to implement. Cross-referencing a seller's ID against county tax records takes under five minutes. Requesting a live video call adds a layer that deepfakes have not yet reliably defeated. These steps do not guarantee fraud prevention, but they close the gaps that allowed the Randolph transaction to succeed.

3 things to do this week:

1. If you are buying or selling vacant land, pull the county tax records for the property and verify that the seller's name matches the recorded owner before signing anything. County assessor websites in most states allow this search for free.
2. Ask your title company specifically: "Does this title policy cover fraudulent conveyance if the grantor never owned the property?" Get the answer in writing before closing.
3. Register for your county recorder's property fraud alert service. In most counties this is free and takes under 10 minutes online. Search "[your county name] property fraud alert" to find the registration page.

Sources:

^[1]: "FBI warns scammers are impersonating landowners to sell properties to unsuspecting buyers," ABC News, September 26, 2024, https://abcnews.com/US/fbi-warns-scammers-impersonating-landowners-sell-properties-unsuspecting/story?id=113218044

^[2]: "For Sale By Scammer: How Criminals Are Stealing Properties Across America in 2025," Vanderpool Law, June 16, 2025, https://vanderpoollaw.com/article/for-sale-by-scammer-how-criminals-are-stealing-properties-across-america-in-2025