The FBI has issued a warning to homeowners about a new alarming scam involving ‘title pirates.’ This alert comes as the FBI’s Boston office investigates several cases of stolen land and attempted property theft, cautioning property owners and real estate agents about ‘title thefts’ occurring nationwide.
According to CBS News, this warning follows I-Team investigations that uncovered numerous instances of land being stolen, with fraudsters pretending to be property owners by presenting fake driver’s licenses.
One victim, Halla Shami Jakari, recounted to WBZ-TV’s I-Team her shock upon discovering that her vacant land in Concord had been sold and construction had begun, despite her never having sold it.
Halla and her husband Omar were devastated to learn that criminals had illegally sold their property. Omar expressed, “They stole our dream.”
Another individual, John Grimes from Plymouth, shared that he received a call from an attorney last September informing him that his house was up for sale. He was also approached by an engineering firm at his residence with a plot plan for the property.
Grimes mentioned that his parents had almost fallen victim to a similar scam regarding their Cape Cod waterfront access land.
“I explained to him don’t do anything you are caught up in a scam! I was just like, ‘Oh my God this is still happening’,” Grimes said. His mother, in a state of panic, insisted, “absolutely not, the land is not on sale.”
He subsequently filed a fraud report with the FBI and enrolled in free alerts for any registry of deeds.
“I got a phone call from a lawyer just outside of Boston and he had gotten a request asking him to facilitate a closing with an e-signature. And everything was all set. But it wasn’t my real signature,” Grimes shared with the Daily Mail.
If not for that timely call, Grimes might have lost his property after a purchase and sale agreement was fraudulently made using his signature.
The FBI has noted that they cannot comment on specific cases but have observed that the elderly are particularly vulnerable targets. This is largely because they are more likely to own vacant land or homes without mortgages, which are attractive to criminals due to the ease of digital transactions.
FBI Special Agent Vivian Barrios explained to CBS, “Our elderly population [are more at risk] because they are more likely to own vacant pieces land that they have had for quite some time, and they are also more likely to own homes without any mortgages on them. Because those have the biggest benefit to the criminal actor.”
Though land theft has been increasing nationwide, Boston investigators note a rise in cases in their region, prompting the FBI to issue cautions regarding ‘title pirates.’
Between 2019 and 2023, there were 2,301 cases of stolen land across Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, resulting in losses exceeding $61.5 million.
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center reported that over the same period, 58,141 victims reported real estate thefts, leading to $1.3 billion in losses.
Special Agent Barrios stresses the importance of promptly reporting such crimes. “We find that within a 24-hour window we can sometimes get to the money before it’s left the account and the banks together with us can sometimes get the money back to the victims,” Barrios stated.