Real estate scams hitting more REALTORS®

Add real estate to the growing trend of Internet scams.

Several Pennsylvania REALTORS® have recently discovered their names being used by Internet scam artists, particularly on the popular site Craigslist.com. The scammer often “adopts” a REALTOR’S® identity to trick unsuspecting consumers into sending deposits for apartment or home rentals.

The sophistication level of the scams continues to increase as these con artists lift property photos from the REALTORS®’ websites, load them onto Craigslist and try to lure consumers to send them deposits.

Nils Frederiksen, spokesperson for the PA Attorney General’s office, said, “The office has seen every form of financial scam more than double in the last two years. People are getting burned as both buyers and sellers.”

Fredericksen said if a REALTOR® is using the Internet to do business, he should make it a priority to find out what’s on the Internet about him. “These days you have to not only market your listings online but almost counter-market your information,” he said. “It behooves you to do a Google search on yourself to see if someone’s blogging about you or if someone is falsely using your name or information.”

Adding a watermark to photos, perhaps the REALTOR’s® website, also makes it harder to use the photo illegally, Fredericksen advised. “You want to make it as difficult as possible for someone else to copy your information,” he said.

Fredericksen said if a REALTOR® suspects someone in his community is conducting this type of crime, he should contact his local law enforcement. Many times, however, this type of Internet crime involves people overseas and that makes it a federal crime.

If REALTORS® discover their identity has been falsely used, they should file complaints with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C).

The PA Attorney General’s office  tracks such crimes and REALTORS® may file complaints online or call 800-441-2555.

If it appears that an item posted for sale on Craigslist may be part of a scam, e-mail the details to [email protected] including the URL (or 10-digit post ID number) in the message. Craigslist advises contacting the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) online or at 877-382-4357.