Police in Southampton, New York, are warning realtors and homeowners to be wary of “out of town” scammers hoping to make a quick buck through flipping. Exclusive Properties In fact they don’t own it.
Experts told Fox News Digital that the scam is seeing a “sharp increase” in hot spots on Long Island, where most of the homes are second homes, and may be even easier to carry out in other vacation destinations across the country, where real estate attorneys aren’t always involved in the transaction.
,in a criminal stance “Property owners contact real estate agents to negotiate the sale of lien-free, vacant land, and can successfully defraud potential buyers by accepting the transfer of funds to an out-of-town account,” police said in a statement.
Waterfront home in Southampton, New York, on Wednesday, May 22, 2024. The summer hot spot is facing potential real estate scammers, according to local police. (Bing Guan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“It’s spreading so fast, we’re talking about it in different offices,” said Zachary Sher, a real estate agent in Suffolk County. “It’s not just limited to Southampton, it’s in other areas in the East Side.”
He told Fox News Digital that some scammers are easy to identify when they call from out of state and only know publicly available information.
“It’s obvious — they’re calling from a weird area code. The emails they use are silly, and then they have information they can find on public records, but that’s it,” he said. “If you investigate further, they either tell you they’ll get back to you, or they want to sell it very quickly.”
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Waterfront home in Southampton, New York on Wednesday, May 22, 2024. (Bing Guan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
He said a normal seller is also not in a hurry and does his own research before contacting an agent. Someone who calls out of the blue and gives a bullet list of information is unusual and is another red flag.
“I think this is just a new way they’re trying to cheat,” he said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they Start using AI to do that. I’m sure they’ll start contacting property owners, just asking to talk to them, so they can have a voice. Now it’s crazy what they’re capable of.”
Scammers look for properties without mortgages, then fool the title company by using a fake identity and a fraudulent power of attorney to sell the property without the homeowner’s knowledge, said David Gelman, a New Jersey-based attorney and former prosecutor who has worked on similar cases.
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A pedestrian bridge over a narrow river leading to Peconic Bay at sunset in Southampton, New York. (iStock)
“The only relief for the homeowners was that they had title insurance, so they got the house back,” he told Fox News Digital. “However, this is a (glitch) that takes years to fix.”
Red flags include secretive “sellers” who prefer to deal via text and email rather than meeting in person or on a video call, demanding a cash deal at prices below market value and moving listings without putting up a physical for sale sign.
The police have issued this warning at a time when the summer holidays have started and tourists are flocking to their favourite destinations.
“Online, it’s very easy for criminals to defraud people by selling them products they don’t actually have,” said Nema Rahmani. Los Angeles-based trial lawyer and a former federal prosecutor. “We see this often with in-demand items like sports and concert tickets, and properties in the Hamptons are no different.”
A single-family home in Southampton, New York on Wednesday, May 22, 2024. (Bing Guan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Similar scams have also victimized homeowners whose houses have been fraudulently posted on listing apps like Airbnb and VRBO.
In April, a real estate agent in the neighboring town of East Hampton was surprised to find that her vacation home was listed by someone else on Airbnb. the real dealAn industry publication. He became aware of the scam when the potential victim contacted him directly asking for a payment method — a $25,000 wire transfer — rather than through the app.
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Ponquague Beach is a stretch of sand accessed by a bridge over Shinnecock Bay in the town of Southampton, New York. (iStock)
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Police are urging real estate agents to take better measures to verify the seller’s identity. Ask for multiple forms of identification, as fraudsters have been caught using fake passports. Request a face-to-face meeting. Ask for information about the local area that only someone familiar with the area would know. Speak to neighbors and look up the seller on social media.
