How do I recover money from real estate scams?

Real estate scams are wire fraud where you transfer the money to the scammers instead of the property seller. Fraudsters usually compromise the email of the real estate buyers with a guide to disbursement. It’s not the seller who is the fraudster, but there is a third party that intercepts the email. This article states some ways in which you can recover money from real estate scams.

The buyers disburse the payment to the scammer’s account following the fraud guide sent by email. There is a lack of

cybersecurity awareness in the real estate business, leading to real estate scams. Impostor, real estate emails make thousands of people lose billions of dollars daily. If you suspect someone is scamming you of your real estate payment, take immediate steps to retrieve funds.

These are some steps of recovery from real estate scams you can take immediately.

Push The Bank To help Recover Money from real estate scams

First, contact your bank and that of the recipients. Yes, you’d have to get in touch with both banks once you realize the scam. Next, request an account freezing over fraud to the recipient’s bank. You can formally request the bank to freeze the account even if you are not a customer. Ask your bank to help you with the notes.

There are two possibilities of the funds you’ve transferred to the fraudster’s account. If you act immediately, there are chances that the funds are still in that account. However, the fraudster may quickly move the funds to other accounts in other banks. If you’re experiencing the second scenario, you should follow the money and request a fraud freeze on other recipients’ accounts.

Get FBI

As the real investment scam real estate takes place online, it would be proper to call the FBI to file a complaint under Internet Crime Complaint Center(IC3). It’s a division that focuses on handling internet crimes, including real investment scams. You’d receive a complaint number over the fraud transactions you’ve experienced.

You may wonder why you’d have to go to the FBI instead of FCT or financial authority. It’s because scammers carry out real estate investment scams through the internet, and there’s a need to follow and recover the money. IC3-issued complaint number is significant for any Belize real estate scams victim. From now on, you can use the complaint number to process your report further.

Next, you’d need to contact the local FBI field office to proceed with your real estate scams in Florida reports. They will require the complaint number. You also need to request for assignment of agents with specialization in real estate investment scams. They’d require copies of all documentation and other evidence of the transactions. Ensure that you prepare all of them before filing your complaint. An FBI field officer would take care of your case.

Get A Legal Backup

After contacting the banks and filing a complaint to the FBI’s IC3, you’ve done great so far. Next, you need to get a legal backup by contacting a lawyer. It may be a family lawyer or one with experience in real estate scams. At this point, the lawyer may help you with the temporary restraining order. The order lists the banks that host fraudster’s accounts and receives your money.
This order aims to prevent these recipient banks from further transferring your money or stopping the fund’s movement. It also orders the banks to freeze the fraudsters’ accounts.

Follow Up Your Request to recover your money from real estate scams

Another critical tip during the real estate rental scams recovery process, you should be proactive. You need to follow up on your requests on fraud freezes and expand it following the money’s movement. Fraud freezes would stop fraudsters from transferring your funds any further. Each bank may have different policies on how long they would keep freezing the fraud accounts. And yes, fraudsters would typically use multiple accounts in other banks.
It’s you who should gather the relevant data about the movement of the money, including the bank names, account names, locations, e.t.c. It’s also essential to document and keep the log throughout the progress to support your report.

Filing A Police Report

In the final step, you’d need to file a police report over the real estate investment scams you’ve experienced. You can pass all documentation and information when you’re filing the report. Police will proceed with the case on the basis of the information you provide. That’s why we’ve suggested you compile all information and contacts so both the FBI and police can get through them effectively.

Again, the key to successfully recover your money from a real estate agent scams is time. Every second count, from when you suspect fraud. The more you wait, the lower chance you can trace your money and get it back to your account. The whole process does not take up to five hours after the realization. Generally speaking, contact the banks for fraud freezes should be done in the very first minutes. These would buy you time to structure your reports and do all of those follow-ups.

Verdict

As you might have seen above, recovering money from a real estate investment scam requires quick moves and persistence. As a victim of an investment scam, you’d have to be proactive on real estate news and do all steps with no hesitation. Following the money wouldn’t be easy as scammers may transfer it to multiple accounts within hours or even minutes. Requesting fraud freeze on fraud accounts and reporting to authorities should be done quickly.

Contact Professional Third – Party

Many recovery companies can help you if you choose not to pursue any of the means. These companies have certified ethical hackers that can help you recover lost or stolen funds from real estate scams, binary options scams e.t.c. AtriumForensics can provide these services. There are many testimonials from happy customers. Speak to an expert on the team immediately to help you with the recovery of your funds. Send a mail to inquiry@stellar-trace.com.

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Types of Real Estate Scams and how to avoid them

The real estate business has become the primary target for scams, from real estate seminar scams to wire payment fraud. Homeowners have lost billions of dollars per year from various real estate scams. Yes, there are many types of real estate scams that even become four-direction threats. Since they may differ from each other, there are also different ways to avoid them.
These are some common real estate scams you need to know and tips to avoid them for good.

Investment Scams

Investment scam is a popular type of real estate scams with a massive number of victims. This type of real estate scam happens in two ways: lending scams and condition scams.
Lending scams refer to alternative mortgage loans. Lenders with no license provide the loans using private funding. This type of loan comes with high-trapping lending fees, which is usually unclear upfront. Condition scams refer to real estate scams where the agent appraises the property’s value at a much higher value than its condition. Agents typically do this because buyers are in the distance and unable to visit/check the property in person.

How To Avoid:

When it comes to real estate investment scams or lending scams, you need to reference a lender. If you want to pick one on your own, choose someone you can meet in person for a thorough interview. Whenever you want to use an online lending service, choose the reputable one. And do your research on the site and the local listing service.
On the other hand, buying properties without checking the physical condition isn’t advisable. At least, you need to hire a trusted appraiser to inspect and value the property you want to buy as the second opinion.

Payment Fraud

Another typical real estate scam is payment fraud, where the real estate agent scams take a role as an escrow company and send you faulty instructions to make a payment over real estate to their account. They’re real estate impostors of established agencies or brokers. Today, these fraudsters fake up websites of reputable brokers, real estate companies, and other property dealers.
They may also use a copycat email and phone number to personally contact and convince you with impressive real estate buy your house scam offers. You may need to transfer typically for down payment following their instruction. They’d get you if you follow the instructions and transfer the fund. In other cases, some fraudsters are even able to intercept communication between buyer and seller, so instead of moving money to the agency/seller, you’re sending the fund to the fraudster’s account.

How To Avoid:

Real Estate payment fraud and Meier real estate scam can be very convincing and strike accurately. At this point, you should always verify all payment instructions by referring to the written documents.

Read also: Cryptocurrency Fraud – How it happens and how to fight it.

Loan Refinance Scam

Mortgage lenders mostly play this kind of real estate deed scams. They would typically drive homeowners to refinance their home credit and to take other principles. Each time the homeowner refinancing their mortgage, they’d usually become a borrower, and these predator lenders would charge high interest and fees to trap them with high loan payments. Once you get scammed with this scheme, it strikes your finance, and you’d hardly come out from the trap.

How to avoid:

Once you’ve completed refinancing your mortgage, there’s no need to make another batch anyway. If you have no specific requirement to refinance your mortgage, it’s unnecessary to take a new one. On the other hand, if you need to refinance your credit, always use reputable lenders or banks only. Ensure that you have all essential information, including fees, interest, penalties, and so forth. Read all written documents and seek clarity on anything that bothers your mind.

Mortgage Relief Scam

Mortgage payments can be challenging for many people’s finances after a while. Indeed, many of them resort to desperate measures to keep their property. Scammers look at the database and start offering mortgage relief to take advantage of this condition. Scammers would claim themselves as the government-affiliated officer and such fake mortgage relief programs. They’d then charge thousands of dollars for processing fees that they’re tricking the homeowners. While it looks convincing, it’s easy to recognize these real estate scams in 2019 for sure. These scammers would prohibit you from calling your current lender for whatever reason.

How to avoid :

Mortgage relief scammers are everywhere and appear to be a solution to your current mortgage, but they’re not. If you’re facing financial difficulties in paying your mortgage, it’s wiser to discuss it with your loan officer and take the counseling session with them. You can request a rollover whenever it’s suitable for your financial condition now and in the future.

Rental Scams

It’s not only property owners, but renters have also become the target of scammers. They usually put fake property rental listings on social media platforms or local listing sites. As expected, they don’t have property or connection to the actual owner or real estate agency. They lure you with cheap rent prices and other services but require you with a down payment as a deposit before you can visit the property. Once you’ve transferred the money, you’d be unable to contact them anymore, and they’re vanishing.

How to Avoid:

Whenever you’re looking for a property to rent, don’t pay anything before you can visit the property and check the paperwork in person. Use the local appraiser and trusted website only to help you find a legit option. If you find the listing online, you can search the image reversely(searching by image) to see whether it’s an original listing or a copycat.

Conclusion

You should know that real estate investor scams come in various forms and modes. People are generally falling into scams as they can’t take some time to check details and question offers. It’s always advisable to check the real property and documents in person before making any payment. You can make use of our tips above to avoid different types of real estate scams targeting your hard-earned money.

Are you a recent victim of real estate scam and need professional help?

Send a message to inquiry@stellar-trace.com , one of the top recovery firm in New York.

Or visit www.stellar-trace.com for more information.