RICHMOND, Texas — A real estate agent called KHOU 11 about a property he was trying to sell that just didn't seem right. After we checked it out, it turned out it was a scam. This agent said it could have easily cost someone tens of thousands of dollars.
"My first red flag was he didn't answer me for days at a time," said Larry Rowe, who was asked to list a vacant lot for sale in the Mission Grove subdivision in Richmond.
However, it turned out the person really didn't own the property.
"People trying to scam other people and losing hard-earned money, that's pretty sad," Rowe said. "Definitely want to put it out there so people know what's going on."
"A lot of times it's happening on vacant lots, vacant properties," Cathy Trevino, chairwoman of Houston Association of Realtors, said.
Trevino has been working to educate real estate agents about these scams.
"It's one of the largest purchases that anyone would make, fraudsters are really just trying to find the right opportunity where someone lets their guard down," Trevino said.
It's something the FBI is tracking in their Internet Crime Report. Last year, there were 11,727 victims of real estate scams with an estimated loss of $396 million.
The FBI also tracks victims by state and Texas ranks third.
"We encourage our agents to make sure they are doing their due diligence, saying that – asking for proper identification, making sure that you are checking the tax roll records, even ask them for a utility bill or maybe a copy of their deed," Trevino said.
The FBI calls this a "seller impersonation" scam. KHOU 11 News spoke with the actual owner of the lot. He told us he had no idea someone had listed his property for sale until a potential buyer knocked on his door.
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