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Creative ID Thieves Target Real Estate
Posted on Jun 11, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
High foreclosure rates in neighborhoods can many times be blamed on identity thieves. Here's an article that talks about how they do it. The thief in this case is a mortgage broker that bought and sold homes, but usually under a false identity. He would bring others into the scam as needed.
Lytle, 33, would make between $3,000 and $20,000 per sale and divvy the proceeds among those he conspired with, including the people whose identity he used and those who helped find the so-called straw buyers, or people listed as an buyer who never intend to live at the property, according to the plea.
In Colorado, for instance, the appraisers are an important part of this type of scam. They inflate the value of the home and split the profits.
If you are in a neighborhood with high foreclosure rates, you may want to look more into this.
Filed under: Fraud, Identity Theft, Scams, Tips
Tags: appraiser, identitytheft, idtheft, mortgagefraud
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