07/28/2025
Taken from MoneyWise
REAL ESTATE SCAMS ARE AN ONGOING PROBLEM
In 2024, there were 9,359 real estate fraud complaints filed, according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Report. All told, consumers lost more than $173,000 million to real estate fraud.
Sadly, it was older people who were most likely to lose money to real estate scams.
In 2024, people ages 50 to 59 lost $22,466,504 to real estate fraud, compared to $6,623,054 among people in their 30s and $9,331,733 among people in their 40s. But people ages 60 and over reported 1,765 real estate crimes last year totaling an astounding $76,324,236 in losses.
Because so many older people live or retire in Florida, it's not surprising that the state ranks among those with the most fraud complaints. In 2024, Florida came in third in that category, following only California and Texas. It was also third in terms of total financial losses.
A big reason older people may be more likely to fall victim to real estate fraud is that they have more assets than their younger counterparts. And as the FBI states about scams in general, "Seniors are often targeted because they tend to be trusting and polite. They also usually have financial savings, own a home and have good credit — all of which make them attractive to scammers."
In the context of real estate, the problem is that it's not difficult to create documents that look legitimate. Scammers can download public records and duplicate or manipulate them in a way that seems official.
