By Denise Groene
Better Business Bureau
The nationally recognized Better Business Bureau (BBB) has identified yet another new scam, aimed at those who may already be in financial straits. Scammers are not content to simply steal identities or access and drain bank accounts. Recently reports have increased of thieves who are out to take over your very home via a new kind of deed scam. Homeowners are tricked into signing away their property to the scammer who has posed as someone attempting to “assist” them through their financial difficulty.
How the scam is played out By accessing public records, crooks can identify victims. They can gather a sense for whether someone is behind on a mortgage payment or in foreclosure. They contact the victim saying they are a “foreclosure specialist,” or with some similar title that sounds pertinent to the victim’s situation. Scammers can be exceptional at faking empathy, disguising themselves as trustworthy and expert at assistance.
The “specialist” gives the victim a description of what seems to be a way out of financial woes. Their “plan” appears to be a way for the victim to keep the home. It can be hard to resist such a sales pitch when victims are desperate, and scammers know this all too well. They describe a means of modifying the victim’s mortgage and lowering payments. To get the ball rolling, they request that the victim sign a few legal documents. Failure on the part of the victim to…
