After two incidents in Ontario, B.C. residents looking to get into the housing market are encouraged to take every precaution necessary.
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) serving Mainland BC is warning the public about home title fraud, which happens when someone obtains the title to your property and changes ownership from your information to theirs by using fake identification and forged signatures.
The scary part is, you may not even realize it has happened until it’s too late.
In fact, it has already occurred twice in Ontario this month.
Scammers Strike in Toronto
In early January, two homeowners returned from working outside of Canada for several months only to discover that their property had been sold without their knowledge by people using fake identities, according to Toronto Police.
Last week, CBC News reported on a similar close call.
Luckily, a Toronto family was able to stop an attempted scam where someone used a fake identity to rent the home in the first place, and subsequently posed as the 95-year-old homeowner to convince real estate agents to list the home for sale.
The scammers received offers as high as $1.9 million before the owners found out and stopped the sale.
“Title fraud has been a threat to the Canadian real estate industry and is a potential risk for every property,” says President and CEO Simone Lis, for BBB serving Mainland BC.
“The best thing you can do is take proper precautions to avoid falling into this scam, and…
