RALEIGH, N.C. — A Raleigh man said his ID was stolen by a scammer who was nearly able to sell his land out from under him.
Jon Arnold actually found his property near Avent Ferry Road listed on Zillow.
Preventing disaster has taken a lot of work. There’s a sign Arnold had to put up to stop people from visiting the property. That step was just part of a process that went as far as contacting the FBI.
Arnold’s owned a vacant lot on Tanager Street since the 1980s. That nearly changed last week as a complete shock to him.
“Just surprise,” Arnold said of his reaction.
On Dec. 16, real estate agent Paul Huber sent Arnold a message, saying he’d been contacted by someone claiming to be Arnold who wanted to sell the Tanager Street property.
Huber says the man sent him an ID, which was a perfect copy of a North Carolina driver’s license.
“I’ve never seen him before, but he’s made a very good ID of my driver’s license,” Arnold said.
But the scammer’s suspicious story, saying he needed cash quick to buy a new home in Michigan led Huber to believe it was fake.
“It just wasn’t adding up in my mind, and that’s why I just asked for that further,” Huber said. “Because I’ve seen this in other parts of the country.”
Another Raleigh real estate agent had posted the listing for the scammer. Arnold was able to get in contact with realtor Cindy Poole Roberts and have it taken down, then contacted the Wake County Sheriff’s Office, who said to file a complaint with the FBI as well.
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