Open Forum

Hey All,

With the uptick in seller impersonation fraud, this issue has once again taken the forefront of our concerns.  It's not like we haven't addressed impersonation fraud many times in the past, but now we have internet-based solutions.   I'm curious what your office may be doing to combat this problem. 

I'd like to know what your solution is and how it is working for you. What are the pros and cons of this solution?

If you are using KBA (knowledge-based authentication), I am interested in what company you may be using to access this form of ID verification.

------------------------------
Creating a better business experience while turning revenues into profits

Nancy L. Gusman, Esq.                      
Brick House Consulting Services, LLC                      
GusmanLegal, LLC                                         
Past President, Maryland Land Title Association                                                           
Certified Land Title Professional (CLTP)                                
National Title Professional (NTP)                                                           
11720 Beltsville Drive
Suite 500
Beltsville, MD 20705
Phone: (301)563-9669                                                 
Fax: (240)559-1430
Mobile: (240)994-1697
Email: [email protected]
------------------------------

Nancy, 

Great question and a super-important topic nationally.  Scammers continue to advance the social engineering and fake ID tactics to divert funds.  Seller impersonation fraud started with vacant land and is now morphing into entity-held properties that have higher price tags and larger payouts for fraud syndicates.    

As a large title agency owner (Sun Title) and co-founder of CertifID we manage the risk by using CertifID to verify the identity of any vacant land seller before we open title work.  It provides KBA analysis but also digital device analysis and will expose a scammer in real-time.   I was on the phone last night with another large agent that uses the solution and they caught a scammer in Florida on a ~$300K land scam earlier this week.   Even if people are asking to come into one of our offices to close, we run them through CertifID because you cannot simply rely upon a driver's license or passport anymore.  The fake ID's are too good to distinguish and with vacant land, most real estate agents don't meet the customer face to face. 

When it comes to remote or "mail-away" closings, we've reverted to a RON platform rather than an in-person signing because that also includes KBA as part of the RON process.  This additional layer of security, coupled with a recorded video session, provides much more identity validation than a small piece of plastic in someone's purse or wallet.   We've seen instances where money mules will show up to a remote closing with a contract notary and sign the documents in person.  The ID has the money mule's picture on it but all other information represents the real property owner.  

As industry professionals, we need to think about identity in a different way.  Our job is not simply to review an ID document and confirm the name and address matches the deed, purchase agreement or closing paperwork, it's to confirm the person is physically who they say they are.  

Thanks again for the taking time to pose the question.  

------------------------------
Thomas Cronkright Esq.
Executive Chairman
Sun Title Agency of Michigan, LLC
Grand Rapids MI
+1 (616) 317-4221
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-31-2023 14:01
From: Nancy Gusman
Subject: Impersonation Fraud - Solutions

Hey All,

With the uptick in seller impersonation fraud, this issue has once again taken the forefront of our concerns.  It's not like we haven't addressed impersonation fraud many times in the past, but now we have internet-based solutions.   I'm curious what your office may be doing to combat this problem. 

I'd like to know what your solution is and how it is working for you. What are the pros and cons of this solution?

If you are using KBA (knowledge-based authentication), I am interested in what company you may be using to access this form of ID verification.

------------------------------
Creating a better business experience while turning revenues into profits

Nancy L. Gusman, Esq.                      
Brick House Consulting Services, LLC                      
GusmanLegal, LLC                                         
Past President, Maryland Land Title Association                                                           
Certified Land Title Professional (CLTP)                                
National Title Professional (NTP)                                                           
11720 Beltsville Drive
Suite 500
Beltsville, MD 20705
Phone: (301)563-9669                                                 
Fax: (240)559-1430
Mobile: (240)994-1697
Email: [email protected]
------------------------------

If we have a transaction involving vacant land, or if the seller's address on the sales agreement or if their mailing address on the Assessment records is different from the property address, or if we have sellers who are in a rush, out of state, or just seem fishy, we mail a letter to their mailing address listing on the Assessment records informing them that we are currently in the process of selling their property.  We tell them that they are receiving this letter as a part of our fraud prevention efforts.  We also tell them that the purpose of the letter is to alert them of the sale of their property in the event someone is trying to fraudently sell their property without their knowledge.  Our letter instructs them to call us if they are not actively selling their property and we have a date and time order received listed on the letter that they have to repeat back to us to know that they received our actual letter.

Machelle Snare

Agency Operations Officer

Certified Commercial Underwriter

Settlement Processors

Bankers Settlement Services of SWPA

160 Canal Street

Hollidaysburg, PA  16648

(814) 696-9800

[email protected]

------------------------------
Machelle Snare
Bankers Settlement Services of Southwest Pennsylvania, LLC
Hollidaysburg PA
+1 (814) 696-9800
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-31-2023 14:01
From: Nancy Gusman
Subject: Impersonation Fraud - Solutions

Hey All,

With the uptick in seller impersonation fraud, this issue has once again taken the forefront of our concerns.  It's not like we haven't addressed impersonation fraud many times in the past, but now we have internet-based solutions.   I'm curious what your office may be doing to combat this problem. 

I'd like to know what your solution is and how it is working for you. What are the pros and cons of this solution?

If you are using KBA (knowledge-based authentication), I am interested in what company you may be using to access this form of ID verification.

------------------------------
Creating a better business experience while turning revenues into profits

Nancy L. Gusman, Esq.                      
Brick House Consulting Services, LLC                      
GusmanLegal, LLC                                         
Past President, Maryland Land Title Association                                                           
Certified Land Title Professional (CLTP)                                
National Title Professional (NTP)                                                           
11720 Beltsville Drive
Suite 500
Beltsville, MD 20705
Phone: (301)563-9669                                                 
Fax: (240)559-1430
Mobile: (240)994-1697
Email: [email protected]
------------------------------

Hi Nancy,

I'm sorry to hear that impersonation fraud is on the rise in your area. We've been dealing with it in South Florida for several years now. I'm not a title agent, but I work with hundreds of them across the nation, especially when it comes to foreign sellers. 

I use three programs personally:

1. Authenticating.com: This service offers KBA if the seller is US and has a social or it has facial recognition for foreign sellers. The cost is low and the service appears to be thorough.
2. WhitePages: I think I pay $5 a month for the service but it provides really helpful information. It will usually show phone numbers associated with a person and their emails. So I can at least confirm if I'm communicating with them through emails that have been registered to their name for sometime. The service also provides history of the places they have lived. So, you can look up the property addresses, and see if they ever conveyed ownership. I compare signatures on the deed against their identification document provided.
3. TINCheck: This program is awesome! It allows me to enter a person's name and their social security number or ITIN. The program checks for validity against the SSA records. I was able to stop fake sellers in their tracks by simply running their number through their system.

If you have any questions about these programs or want to see how they work, just reach out to me. We can set up a Zoom meeting and I will share my screen with you. I have several other tools that I use when I'm helping title companies to vet their sellers. I'm happy to share all of my resources with you, no strings attached. I consider this to be a very serious issue and I want to do my part to put an end to it.

------------------------------
Julie Lepore, Owner
Total FIRPTA LLC
Cape Coral FL
Phone: 239-266-8516
Email: [email protected]
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-31-2023 14:01
From: Nancy Gusman
Subject: Impersonation Fraud - Solutions

Hey All,

With the uptick in seller impersonation fraud, this issue has once again taken the forefront of our concerns.  It's not like we haven't addressed impersonation fraud many times in the past, but now we have internet-based solutions.   I'm curious what your office may be doing to combat this problem. 

I'd like to know what your solution is and how it is working for you. What are the pros and cons of this solution?

If you are using KBA (knowledge-based authentication), I am interested in what company you may be using to access this form of ID verification.

------------------------------
Creating a better business experience while turning revenues into profits

Nancy L. Gusman, Esq.                      
Brick House Consulting Services, LLC                      
GusmanLegal, LLC                                         
Past President, Maryland Land Title Association                                                           
Certified Land Title Professional (CLTP)                                
National Title Professional (NTP)                                                           
11720 Beltsville Drive
Suite 500
Beltsville, MD 20705
Phone: (301)563-9669                                                 
Fax: (240)559-1430
Mobile: (240)994-1697
Email: [email protected]
------------------------------

Hello:

Although our line of services is federal tax FIRPTA compliance have been helpful in identifying potential fraud in the process of selling property in the U.S. remember, every single real estate transaction is subject to FIRPTA until you obtain a certificate of non-foreign status, for that it is important to obtain, ESPECIALLY under the suspicion of a potential scam at least one of the following;

• Copy of the seller's U.S. passport
• Copy of the seller's birth certificate 
• Copy of the seller's U.S. naturalization papers

Otherwise FIRPTA is due and the seller has to comply with the federal tax regulations.

We have one case where the seller of a land in TX was immediately identified as a foreign seller subject to FIRPTA compliance by a real estate agent who attended one of our FIRPTA for Realtors class, he let his seller know and notified the potential buyer about the "extra step in that particular transaction", when we collected the information the seller communicated to us "his passport was expired and was not interested in recovering the FIRPTA withholding" , we requested to see a copy of an old passport, NOPE, he said, that's fine I just need to sell "because of a tragic event within the family", well, who doesn't want to recover $20,000 especially if needing money because of a supposed family tragic?, we did a little digging on our side and communicated our suspicions to the title company and listing agent, the title company was able to determine it was fraud.

But it is scary the amount of risk the Title companies face with so many scams.

Good luck!! 

------------------------------
Mary Enzi
Tax Solutions – FIRPTA Consulting
Barker TX
+1 (281) 578-1040
[email protected]
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-31-2023 14:01
From: Nancy Gusman
Subject: Impersonation Fraud - Solutions

Hey All,

With the uptick in seller impersonation fraud, this issue has once again taken the forefront of our concerns.  It's not like we haven't addressed impersonation fraud many times in the past, but now we have internet-based solutions.   I'm curious what your office may be doing to combat this problem. 

I'd like to know what your solution is and how it is working for you. What are the pros and cons of this solution?

If you are using KBA (knowledge-based authentication), I am interested in what company you may be using to access this form of ID verification.

------------------------------
Creating a better business experience while turning revenues into profits

Nancy L. Gusman, Esq.                      
Brick House Consulting Services, LLC                      
GusmanLegal, LLC                                         
Past President, Maryland Land Title Association                                                           
Certified Land Title Professional (CLTP)                                
National Title Professional (NTP)                                                           
11720 Beltsville Drive
Suite 500
Beltsville, MD 20705
Phone: (301)563-9669                                                 
Fax: (240)559-1430
Mobile: (240)994-1697
Email: [email protected]
------------------------------