‘It’s happened to us three times’: Real estate broker shares experience with attempted deed theft scams

August 22, 2025
Source: Brett Davidsen, for News10NBC

WAYNE COUNTY, N.Y. – A Wayne County man is trying to get his land back after a fraudster posed as him and sold his land without him even knowing. News10NBC has been reporting on the growing scam of deed theft this week.

Amanda Grover, a small independent real estate broker in the Finger Lakes, says her guard is always up, knowing she is often the first line of defense in sniffing out scammers.

“Just in our office alone, it’s happened to us three times,” Grover said.

So far, she says they’ve managed to thwart the would-be thieves.

“Then when it starts to get towards the listing time period, that’s when the red flags start to come up. You start to hear things like, oh, I’m out of the country at this time and I can’t get there to meet you, but I’d like to proceed,” Grover said.

Unfortunately for Ron Harder, no one saw the red flags. Harder lives in Texas but owns land in Wayne County – that is until someone posed as him using a fake driver’s license and successfully had his property listed and sold for $35,000. The money was wired overseas. Harder is now in the process of trying to get the deed back in his name.

“It’s kind of in limbo. I really can’t do anything with my property until the original title is restored and that won’t happen without the order of the courts,” Harder said.

Last year, Grover had an out of state prospective buyer who saw a 60 acre parcel for sale near his land in Gorham and was interested in maybe buying it. That is until he made a shocking discovery.

“The crazy thing is this particular buyer prospect that was interested in this property quickly realized it was actually his own property that was listed for sale,” Amanda Grover said.

In many deed theft attempts, scammers target out of state property owners – it gives them a convenient excuse to avoid meeting in person. Grover says, in a perfect world, brokers would always be able to meet their clients face to face. But she knows that’s not always going to be the case, so they can’t let down their guard – because there’s a lot at stake.

“Some of these pieces of land — it’s nothing to have a small piece of land sell for $100,000 these days. I guess you just have to get craftier than the scammers,” Amanda Grover said.

If you think you’ve been a victim of fraud, the Attorney General’s Office has a deed theft email tip line. The address is deedtheft@ag.ny.gov.

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Equity Protect acknowledges that some advertised services may exaggerate the threat of deed and title fraud. Our aim is to provide accurate information about the evolving risks of seller impersonation and deed fraud. While it is true that the overall incidence of home title theft is relatively low, certain factors can increase the likelihood of a property owner becoming a victim of seller impersonation and deed fraud. Our data suggests that while 25% of people nationwide may be at high risk for title fraud, among our premium users, 1 in 11 have faced actual fraud attempts, with all affected properties (excluding family disputes) classified as high-risk. The risk assessment offered is based on current fraud attempts, evolving tactics, and statistics from reputable sources such as the American Land Title Association (ALTA), which recently shared that 28% of title companies experiencing at least one incident of seller impersonation fraud in 2023. We strive to educate the public about genuine vulnerabilities while dispelling misconceptions. Users should be aware that while we provide valuable insights, individual circumstances may vary, and our services should be considered as part of a comprehensive approach to property protection.