Scammers stole homeowners’ identities and sold their houses ‘out from under them’, US feds say

The scheme began in February 2020, around the start of the pandemic, allowing the men to take advantage of more remote transactions to assume fake identities and conduct sales, officials said in the December 2023 indictment. — Unsplash

A group accused of a real estate fraud scheme conspired to steal at least 10 homeowners’ identities and sold their properties “out from under them” without permission, US federal officials said.

The accused ringleader has now been sentenced, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia said in a May 3 news release.