Surprise! Your Home’s For Sale For $10,000 In New Scam

Imagine waking up tomorrow to find out your valuable home is listed “for sale” on the internet for the low, low price of just $10,000. More Americans are facing that situation every day with real estate fraud on the rise.

Now more than ever, business deals of all types are being completed on the internet rather than in person. Of course, that includes the sale or rental of single-family homes. Unfortunately, internet business transactions also come with the risk of fraud.

A Kansas City couple recently noticed their 5-bedroom house for sale on a popular internet property website for just over $10,000. According to an article by Kate Gibson on CBSNews.com, Jamey and Lauren Bertram were told by some friends that they saw their house “for sale by owner” on Zillow.com.

The Bertrams had no intention of moving, selling, or renting their home. Yet there it was, listed for the low, low price of $10,200. The listing notified potential buyers to call someone named “Mandi” at a Las Vegas telephone number.

The Gibson article goes on to report that once you call that phone number, you’re instructed to send $200 to “Mandi” through a bank money transfer app. Once that fraudulent transaction was completed, the interested buyer would then be instructed to visit the house for a walk-through, which would never occur. Needless to say, the Bertrams had plenty of interested parties knocking on their door wanting that walk-through.

So how can something like this happen? According to the CBSNews.com posting, the Bertrams’ house was originally listed for sale at $1.2 million. That’s how the listing got past Zillow’s security measures.

Once posted, the real estate fraudsters dropped the price down to $10,200 with the “too good to be true” explanation that they own lots of houses and once a year they like to sell one at a cheap price as a tax write-off.

Apparently, real estate fraud is on the rise in the U.S.A. Moreover, Gibson’s article indicates that over 9,500 Americans were victims of real estate fraud and home rental scams in 2023.

The FBI’s website lists some very helpful tips to avoid becoming a victim of real estate fraud and home rental scams. For example, do NOT wire money to people you do not know. In addition, do not make any down payments or security payments for a house or apartment you’ve never seen.

Furthermore, never complete any online forms or applications until you’ve met in person with the actual homeowner, real estate agent, or property manager. To see all of the FBI’s tip for avoiding real estate fraud, click here.

Now, feel free to scroll down for more content which may interest you.

Most people like to think they're pretty tech-savvy. However, Cobalt Labs, Inc., a platform for security and development, reported that 2,220 cyberattacks occur each day, which equates to 800,000 attacks per year. According to AAG, an IT services company, nearly 1 billion emails were exposed in a single year, affecting 1 in 5 internet users.

In January, there was a data breach that exposed billions of records online. Many outlets referred to this breach as the "Mother of All Breaches."  In a detailed report from CyberNews.com, the leak included websites like Dropbox, Linkedin, and X (formerly known as Twitter). They mentioned in their report that if users use the same passwords for their Netflix account as they do for their Gmail account, attackers can use this to pivot towards other, more sensitive accounts. They added, "Apart from that, users whose data has been included in supermassive MOAB may become victims of spear-phishing attacks or receive high levels of spam emails."

There are many ways to tell if you have been hacked, from redirected internet searches and unexpected installs to rogue mouse pointers. Some studies show that random pop-ups that quickly appear with links or advertisements can be a sign. Sometimes, one may see fraudulent antivirus warning messages, saying that your computer has been hacked from an antivirus "software" you have never actually installed. This can also be unwanted browser toolbars, emails sent from your email to your contacts, and passwords being declined among other telltale signs.

For many years, people have been told over and over again about the risk of hackers tapping into your technology. Even as technology advances and more and more security software and management techniques are created to prevent these hacks, scammers continue to find ways to break in.

There's only one sure way to avoid getting hacked. And that's to never go online. Unfortunately, many of us don't have that option. So, check out some of the top mistakes that can get you hacked below.

Many of us are still using the same password across many different accounts. While it's pretty common, it's not a good habit to have. If you're reusing passwords for multiple websites and accounts, a hacker could potentially use that password to log into those accounts. Nobody wants to have to remember a 16-digit password for every single one of their accounts, especially when getting locked out of a computer or platform at the most inconvenient time. But if a security breach were to happen, that's one less problem to worry about. Like, remembering which accounts are at risk of a threat.

Personal data exposure is really a thing. When you share personal information on social media, you expose yourself to the risk of identity theft and fraud. According to the New York Institute of Technology, Cybercriminals can use the information you share, such as your full name, date of birth, and location, to impersonate you or launch targeted attacks. Most people know that sharing sensitive information such as your car information, address, work history, or phone numbers can make you vulnerable. But some people forget that this information can also be identified through pictures and innocent as sharing your new car photo or your child's first day of school photo.

Hackers can use unsecured Wi-Fi connections to distribute malware. If you allow file-sharing across a network, the hacker can easily plant infected software on your computer. Free public Wi-Fi is available almost everywhere at places like restaurants, hotels, airports, bookstores, and even retail outlets. But public wi-fi comes with risks. "Hackers can also use an unsecured Wi-Fi connection to distribute malware. If you allow file-sharing across a network, the hacker can easily plant infected software on your computer," said Kaspersky, a tech company. Some people highly recommended looking into a VPN to encrypt internet traffic and keep your data hidden.

Clicking on a suspicious link or phishing link can sometimes set off a malware download that often contains malicious files. According to Aura, a credit monitoring platform, these links are capable of collecting information stored on your device. Hackers can steal credit card numbers, bank account numbers, usernames and passwords, and other personal information. If you’ve clicked on a phishing link, Cyber Tec Security suggest completely disconnecting from the internet.

The last thing many of us want to do is update our software. But there are many reasons why it's important to do so. Software updates not only fix and improve problems with your software it also helps you avoid hackers. According to the University of Idaho, software updates often include patches that fix vulnerabilities or bugs that hackers can exploit to access your system or data. "By installing the latest updates, you can reduce the risk of cyberattacks and protect your personal and business information," they said.

One of the most effective things you can do to protect your online accounts is turning on multi-factor, or two-factor, authentication for as many of your accounts as possible. This method often uses a piece of information such as a code generated by an app or sent to your phone alongside a password. Two-factor authentication adds an additional layer of security to the authentication process. According to Tech Target, using multi-factor authentication makes it harder for attackers to gain access to a person's devices or online accounts. Most companies have this in place for their employers but it's something you can use for personal emails too.

Larry Martino is the long-time afternoon drive personality on 96.3 KKLZ. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of Larry Martino and not necessarily those of Beasley Media Group, LLC.

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