Property prices are growing consistently, and lenders are raising their rates and fees. A real estate scam costs millions to an individual. The mortgage and foreclosure fraud hit many homeowners, economies, and businesses worldwide. The Land Registry reports suggest scammers are attracted to property posted at higher values and target homes on rent.  

There are different types of scams committed by fraudsters. In the UK, the anti-scam units have reported more than 18,000 rental scam cases since 2014. More than 22 million pounds have been lost in these scams. The government's anti-scam arm is informing people about such scams and giving warnings to the potential tenant. 

How to avoid it? Before giving an advance, one should visit the property to know more about the owner, examine it carefully, and check if the accommodation office approves the owner. Do not give a large sum of money to the owner without getting a full guarantee about the dependability of the owner (and the property).

Most fraudsters will try to push you to make a decision fast. These crimes are committed online where the victim is contacted online by the scammer with pictures of the house and contact info. Sellers may ask you for a security deposit and show an inability to show the property market.

Tips To Avoid Frauds During Buying or Selling

The risk of a scam is highest at the land registry. The scammer will try to get the house's ownership, mostly done using forged paperwork, where the owner's name is changed, or the scammer impersonates the owner. Money paid during the mortgage of such property is lost without being repaid.

Law Society has been providing information to identify such property in the UK.

If a person identifies a circumstance where the property has no mortgage, it becomes easy for a fraudster to sell it using someone else's identity.

In conditions the property remains unoccupied for long, fraudsters may try to gain access to the papers of the property and try to obtain the owner's identity. 

In the residential property case, any change in the owner's name or address spelling can hint at a scam.

There are other signals for property buyers to see. Before getting a new property, one should try to get more and more information about the seller. Get written documents and bona fides and speak to the seller frequently. See if the seller gets away when you are trying to contact him.

Are the address on the documents and other addresses tallying, or if the dates of buying and selling properties the same? In addition, one can gain online information on social media sites about the seller.

Buying and selling property involves a huge amount of monetary transactions, and one should take precautions to protect the bank account information. For example, the buyer or seller should never give bank details online in the mail as text; instead, use a password-protected document or a PDF file. 

During monetary transactions, avoid giving details about your bank on mobiles; instead, get an alert if the buyer or the seller asks about the bank details on the phone.

Be careful while transferring money and talk to the compliance team about various other details involved in the transactions to prevent fraud.

To find out other details involved in a property transaction, check Hamilton International Estates (www.hamiltoninternationalestates.com).