How a California homeowner, real estate agent unraveled a scam

Before closing the deal, it helps to know the lay of the land. So here we are, we're on Sylvan Road where the property is. So it's a good thing Michael Joseph does his research. And it's next to a church on one side and it's actually a historical landmark on the other side. Because the sale of this plot of land in Citrus Heights turned out to be unlike any other in his nearly 20-year career as a real estate broker. This began in the early part of August. First, he got a call from a man named Mohamed, ready to sell this parcel. So they put it on the market. And did you find someone? I did. And offer $25,000 over the listing price. Michael let Mohamed know the good news, communicating by phone or email because his client was often traveling for business. The seller said, yes, let's definitely take that. Let's run with it. Seven-day close, all that looks good. Cash offer, all contingencies removed. But in the home stretch, the sale hit a snack. A day before close of escrow comes, my escrow officer, who we've been working together for years, emails me and says, Michael, early in the morning. Michael, she said she had some concerns about the seller. Mohamed wanted to use his own notary. But that notary wasn't on the escrow company's vetted list, he says. So he asked Mohamed to call escrow to finalize those signing arrangements. Something apparently his client didn't do. Now it's a red flag. He decided it was time to meet Mohamed face to face. Showing up at his Rockland home unannounced. The gentleman answers, I says, Mohamed. I said, what can I do for you? I was glad to meet him. I said, I'm Michael Joseph, your agent. He said, Michael who? Agent in what? Mohamed wasn't following. I thought initially it was a joke. Because he wasn't selling his Citrus Heights property. I was a bit shocked. And I said, Mohamed, I think we have a case of fraud. It's the kind of crime the FBI investigates. The scary part is we are resolving a lot of these to criminal rings. Jimmy Hassani is a supervisory special agent. Our transactions are even more remote now. You can buy a house sight unseen from across the world just through virtual signing. Something scammers took advantage of during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is what KCRA 3 Investigates found. Combing through reports from the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center. Tens of millions of dollars lost over the years because of real estate fraud in California. And even more nationwide impacting thousands of victims. A reality that hit too close to home for the real Mohamed and his wife. We lost our sense of comfort and security for a while. He says he tried to report what happened to law enforcement. There has to be some consequences for this. Michael tried too with local and federal agencies. All of them said because there was no exchange of money and because title was not transferred, they will not pursue it. But in discussing the fraud, Michael and Mohamed managed to make the best out of the bad situation. He said, how much did you have in contract for? I said, well, $225. He thought and said, you know, I'll sell it for $225. He already had a buyer, so it didn't take us long to close the deal. Landing a successful sale for everyone except the fraudsters who set this all in motion. Liz Amitri, KCRA 3 Investigates. To avoid falling victim to real estate fraud, property owners can set up alerts on Google or Zillow for mentions of their address online. Yeah, and some counties also offer notification programs for property owners. For instance, Placer County automatically alerts owners about recorded activity related to their properties.