How to Protect Your Gulf Coast Property from Real Estate Fraud (Especially If You Live Elsewhere)

Real estate fraud just hit a record. The FBI's most recent Internet Crime Report tracked $275 million stolen from over 12,000 victims in 2025 alone — up from $173 million the year before. The numbers have nearly doubled in two years.

If you own Gulf Coast property — especially if you live somewhere else — you should know what's happening, and what you can do about it.

This isn't a fearmongering piece. The market is good. The Gulf Coast is growing. Title fraud is rare in absolute terms. But it's growing fast, the perpetrators are getting more sophisticated, and the people who get hit are often the ones who never thought it could happen to them.

Here's the reality of how it works, and the five practical steps that actually protect you.

Who's Actually Being Targeted

The most common target isn't the buyer or the agent. It's the property owner who lives elsewhere. Vacant land. Absentee-owned second homes. Properties that don't get checked on regularly.

Scammers identify these properties through public records — most county property records are searchable online, and identifying out-of-state owners is straightforward. They then impersonate the real owner. They contact agents claiming to want a quick cash sale, often citing distance, divorce, estate concerns, or other reasons they don't want to meet in person. They forge documents. They wire instructions get spoofed. The owner finds out months later — sometimes after the property has technically changed hands.

The Gulf Coast is a particular target because of the prevalence of second-home ownership, vacation rentals, and undeveloped coastal lots held by out-of-state investors. If you own any of these, the risk applies to you.

Step 1: Sign Up for Fraud Alerts at Your County Property Records Office

Most counties — including Baldwin County (Alabama) and Escambia County (Florida) — offer free property fraud alert systems. When something is filed against your title (a deed transfer, a lien, anything that affects ownership), you get a notification. It doesn't prevent the filing, but it gives you immediate awareness if something is happening that shouldn't be.

This is the single most important step you can take. It's free. It takes about ten minutes to set up. Search your county's property records or recorder's office website for "property fraud alert" or "title alert" — most have an online signup form. If you can't find it online, call the county recorder's office directly and ask.

Step 2: If You Live Elsewhere, Check on the Property Quarterly

Drive by quarterly. Ask a neighbor to keep an eye on it. Hire a property management service or a trusted local to check in. The point isn't to catch fraud in progress — it's to make sure that if anything looks wrong (locks changed, signs posted, occupants you don't know), you find out within weeks, not months.

For owners of vacant land specifically: drive the perimeter, look for signs of recent activity, and consider periodic photographs. If a fraudster is preparing to fake a sale, there are sometimes physical signs — surveyors, contractors, posted signs — that an attentive observer would notice.

Step 3: Verify Wire Instructions by Phone, Using a Number You Already Know

If you're ever in the middle of a transaction — buying, selling, refinancing — and you receive wire instructions by email, never wire money based on those instructions alone. Email accounts get compromised. Spoofed messages from "your title company" or "your closing agent" with updated wire instructions are one of the most common ways money disappears.

The protection is simple: call the title company or closing agent at a phone number you already have (not the number in the email) and verbally verify the wire instructions before sending. This one habit prevents the majority of wire fraud cases.

Step 4: Use a Title Company That Prioritizes Fraud Prevention

Not all title companies are equally rigorous. The good ones verify owner identity through multiple channels — including video calls, notarized signatures with credentialed notaries, and document checks against state records — before allowing a transaction to close. The lazy ones rely on documents alone.

Ask your title company specifically: what fraud prevention steps do you take when the seller is out of state? If their answer is vague, that's a flag. If they walk you through a multi-step verification process, you're in the right place.

Step 5: For Realtors — Use Identity Verification Tools

If you're a Realtor, this section is for you. Tools like ForeWarn (free for Florida Realtors members) verify a lead's identity in seconds — name, phone, address, criminal background, financial profile. I run every new lead through it before I meet anyone.

I've personally caught a property impersonation attempt this way. Someone contacted me trying to sell a property — name and phone number didn't match the actual owner on record. ForeWarn flagged the discrepancy. I verified through the property records, contacted the real owner, and then notified the title company and the MLS. The fraud attempt was stopped before it got past the listing conversation.

If you're not using an identity verification tool yet, get one. The cost — when there is one — is trivial compared to the alternative.

What to Do If You Suspect Something

If you receive a notification from your county that something has been filed against your property and you didn't authorize it, contact the county recorder's office immediately. They can flag the filing and walk you through next steps.

If you suspect fraud has already occurred — the property has been transferred, a lien has been placed, or you've been the victim of wire fraud — contact local law enforcement and file a report with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at IC3.gov. The faster you report, the better the chance of recovery.

If you're concerned about a specific property and want a second opinion before making any decisions, talk to a local Realtor or title attorney who knows the area. A short phone call can often clarify whether something looks off.

The Real Takeaway

The market is good. The fraudsters are getting better. Both can be true.

Real estate fraud is rare in absolute terms, but it's growing fast, and the people who get hit hardest are often the ones who never thought it could happen to them. The five steps above are simple, mostly free, and they remove the vast majority of the risk.

If you own Gulf Coast property and live somewhere else, please pass this along to anyone you know in the same situation. The best protection is awareness, and the best time to set up fraud alerts is before you need them.

If you have specific questions about a Baldwin County or Pensacola-area property — or you'd like a referral to a title company I trust — I'm always happy to help.

Katie Ragland | Real Broker, LLC256-366-6974 | linktr.ee/katieraglandrealtor