FBI issues warning to US homeowners with 100% paid-off mortgages — new update reveals major risk. Is your house exposed?

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For many Americans, paying off the mortgage is the ultimate financial finish line. After decades of monthly payments, the house is finally yours — free and clear.

But the FBI is warning that this hard-earned milestone could also attract the wrong kind of attention.

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Criminals are impersonating property owners and attempting to sell their real estate without their knowledge or consent — and properties without a mortgage or other lien can be especially attractive targets.

In other words, the clean title you spent decades working toward could be exactly what a fraudster is looking for.

And the threat is not merely hypothetical. In a recent federal case, three people were charged over their alleged roles in a multistate scheme involving approximately $1.5 million in illegal proceeds.

So, how can someone attempt to sell a property that belongs to you — and how would you even know it was happening?

In a June 16 public alert (1), the FBI outlined a scheme built around a disturbingly simple idea: Criminals don't need to break into your property. They impersonate you instead.

First, fraudsters collect the owner's personal information. According to the FBI, those details can come from county or state websites, data brokers, stolen accounts, phishing schemes, the dark web or hackers.

Armed with that information, they can create fake driver's licenses or passports, open email accounts and use internet-based phone numbers to pose as the owner.

The impostor then contacts real estate agents and title companies, prepares contracts and attempts to put the property on the market.

By the time the real owner discovers what is happening, the property may have already been listed — or even sold — and the proceeds wired away.

The FBI's latest bulletin focuses on vacant property. But the agency's Boston field office previously warned (2) that scammers also comb public records for properties without a mortgage or other lien.

One likely reason is that an unencumbered property has no lender whose lien must be cleared at closing, potentially removing a checkpoint that could expose inconsistencies. And with no mortgage balance to repay, more of the fraudulent sale proceeds may be up for grabs.