A buyer contacts us and says he is relocating from out of state and would like to join a Zoom call to discuss the process. The sent link does not open a video conference, but rather installs malware.
Judah Samet, an agent in DeKalb County, Illinois, described that scenario in HomeLight’s Top Agent Insights Q2 2026 report. He says the scam is easy once you know what it looks like. The problem is that it seems like part of a regular job.
The report, which surveyed 950 top agents nationwide in April, found that real estate fraud is on the rise and that the methods agents encounter are often difficult to identify as fraud. AI is the key reason.
The FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Complaint Center Report includes 1,008,597 cybercrime complaints last year, resulting in more than $20.8 billion in total losses, a 26% increase over the previous year.
Of these, 12,368 real estate fraud complaints resulted in $275.1 million in losses, an increase from the previous year’s 9,359 complaints and $173.6 million in losses. IC3 also received more than 22,000 complaints related to AI, resulting in adjusted losses of more than $893 million.
AI is a useful tool for fraudsters because it lowers the barrier to creating convincing fake emails, audio, documents, and more on a scale never before possible. The FBI warned in a report that AI-generated content is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish from the real thing.
The most immediate AI threat to the real estate industry is business email compromise. The IC3 report found that in 2025, reported AI-connected BEC fraud, a scheme that uses generated text to impersonate executives and cloned voices to authorize fraudulent wire transfers, cost businesses more than $30 million.
In transactions where multiple parties email large sums of money on tight schedules, that kind of spoofing is difficult to spot.
fake video conference link
The Zoom scam Sameth described in the report does not target buyers. Instead, they are targeting listing agents. This configuration fits well with how agents work. An out-of-state buyer wants to connect virtually and sends a link. Clicking this will hand over your password and system access to the other party.
“Never use the ‘buyer’ links they send you,” Samet said in the report. “If a buyer wants to have a Zoom meeting, I ask them to call me first and I send them a link.”
Transfer fraud
The IC3 report found that business email breaches accounted for the second-highest losses at $3.046 billion across 24,768 complaints nationwide. In real estate, it usually works like this: Cybercriminals hack the emails of agents, buyers, and title companies. Monitor transactions. They then send fake wire instructions just before the trade closes, just in time to coincide with funds moving and timelines being tight.
Jennifer Hapke, a top agent in Milwaukee, Wis., said in a report, “Right before closing, you will receive an email with ‘updated wire instructions,’ likely from the title company or lender.” “It looks legit – same logo, similar email, correct name – but it’s not. And once that money is transferred, it’s gone. We’re talking tens of thousands of dollars.”
Her advice: “If you receive an email about money, pick up the phone and call a known number, not the number listed in the email,” Hapke said in the report. “This doesn’t mean being overly cautious; it’s about protecting your funds at the most vulnerable points in your transactions.”
Seller impersonation
According to the Home Light report, scammers pose as homeowners using fake identification and stolen public records to list and sell properties they don’t own. Vacant lots and homes are the most common targets, and the actual owners may not be closely monitoring activity.
“Scammers are now using AI to imitate property owners and professionals, targeting vacant lots and homes and selling them instantly from the real owners,” Matthew Gibbs, a top agent in Middletown, New York, said in the report.
His advice to avoid that is to never use the phone number or link provided in an email to verify the seller’s identity. “Verify all wire transfer instructions and the identity of the seller by calling a known, trusted number before a dollar moves,” Gibbs said in the report.
Fake rental property information
Scammers also steal photos from valid listings, relist them as rentals, and collect down payments from potential tenants who don’t realize it’s a scam until move-in day.
“Scammers are looking for properties” [online]”They take photos of old properties, advertise them for rental, and collect deposits,” Anne Skinner, a top agent serving mountain communities in north-central Colorado, said in the report. If they show up, the house will definitely become unavailable. ”
deed and title fraud
Another scam involves criminals forging the owner’s signature or using fake identification to transfer ownership of the property, then selling the property before the actual owner realizes what has happened. AI is accelerating this by making it easier to forge identification documents and harder for title companies to keep track of at the speed of today’s transactions.
Julian Clark, an attorney in Beaufort, South Carolina, said in a report that many county clerks and recorders offer free fraud alert notices on real estate filings. “Register with your local county court to protect against deed fraud,” she said in the report, adding that this service is especially important if the property is not in active use. “vacant land [scams] Last year was a big deal. ”
Common points
Gibbs said in the report that AI, more than anything, has changed the scope of real estate fraud operations, allowing fraudsters to run multiple schemes simultaneously and personalize each in ways that previously required significant manual effort. Vacant lots, vacant houses, and properties that no one is paying attention to are always targeted.
HomeLight’s report states that scammers target predictable moments in a transaction, and knowing where they appear is the best defense.
“All fraud relies on urgency, emotion and confusion,” Amanda Stanford, a San Antonio agent with 30 years of experience, said in the report. “Most people don’t lose money because they’re careless. They lose money because the fraud looks just like a normal transaction, and at that moment, they’re the least likely to question it.”
Her advice to agents: “Trust the process, not the message. Take the time to go over everything over the phone with you or a partner your agent trusts.”
Email Jesse Healy
