In 2025, 59% of title firms ran into at least one seller impersonation fraud attempt, more than double the 28% who reported one two years earlier.
The numbers come from ALTA’s 2026 Critical Issues Study on seller impersonation fraud, based on a survey of 245 title insurance professionals across 40 states, DC, and the US Virgin Islands.
Agents tend to picture this fraud as a stolen ID and a forged notary stamp on a vacant land deal. The 2026 survey adds deepfakes and spoofed contact information to that picture. A sharper focus on deceased and absentee owners rounds it out.
Wherever you are, this is news you’ll want to share with buyers and sellers in your area to build awareness and help them avoid a costly trap.
ALTA’s report shows which properties and owners criminals target, and how the tactics and the defenses are changing.
Fraud Attempts Are Up (and So Are Costs)
Fraud attempts against sellers multiplied in 2025, and firms are seeing it every month now.
- 59% of firms reported at least one fraud attempt in the prior calendar year, up from 28% in 2024
- The share reporting an attempt in the prior month rose from 19% to 45%
- Firms reporting three or more attempts in a single month climbed from 4% to 23%
Fraud attempts can turn into real financial losses. Here’s how the costs break down for firms that reported a paid claim in 2025:
- 25% of firms with a fraud attempt also reported a paid claim tied to it
- Among those, half disclosed average costs above $100,000
- 42% reported costs between $25,000 and $100,000
- 8% reported costs under $25,000
A loss like that can wipe out a buyer’s resources and set them back for years. The legal fallout can also wreak havoc for both buyers and the real property owners.
Criminals Are Widening Their Target List
Vacant land remains the top target for this fraud, at 82% of firms rating it as common. Four other property types picked up more than 10 percentage points since 2024:
- Vacation homes: 51% (up 14 points)
- Rental properties: 48% (up 11 points)
- Agricultural land: 36% (up 13 points)
- Primary residences: 25% (up 13 points)
ALTA asked about ownership characteristics for the first time in 2026, and three patterns stood out:
- Absentee owners: 72%
- Properties owned free and clear: 68%
- Properties tied to recently deceased owners: 55%
Owners who aren’t around and properties with no mortgage attached make it harder for anyone to catch an impersonator before the deal closes.
New Tools on Both Sides of the Fraud Fight
The tools scammers use are getting more advanced. Spoofed contact information ranks as the top tactic firms report, and deepfake video and voice enter the list as a new category in 2026. Here’s the full breakdown, including how criminals use stolen personal information:
- Spoofed contact information: 87% (new category)
- Deepfake image or voice: 58% (new category)
- Birth dates: 70% (up 17 points)
- Social Security numbers: 55% (up 13 points)
- Death certificates: 36% (new category)
No red flag grew faster than the deceased title holder flag. It went from 36% in 2024 to 60% in 2026, a 24 point jump, the biggest increase of any red flag in the study.
To combat this and all types of seller impersonation fraud, firms are combining multiple defenses. 98% use at least one tool they find useful for catching this fraud, and 94% use more than one.
The average firm relies on 5.3 of the 8 tools tracked in the survey.
Here’s how the top tools rank:
- ID verification systems: 92%
- Contacting the seller: 90%
- Multifactor authentication (MFA): 89%
- Approved notary: 88%
Two tools posted the biggest gains since 2024:
- Knowledge-based authentication, which verifies identity through security questions only the real owner should know the answers to, jumped 24 points to 86%.
- Remote online notarization, which lets a notary complete a closing over video, climbed 20 points to 66%.
The curative process, the title review and clearing work completed before closing, catches more fraud than any other stage in the deal. 87% of firms flag it there, compared with 68% at signing or closing and 42% during order entry and search and exam.
Building Fraud Checks Into Every Deal
The properties and owners most at risk today look different from two years ago. A deceased title holder, an absentee owner, or a property with no mortgage attached deserves the same scrutiny as an empty lot.
No single tool catches everything on its own. The firms with the strongest track record use several checks at once, from ID verification to seller contact to multifactor authentication, and treat the curative process as the last real chance to catch a problem before closing.
Seller impersonation fraud is part of a broader rise in real estate fraud. Wire fraud and business email compromise both grew alongside it in this survey. So did elder exploitation and heirs’ property issues. Verification steps built for one scheme can catch others, too.
Building these checks into standard practice before a deal reaches the curative process gives everyone a better shot at catching a problem before it’s too late to fix.
