The Real Estate Institute of New South Wales (REINSW) has warned that property agents should be on alert for identity fraudsters, resulting in vendors now being required to have their identity verified by going ahead with a sale.
Identity fraud is costing the Australian economy $1 billion a year, as the crime is one of the fastest-growing infractions in the country.
The property sector is vulnerable as well, with two incidents in Western Australia outlining what can go wrong, with properties being sold without the knowledge of the owners.
In both cases, the two properties had tenants and were managed by a property agent on behalf of the real owners. The fraudsters would contact the agent, supplying them with new contact details, for which all future communications would be used, with the sales proceeding from that point.
The Western Australian Department of Commerce has continued to alert people to the presence of fraudsters as of February.
As a result of the scams in Western Australia, New South Wales Fair Trading has released a set of guidelines entitled Real Estate Fraud Prevention Guidelines.
These recommendations are part of an attempt to reduce the amount of real estate fraud, with common sense practices put in place to confirm who people say they are.
