The 3 Most Common Real Estate Scams—and How AI Is Making It Worse

By Melissa Dittmann Tracey

Real estate scams are growing—and consumers increasingly say they want an agent who has their back. Fraud awareness has never been higher, yet the schemes are becoming more sophisticated, more targeted and harder to detect.

Nearly half of consumers say they’re so worried about fraud they hesitate during wire transfers. They second-guess and lie awake wondering if they just sent their life savings to a criminal or the title company. “This anxiety creates friction in every transaction and damages the client experience even when nothing goes wrong,” according to the 2026 State of Wire Fraud report published by CertifID, a fraud and prevention firm.

They may have reason for concern: Americans lost a record $20.877 billion in 2025 alone to cybercrime, according to the latest FBI figures, a 26% jump from the previous year—and real estate has become a prime target. More than 1 in 5 consumers report receiving suspicious or fraudulent communications during their transaction, according to the 2026 State of Wire Fraud Report.

Real estate remains uniquely vulnerable because it is both highly public and highly valuable, says Tom Cronkright II, a real estate broker and co-founder of CertifID. “It’s the most public-facing transaction the average consumer will engage in,” he says, citing the public availability of property ownership records, tax data and even agent contact information. All of this can be used by scammers to build convincing impersonations.

The 3 Most Common Real Estate Scams

CertifID identifies three major fraud categories hitting transactions the most often lately:

• Buyer cash-to-close fraud: The most commonly reported real estate scam in 2025, with median losses of $239,850. Criminals impersonate agents or title companies and send fake wire instructions, pressuring buyers to act quickly or risk losing the deal. First-time buyers are the most vulnerable, the report notes.
• Mortgage payoff fraud: Scammers intercept or forge payoff statements and redirect funds to fraudulent accounts. The large dollar amounts and complex verification process make these especially attractive targets.
• Seller net proceeds theft: Scammers impersonate sellers or intercept communications to redirect proceeds from home sales. These scams often occur during the chaos of moving, when sellers are more easily distracted.

AI Is Making Scams Harder to Detect

The newest escalation in real estate scams is artificial intelligence. According to Cronkright, today’s scams are no longer just about fake emails—they’re about impersonation at scale.

“It’s an up-funnel social engineering fraud,” he says. Criminals increasingly use AI to replicate tone, timing and communication patterns of trusted parties like agents, lenders or title officers.

Even more alarming, he warns that voice cloning and deepfake tools are now widely accessible. “If I took 10 seconds of your voice, I could mirror that voice,” he says, describing how scammers can then embed that realistic impersonation into emails, calls or video messages to try to convince to homeowners that the fraudulent email they just sent is real.

That means a buyer may believe they are speaking directly with their agent—or even seeing them on video—when they are actually interacting with an AI-generated fake.

“These tools are making it much harder to detect,” Cronkright says. “AI will continue to be the greatest accelerant we’ve ever seen in cybercrime.”

How Agents Can Help Protect Their Clients

Cronkright emphasizes that awareness must become a core part of the transaction.

He recommends agents and clients focus on some of the following key protections:

• Secure communications: Enable multi-factor authentication, use secure email systems and assume all standard email is vulnerable.
• Data protection: Ensure personal and financial information is encrypted and shared through secure channels.
• Verified fund transfers: Establish strict protocols for wiring funds, including identity verification steps and pre-established banking instructions.

Cronkright notes about a growing competitive advantage for professionals nowadayswho can clearly demonstrate how they protect clients from the growing threats of real estate scams. As he puts it, “You wouldn’t buy a new car without an airbag or seatbelt. Security has to become part of the deliverable in real estate.”

How One Home Buyer Lost It All

Listen to the latest episode of Real Estate Today to hear how a homeowner lost $255,000 in a wire fraud scam—and how the real estate industry is responding.

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