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Seller impersonation fraud is growing across the US real estate industry, according to new data from the American Land Title Association (ALTA) that found 28% of title insurance companies experiencing at least one seller impersonation fraud attempt last year while two in 10 title companies experienced attempts in April.

The common characteristics of seller impersonation fraud include notarization issues and use of a property owner’s legitimate non-public personal information. ALTA’s study found the most common notarization issues were fake notary credentials (43%) and use of real notary credentials without permission (31%). Requests for all-cash transactions and mail-away signings using an unknown notary also carry a higher risk of fraud – 88% and 86% of companies identified these actions, respectively, as at least somewhat common red flags.

The ALTA study, which culled responses from 783 title companies, showed that seller impersonation fraud is often caught before the real estate closing is completed – 46% of respondent companies said they identified and prevented fraudulent transactions before closing. But 26% only realized the fraud only after closing while 16% of title companies that had seller impersonation fraud attempts paid claims in 2023.

However, nearly all title companies surveyed (91%) said they either provide or plan to provide education and resources to train employees on fraud.

“Title insurance offers protection when seller impersonation fraud does occur,” said ALTA CEO Diane Tomb. “Both the ALTA Owner’s Policy and ALTA Homeowner’s Policy cover buyers who fall victim to forgery before a property purchase. Additionally, the ALTA Homeowner’s Policy protects the owner against a third party who fraudulently transfers the property in the future.”