Tonya Truitt, a Texas woman accused of deed fraud, was sentenced to 10 years in prison after entering a guilty plea.
Fox 44 News reports Truitt’s chicanery was uncovered by the Grimes County Sheriff’s Office in September 2025 after a homeowner reported a land parcel he owned was sold without his consent. The sheriff’s investigation found a second victim who believed he had lawfully purchased the land in question. was found. That victim said he made the purchase after contacting the alleged seller via a Facebook Marketplace advertisement.
The seller called herself Bridget Nobles, although Grimes County Investigator Cameron Parham determined it was Truitt using a fake identification and a forged property deed. Truitt conned her victim out of $47,000.
Truitt entered guilty pleas to theft, fraudulent use of identifying information, securing execution of a document by deception and tampering with a government document. In addition to her prison term, she was ordered to pay restitution to the victim.
“Real estate fraud is a growing problem across the state of Texas,” said Assistant District Attorney Tammy Thomas. “Make sure if you are purchasing land you are doing your research and using reputable agents to ensure the purchase is legally done and on file with the county clerk.”
Good, make an example of these complete losers. Vacant land fraud is becoming a big problem. I’ve been targeted by these scams as a realtor in relation to listing vacant land with an out of state owner. Realtors, always get copies of photo ID and check public records to compare with the owner of record. They will go silent the minute you demand ID, want a real phone number to talk or to see them face to face.
I’m a broker and we had one of our agents list and contract a vacant lot with a scammer. He was “out of state” but called her several times (probably a burner phone) and had provided her a driver’s license with the tax record owner’s same name. He also had tricked the title company. We weren’t knowledgeable that it was fraud until the title company by chance had mailed a payoff document to the owner’s out of state address and he called her and said he wasn’t the person. He said he was out to fly to Japan the next day and he opened the package before he left. If he didn’t it would have been sold. Super nice guy, very understanding. We sent him the driver’s license photo provided and he said it was his name and correct info, but the picture was not him. It was a picture of the license laying on a table. Even zooming in super close on the pic, there is no discernible copy/paste over it. So they may have used AI to generate someone else’s picture on his license.
Point is, AI gives scammers a whole next level of fraud capabilities where you cannot trust anything. Fortunately, the sale didn’t go through, but even when our agent did everything she thought to ensure identity, it still wasn’t enough.
As an attorney, just a tip for the author. There were 2 victims in this scenario. I’d like to know which “victim” the scammer was ordered to pay. Was it the bona fide purchaser for value, or was it the property owner? This matters, because it would be a major PIA if the property transfer went through. I assume it was the buyer who paid $47K, but you know what happens when you assume.
I got two land scammers in one week. Both had gleaned the tax records and selected parcels that were vacant, and had out of state owners. One had a middle eastern accent and was supposed to be an owner who lived in a small town in Montana. I got copies of driver’s licenses for husband and wife scammers, but the accent bothered me so I called a land broker in the area of Montana where the owners listed on tax record lived. Broker knew them and they definitely were not listing their land for sale.Real land owner was thankful I did due dilegence.
Second one was almost identical, but had a heavy New Jersey accent and was supposed to be from Idaho. Since I was raised in Idaho I started asking them questions about the area they were supposed to be living in. Scammers failed miserably. I contacted the real land owners through a real estate agent who lived in the area. They definitely were not trying to sell their land.
We all need to be vigilant when listing land for owner who live out of area.
So sad that a growing number of people are making a living scamming and stealing, rather than being a productive member of society. Being happy with a job or profession that provides a decent income which leaves time for family and/or hobbies, has become a thing of the past. A growing majority are filled with greed and desire to become rich overnight without working for it. A me me society.
Lack of a decent wage for the average worker created this phenomenon.
Your contention that lack of sufficient wages caused this phenomenon is off base. Criminals choose to steal because they are lazy and dishonest. They do not want to work regardless of wages
I am so happy someone finally got caught…I get emails constantly with scammers trying to do this but it only takes once to catch on! Now I mess with them but I have spent time reporting these and speaking with family members and title about this and it is time consuming and frustrating that they nothing ever comes of the scammers…until now. Great job!
I’d love to have an email or phone number we can refer to when these come in. If keep reporting them, maybe this “fad” will become less appealing.
yes me too…I had a scammer and could have set up a sting but no one got back to me….