Scammers are trying to sell Mainers’ land without their knowledge

BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 5, 2024

Deed fraud is an increasingly common real estate scam plaguing landowners in polar ends of Maine and across the country. It consists of so-called “title pirates” using forged deeds and identification documents to dupe real estate agents into selling other people’s vacant land, often at below market rates and in cash. Most attention around deed fraud in Maine has been focused on York County, where 12 separate instances had been reported to the county sheriff’s office as of March. But Mainers with land in more rural areas are being targeted, too.