An 82-year-old Beverly woman thought the phone call was a simple mistake. The caller, a contractor, wanted to double-check the color of the siding for her new house on a vacant lot she owned on the North Shore. She calmly replied that she wasn’t building anything, and that the land was certainly not for sale. After a few stunned minutes and several more calls, she learned the truth: someone had impersonated her, “sold” her land, and a buyer was moving ahead with construction. It took months of legal help, endless paperwork, and sleepless nights before things began to untangle.
Cases like this are no longer rare, especially in Massachusetts, where law enforcement and consumer agencies have warned about a rising instances of deed and title fraud. Criminals look for properties that are owned outright, are vacant, or have long-time owners who may not be watching online records closely. Older adults are particularly attractive targets because they often have substantial equity and stable, long-term ownership histories.
Instead of breaking in through a window, scammers “break in” through paperwork. They forge signatures, produce fake identification, or pose as distant owners, then file bogus documents with a registry or try to sell or mortgage the property. By the time the rightful owner discovers the problem, the thief may be long gone, and unwinding the damage can be slow and expensive.
In response to these risks, the Southern Essex District Register of Deeds has created the Property Fraud Watch Program, a free alert service for property owners in Southern Essex cities and towns. The core idea is simple: if any document is recorded under your name in the land records, you receive an email notice right away.
Participants register their name and contact information—usually an email address—through the Register’s website– www.salemdeeds.com/AlertWebSite. Once enrolled, they receive an alert whenever a deed, mortgage, lien, or similar document is filed using that name. If the document is legitimate, such as a refinance or a home equity line the owner recognizes, nothing more needs to be done. If the owner does not recognize the filing, the quick alert gives them the chance to contact the Registry and, if needed, law enforcement or an attorney while the matter is still fresh.
For people aged 60 and older, this kind of early warning is especially valuable. Many older homeowners have finished paying off their mortgages, which means there is no bank quietly monitoring title activity in the background. Retirement can also bring moves, health changes, or periods of travel, making it easier for odd paperwork to go unnoticed.
A home often represents both financial security and emotional history. Discovering that a stranger has tried to steal that home—on paper, if not yet in practice—can be deeply upsetting. A no-cost, automatic alert system does not eliminate the risk of fraud, but it can shift the odds in favor of the homeowner by shortening the time between the scammer’s action and the owner’s response.
If the property owner is not comfortable with online processes, adult children, trusted friends, or caregivers can help an older homeowner enroll, making sure that alerts go to an email address someone checks regularly. Local councils on aging, senior centers, and legal services offices can also play a role by spreading the word and offering one-on-one assistance with registration.
The woman who almost lost her land notes that what frightened her most was how quietly it all happened. There was no knock on the door, no warning letter, just a casual call from a contractor that could easily have been ignored. Programs like the Property Fraud Watch Program cannot stop every criminal, but they make it much harder for fraud to stay hidden.
For homeowners in Southern Essex County, enrolling is a modest but powerful act of self-defense. A single email alert could be the difference between catching a problem early and discovering, far too late, that someone else has tried to walk away with your most important asset. Learn more about this type of fraud at www.salemdeeds.com/AlertWebSite.