Published July 9, 2026

Vacant Land Fraud in SC: How it's Happening and Tips to Protect Your Property

Written by Candy Limehouse

If you own vacant land, LISTEN UP, someone may be trying to sell your property without you ever knowing. It's Happening Right Here in the Midlands!

Twice in the past year, I've been contacted by someone claiming to own a piece of vacant land they wanted to sell. Both times, the potential "seller" had done their homework: they were using the correct owner's name, the correct current location of the owner, and even had a driver's license in the name of the seller that — at a glance — looked completely legitimate. All things that would usually point to a real deal.

However, neither of those licenses belonged to the real person who owned the land they were trying to sell. Both were fakes, built around information that's sitting in plain sight in public property records.

The 4 things that raised red flags for me in these cases were:

1) the request to not put up a sign at the property. One stated family dispute with the adjoining lot and did not want the family to know they were selling, reasonable thought

2) wanting to do everything electronically and never meeting or even agreeing to a video conference; Even if they did a video conference when a total stranger calls to sell their property and they live out of state which happens often you have no idea what they look like anyway and often we never meet some sellers

3) the phone numbers they gave did not match the names. As a REALTOR®, I have access to a tool that will verify a phone number belongs to who the person says they are. By researching through this app I was able to put in the phone number and or name of the potential seller and see that the name and the phone number did not match.

4) in both cases, the scammers were pushy and wanted everything done very quickly.

I want to walk you through how this scam works, why vacant land owners in the Midlands and throughout the country are exactly who these criminals are looking for, and what you can actually do avoid this happening to you— starting today.

This Isn't a Rare, Random Scam. It's a Fast-Growing National Pattern.

If you own an empty lot, a wooded parcel, an inherited piece of family land, or an investment property with no mortgage on it, you are sitting in the single most targeted category for a crime called seller impersonation fraud (sometimes called title fraud, deed fraud, or "title piracy").

Here's what the data shows:

The National Association of REALTORS®' 2025 Deed & Title Fraud Survey found that 62% of title fraud cases involve vacant land — compared to just 12% involving owner-occupied homes.
The FBI has reported that vacant land fraud has jumped 500% over a four-year period.
The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center logged 9,359 real estate fraud complaints in 2024, totaling roughly $175 million in losses — and that number climbed to about $275 million in 2025.
A study commissioned by the American Land Title Association found that 28% of title companies experienced at least one seller impersonation attempt in 2023, with the pace accelerating through 2024.
The FBI's Boston and Newark field offices have both issued public warnings specifically about vacant land and quitclaim deed fraud in the last two years, describing organized rings that use fabricated IDs, forged notary stamps, and remote signings to close deals in a matter of weeks.

This isn't a handful of isolated con artists. It's an organized, repeatable playbook, and vacant land owners are the preferred target for a simple reason: nobody is watching. There's no tenant to notice a strange "For Sale" sign, no lender monitoring the title, no neighbor who can vouch for who really owns the place.

How the Scam Actually Works

Both cases I encountered followed the same script that agents across the country are reporting:

The fraudster finds your land through public records. County assessor and Register of Deeds sites make it easy to look up who owns a parcel, what it's worth, and whether there's a mortgage on it. Free-and-clear land owned by someone who lives out of state, or an owner who inherited land and doesn't check on it often, is the ideal target.
They contact a real estate agent — or several. The FBI has documented cases of a single fraudster contacting more than 60 agents in an hour, hoping a handful will respond.
They present a driver's license or other ID that matches the real owner's name and address, but has the fraudster's photo on it.
They push for speed and cash. A lowball price, an all-cash buyer, and a fast closing are the norm — there's no lender in the deal to slow things down or ask hard questions.
They avoid meeting in person, citing travel, health issues, or simply being "out of state," and request a remote or mobile notary for signing.
By the time anyone realizes something is wrong, the deed may already be recorded and the money may already be gone — sometimes wired overseas.

Red Flags Every Land Owner (and Every Agent) Should Know

The seller refuses or repeatedly delays an in-person meeting or video call.
They want to sell well below market value.
They insist on a rushed, all-cash closing.
They can't produce documents only the real owner would have — a recent tax bill, a utility bill, a copy of the original deed or survey.
Their listed mailing address doesn't match the property tax address on file, or doesn't match up when you try to verify it.
They push hard for a remote online notary instead of an in-person signing.

What You Can Do Right Now to Protect Your Land

1. Check your own name in the county records — today, and then periodically. This is the single most important habit you can build. Both Richland County, Lexington County, and Kershaw County maintain searchable Register of Deeds indexes online where you can look up documents recorded under your name. I'd encourage you to bookmark these and check them every few months:

- Richland County Register of Deeds — index-level search of recorded deeds, mortgages, and other instruments by name. Call (803) 576-1910 if you want help getting started.
- Lexington County Register of Deeds — online search of records back to 1984 (with document images from 1997 forward) through their ROD Online Services portal. Call (803) 785-8168 with questions.
- Kershaw County Register of Deeds — online search of records after 1990. Call (803) 425-7235 for help or questions.

A quick honesty note here: unlike Greenville County, which offers a free automatic alert tool called FraudSleuth that emails you the moment a new document is recorded under your name, Richland, Lexington, and Kershaw counties don't currently offer that kind of automatic monitoring. That means the responsibility falls on you (or your agent) to go check manually. If this is something you'd like to see change, contacting your county council member or the Register of Deeds office to ask for a FraudSleuth-style alert system is a reasonable ask — several other South Carolina counties, including Berkeley and Dorchester, already offer a free version of this.

2. Never rely on a driver's license alone to verify identity — even yours. If you're the true owner and you ever list land, expect (and welcome) an agent who asks for more than one form of ID, wants to meet in person or via live video, and cross-checks your identity against tax records, past deeds, or a title company's identity verification tools.

3. Keep an eye on your mail and your bills. If property tax notices or utility bills for vacant land suddenly stop arriving, or unexpectedly change, that can be an early sign someone has filed a change of address or ownership without your knowledge.

4. Google your land’s address. Most agents who list the land for sale will put it in a Multiple Listing Service (MLS) which will broadcast the listing out to other sites showing it as being for sale. Doing a search by address every once in awhile may catch the crime before a sale happens.

5. If you ever suspect fraud, act immediately. Report it to your local sheriff's office, file a complaint with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov, and reach out to your county Register of Deeds to flag the parcel. If a wire transfer is involved and it's caught within about 72 hours, there's a real chance of stopping or recovering the funds.

The Bottom Line

If you own vacant land in Richland, Lexington, or Kershaw County — especially land that's paid off, inherited, or a bit out of sight and out of mind — you fit the exact profile these criminals are looking for. The good news is that the fix isn't complicated. A few minutes spent checking your name in the county deed records every so often and staying alert to the red flags above can be the difference between a close call and a real loss.

If you have questions about your land, want help checking your county records, or just want a second set of eyes on your property, I'm always happy to help. This is exactly the kind of thing a local REALTOR® should be watching out for on your behalf.

This post is for general educational purposes and isn't legal advice. If you believe you've been the victim of deed or title fraud, contact a real estate attorney and law enforcement right away.