A real estate agent in Cape Coral, Florida was contacted by the owners (husband and wife) of a vacant lot desiring to sell the property. The agent exercised caution when dealing with the sellers, as they were out of the country and he did not have the opportunity to meet them face–to–face when presenting the listing agreement. He only spoke with them by telephone.

He sent the listing agreement to the property owners and out of caution asked they return the agreement with their email address, physical address and copies of their passports. The sellers sent the information, including copies of their passports.

The sellers explained to the listing agent the passports were issued in Australia, but they had moved to Sweden. The mailing address in Sweden matched the address listed on the Lee County Tax Collector and Property Appraiser website, so it gave the agent a level of comfort he was dealing with the real property owners.

The lot sold quickly and the order for title and escrow services was placed by Marianne Jackowski, a director and closer with Total Title & Escrow, Inc. During the processing of the sale transaction Marianne communicated with the sellers by email and telephone. She prepared and sent the closing package via overnight delivery, and emailed the sellers to announce the package was on the way, along with the tracking information.

The sellers responded to her email immediately wanting to know why the closing package was sent without contacting them first. They demanded the closing package be stopped and redirected to a new address in the United Kingdom. Their story was that they were sailing and would be at a certain location in the United Kingdom where they could receive the package, execute and return the documents.

The first package of closing documents could not be re–directed to the address in the United Kingdom, so Marianne prepared and shipped a new package of closing documents. She also flagged her file for further security checks, as the sellers' reaction was unusual. Sellers are typically overjoyed to learn their closing package has shipped — it means their transaction is coming to an end and they soon will be receiving proceeds.

In the meantime, the first package was successfully delivered to the address in Sweden. The people receiving the package called Marianne to find out why the documents were sent. They had no knowledge their lot in Cape Coral had sold and in fact they had no desire to sell! To their knowledge it was not even listed for sale.

Marianne had been suspicious of the contract sellers all along. This conversation proved her suspicions to be right! She asked for some identifying information from the real property owners.

The husband was born in 1967 and had a full head of hair. The man with the same name pictured on the passport provided to the listing agent and Marianne, was born in 1965 and balding. His wife was also born in 1967 and was blond and beautiful. The woman with the same name pictured on the passport provided to the listing agent and Marianne, was born in 1970 and looked nothing like the wife.

Marianne assured the property owners she would report the incident to the local police. She stopped the transaction and notified the real estate agents and the buyer that the sellers were imposters. She cancelled her file, returned the buyer's deposit and provided all the information in her file to local law enforcement, as well as the title insurance underwriter.

As a result of her fraud detection, Marianne has been rewarded $1,000 from the Company as well as a letter of recognition. She could have turned a blind eye to the crime and closed her file upon receipt of the signed documents from the second package, but she did not. She paid attention to all the warning signs and acted swiftly to protect the Company from a potential claim.

Had Marianne closed the transaction and the real owners later established their ownership rights, the Company could have had an obligation under the owner's policy to protect the ownership rights of the buyer.