YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) Shari Gibbs and her husband were looking to buy a house in Youngstown, but when they found an option that seemed to fit their needs, they didn’t expect what happened next.

Shari said they were referred to a man who was selling a house on Kenneth Street. They spoke to him over the phone, and he said he just wanted $12,000 cash for it — saying it needed some work and he didn’t want to put the time into fixing it.

They said the offer seemed to be too good to be true, so they decided to do some research to make sure that there were no liens on the property before they agreed to purchase it.

Their search led them to the previous owner a 79-year-old woman who said she never sold the home.

affiliate WKBN spoke with the woman, who declined an interview, but did say she never signed anything in reference to selling the property. She said she was surprised to hear that it had been purchased by a limited liability company registered in Wyoming, and she has been frustrated by her attempts to get the property back.

A report was filed in March with the Youngstown Police Department, which is looking into the incident as a potential case of quitclaim fraud. The woman reported that she has owned the home since her parents passed away in the 1990s, though the property has been vacant since 2004.

A city spokesman said investigators were unable to comment on the case, as it was part of a long-term, active investigation, but he released the following statement:

“The Youngstown Police Department, in conjunction with the Mahoning County Recorder’s Office and Mahoning County Prosecutor’s Office, are investigating a number of cases where real property has been fraudulently obtained and/or transferred.”

Mahoning County Auditor Ralph Meacham said if it is a case of quitclaim fraud, it is one that is becoming more common in the county. He was eager to speak out on the issue, saying that something needs to be done to address it.

“It was probably about a year ago… maybe two years ago, that we started to see some of the same people coming in and other people making a big fuss at the counter when we didn’t transfer their documents quickly enough. And we’ve seen more this year,” he said.

Quitclaim deeds are traditionally used to transfer property as-is, without title or background searches. Often, they are handwritten deeds and used to transfer property quickly between family members, rather than being prepared by an attorney or title company. Meacham said thieves are taking advantage of this process, however, and they have also seen some of the same notaries listed on the fraudulent attempts to transfer properties.

“I think there are several groups. I think they’re actively in the area, trying to work these,” Meacham said. “What they’ll do is, they’ll bring it to a carrier who delivers it for them, so the person who is actually perpetrating the fraud doesn’t even enter our doors on some occasions. And so yes, they are skilled at this.”

Mahoning County Prosecutor Lynn Maro said that since they were contacted about these fraudulent transfers, prosecutors met with the Youngstown Police Department to begin investigating. She said she knows of at least five reports but said there may be other victims who have not yet filed a police report.

She said the Mahoning County auditor and recorder have been vigilant in stopping some of the transfers. Some have slipped through, however.

“We know there is at least one notary and potentially two that are doing the bulk of those transactions, forging names of individuals that simply didn’t sign, so we’re exploring a couple different avenues with that. One is with Columbus, trying to get notary commissions suspended. But that’s a criminal offense, so we are having those investigated in hopes of prosecuting for fraudulent transactions and fraudulent transfers,” she said.

The Ohio Secretary of State’s Office has the authority to investigate and discipline any notaries that are the subject of complaints and can revoke or suspend the notary’s license. The office cannot bring criminal charges against a notary, however, or determine the validity of a notarized document.

The Secretary of State’s Office had no complaints on file for the notary involved in the Kenneth Street property transfer, a spokesman said Thursday.

For now, Maro encourages people who believe they are victims of this fraud to file a police report so that they can look into it. She said it may also be a good idea for a victim to hire an attorney to help navigate the process of trying to get the property back.

While prosecutors look into the local scam report, Meacham recommended that those who are buying a property should do their research, looking into the property’s transfer history. An indication of a scam may be that someone recently purchased the property and is now trying to sell it.

Buyers can often find the former owner of the property and get more information that way as well, he said.

He recommended that buyers not purchase properties using only cash. Going through a title company is often a safer way to complete a sale, he added.

Those who own properties should keep track of them. They can do that by looking at the county auditor’s website. Meacham said his office is also rolling out a website where people can be notified when their properties are transferred in the hopes of catching this scam quickly. He said his office will be at the Canfield Fair with information on how to sign up.

Meacham said that often, the properties that are targeted look vacant. He said they believe that if it looks abandoned, no one is paying attention to it.

Gerry Ricciutti contributed to this report.