ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — A First Coast News viewer’s recent experience is shedding light on a troubling rise in real estate and identity fraud across Florida.

In an email to the Ask Anthony team, a man named Peter, who recently moved from out of state to St. Johns County, described being scammed after responding to a rental ad online:

I replied to an ad for a home for rent. He said he was the owner. He gave me the code to the lock box which I went and looked through the home. I sent him money for deposit and first month’s rent plus extra fees. Within a few days of moving in, the Sherrif’s office showed up saying that the house was rented by someone else through a rental property company. 

Unfortunately, Peter’s story isn’t unique.

During Tuesday’s Ask Anthony LIVE streaming show, Anthony Austin spoke with Miami-based attorney Ellen Patterson, who is seeing a growing number of identity and property fraud cases. 

In one case, a scammer posed as an authorized business representative and altered official records on Florida’s Sunbiz.org to sell land he didn’t own. By the time the real owner found out, the sale had already gone through.

In another case, a fraudster used a fake Venezuelan passport and a deepfake-style video call to impersonate an overseas property owner, tricking lenders and buyers before the deception was discovered.

“You can Google what a Venezuelan passport looks like. Fraudsters can take that image off the internet and use it to create the fake passport,” Patterson added.

Patterson urges individuals and business owners to monitor their records closely and verify identities in any real estate transaction.

The full conversation is available on First Coast News+, where viewers can learn how to spot red flags, protect their personal and business information and avoid falling victim to these increasingly sophisticated schemes.

If you’ve got a problem you just can’t solve, email Ask Anthony at AskAnthony@firstcoastnews.com.