A pair of unidentified swindlers ran off with $272,000 after posing as the owners of a 3-acre Elkton lot and selling the parcel to an unsuspecting couple, according to court papers.
The man his female accomplice began sale negotiations with a husband and wife for the lush plot in the Bartram Farms subdivision and eventually agreed on a sale price of $296,000.
The buyers secured a $236,000 mortgage from Vystar and proceeded with the deal.
The suspects — referred to in court documents as John and Jane Doe — eventually told the buyers to wire a final payment of $272,000 to a Truist bank account.
To close the deal, they each presented driver’s licenses with their own pictures and the names of the actual husband and wife owners of the parcel.
The funds were pushed through, the sale was recorded in April of 2023 and the tandem suddenly vanished.
But the stunned buyers were soon informed that the entire exchange was a scam, and that the property was never even up for sale.
Investigators quickly realized that the pictures and signatures did not match. The sale was approved by an actual notary — but they denied ever have seen the closing documents or signing off on them.
The bilked couple’s title insurance company, Fidelity, and title agent were bound to compensate the buyers in full and did so, papers state.
Fidelity is now seeking a judgment against the unknown suspects in court for their portion.
While it was scrubbed from official county records, the phantom sale is still listed on public real estate sites.
