Oklahoma County Assessor Warns of Real Estate Scam

The Oklahoma County Assessor is warning people about a real estate scam. Larry Stein says scammers are listing expensive homes for sale online at a fraction of the cost and reeling people into a deal too good to be true.

“People believe things they see on the internet particularly having to do with a deal,” Stein said.

Like a beautiful three-bedroom, three-bath home in Oklahoma City near Nichols Hills. It’s valued at well over $400,000 but listed on Zillow for only $6,000. “We started getting calls and visits from realtors,” said the woman who actually owns the home but wanted to remain anonymous. “They would even show up at our door.”

The homeowner told us the only problem was, her home wasn’t for sale. “The pictures of the house were definitely our house and they're the same pictures that were used by the seller from whom we bought it,” she said. “I was just in shock because I was like ‘what the heck.’”

Unfortunately, this homeowner isn’t alone. Stein says another homeowner in Oklahoma City contacted him after seeing her house listed on Zillow for $8,000. “People are greedy,” said Stein. “I know that that's impossible, but people want to believe it.”

The ads claim the homeowners are rewarding a first-time home buyer with these low cash deals, requiring them to send the scammer a cash deposit through Google Pay. Stein says he contacted the woman in the ad. “The lady I contacted, her name was Mandy she said, 'Too bad we've made a lot of money off of this, you're not going to be able to stop us, how does it feel to be scammed,’” Stein said. “I thought that was pretty bold.”

Stein says he's determined to stop them though, but to do it, he needs victims to come forward. “In order for the OSBI to go out of state or to try and find the person, the culprit in this scam, then they need someone who has been harmed,” said Stein.

Meanwhile, the homeowner we talked to just wants to make sure nobody gets the raw end of this deal. “People need to know about this because there are a lot of people out there who might be desperate and in need of a house and think 'Oh my God, I can finally afford a house,’” she said. “I really wanted to protect those people from being scammed out of this money.”

If your property is listed or you are a victim of this scam, contact the Oklahoma County Assessor’s Office at 405-713-1201.