‘They are not for sale’: Florida man says crooks tried to sell his vacant lots twice — one deal was just 3 days from closing

“I have not put them on the market, have not offered them for sale, and they are not for sale,” Tafelski told WFLA News Channel 8 On Your Side.

The agent cancelled the sale.

Weeks later, he was caught even more off guard when he received a call from someone who claimed to be the buyer of the lots — and who forwarded paperwork that the deal was set to close just three days later.

That sale, too, was cancelled.

A growing problem

Tafelski was nearly the victim of a growing epidemic across the U.S.

Last year, Americans lost over $275 million to real estate fraud, a 58% increase over 2024. Some 12,368 complaints were filed in 2025 alone.

Meanwhile, a study conducted by the American Land Title Association (ALTA) in September 2026 found that 59% of title companies had experienced at least one seller impersonation fraud attempt in 2025. That was a considerable jump from the 28% who had experienced it in the group’s 2024 study.

Seniors are the most frequent victims of the crime. And several states, including Arizona, Maryland and Alabama have beefed up laws to protect landowners, requiring owner identity in the event of a sale and, in some cases, making it a felony to attempt the fraud.

Protecting yourself

Title scams like the one that was attempted on Tafelski come in many forms, but there are some ways to identify them, says the FBI.