Florida CEO says fraudsters stole her logo, along with customers and their cash in a case of 'elder abuse'. Protect yourself from real-estate scams

Many of her clients are older adults seeking affordable housing, which is why she calls this scam “elder abuse.”

“It makes me sick,” Vanderbilt told Tampa’s 8 On Your Side (2). “I just feel so bad for these individuals because they’ve been fooled.”

She first learned about the scam when angry customers showed up at her company’s headquarters demanding answers after being swindled out of their deposits — by imposters.

There was no record of sales with her company. But when she probed, she learned con artists had appropriated her brand and address, even using a similar logo in their social media posts.

The fraudsters pressured innocent victims — who thought they were buying tiny homes — into sending deposits via the e-transfer system Zelle. The would-be buyers agreed to send money before seeing the property or meeting a sales rep.

Sadly, they’re unlikely to get their money back because they authorized those transactions.

Targeting older adults in mobile-home fraud

As housing costs rise and supply falls across the U.S., mobile homes (also known as manufactured homes) are being marketed as an affordable retirement housing option — making the industry a prime target for fraudsters keen to prey on older Americans.

Scams could involve listings with stolen photos (or even AI-generated photos). They entice buyers with great ‘deals,’ so long as they act quickly — which means not seeing the home in person.

In this case, fraudsters advertised the sale of tiny homes (which typically range from 400 to 600 sq. ft.) on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, offering too-good-to-be-true ‘deals’ like $1,000 down. Turns out, the deals really were too good to be true.

But even people who thought they did their homework could have fallen for the scheme.

“They Google the address and yes, it’s here," Vanderbilt told 8 On Your Side. "They can go to the Florida State website and verify that we are a manufactured home dealer,”

The scammers even created a fake social media presence, ripping off Vanderbilt’s New Year’s post complete with her company’s logo and posting it on their fake account.

Thanks to AI, it’s getting easier for fraudsters to impersonate legitimate businesses, banks or government agencies using spoofed IDs (false digital identities).

For example, caller ID spoofing makes it look like a call is coming from a trusted source; the same technique can be used for emails and websites.

The FBI reports that con artists target older adults because they tend to have good credit, own homes and have decent savings. They’re also trusting. (3)

In 2024, FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) recorded 147,000 complaints from victims 60 and older, representing $4.9 billion in losses — a 43% year-over-year spike in losses from 2023. (4)

How to protect yourself from real-estate scams

When it comes to real-estate scams, there are tip-offs you can watch for before handing over your cash — starting with offers that seem too good to be true.

Beware if the company demands:

• an urgent upfront payment
• a wire transfer or other unusual payment method (for example, Zelle)
• that you to move funds into a ‘secure’ account.

If the company has a physical presence (as with American Mobile Home Sales), verify the details of the purchase in person at the stated address before putting any money down as a deposit.

Make sure you get everything in writing and have a lawyer look over the purchase agreement.

Once you do make a deposit, consider sending it to an escrow account (in which a third party holds funds during a transaction, released once all conditions are met) rather than sending it directly to the seller.