Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Consumer Protection topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Register of deeds and county IT warn seniors about title scams and spoofed emails
Summary
The Barnstable County register of deeds and county IT staff briefed commissioners on real‑estate scams that target seniors and the rise of email‑spoofing and AI‑amplified fraud; registry staff highlighted a free recording‑notification service to detect suspicious filings.
Jack Mead, the county’s register of deeds, told commissioners that while high‑profile fears about deed theft often outpace the facts, scams aimed at seniors are common and the registry offers consumer protections.
"It happens," Mead said of fraud attempts, "but it's difficult to commit fraud with real estate" in most cases because title transfers involve attorneys, banks and multiple safeguards. He described common tactics — fraudulent listings for vacant lots and requests for small deposit payments online — and urged residents to use the registry’s notification service that emails a user when a document is recorded under a subscribed name (barnstabledeeds.org).
County IT presenter Bill Traverse added that many successful schemes exploit human behavior: urgent requests, domain spoofing and cleverly faked email addresses. He urged verification: contact known sources directly and avoid wiring money on short notice. Traverse said proactive outreach and training for seniors and municipal staff are useful defenses against increasingly sophisticated threats.
Commissioners and staff discussed expanding education (no‑cost trainings, targeted outreach through councils on aging) and the need for better local forensic resources for law enforcement investigations when crimes occur. No formal county action was taken; both registry and IT urged public awareness steps and continued county–town cooperation.
