According to the FBI, property fraud is on the rise. It is also known as “house-stealing” and is one of the fastest growing white-collar crimes in the United States. For example, property fraud can occur if someone forges your signature, transfers your property into their name and then submits it to be recorded as a document in the Benton County Recorder’s Office.

Discovering that one of your most valuable assets has effectively been stolen by a potentially unidentifiable criminal certainly would come as a shock to those that have been targeted. So, the best protection we can offer against this type of fraud is to be alerted when any transactions involving your name is recorded in the Benton County Recorder’s Office.

I am excited to announce that we have implemented a fraud alert program here in our county to help property owners be protective against this type of fraud. This will not stop fraud from happening, but it is certainly a deterrent and a way to notify you almost immediately of the potential fraud.

Property owners can sign up online to have their names, business names, trust, etc. monitored to track possible fraudulent activities. Any activity in the name that you submit will cause an email to be sent to you within minutes of the recording.

Thank you
Brenda Deshields

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