Mortgage and title fraudsters have hit at least 32 homes in Ontario and B.C.

Mortgage and title fraudsters who impersonate homeowners and tenants have targeted at least 32 properties in Ontario and British Columbia, investigators and official warnings suggest.

Insurance investigator Brian King, president and CEO of King International Advisory Group, said his firm had received 30 such claims in Ontario.

They include six instances of “total title fraud” in which con artists pose as homeowners to list properties for sale.

In B.C., the Land Title and Survey Authority warned in 2021 that there had been two attempts of title fraud involving the impersonation of owners who lived abroad.

King said such impersonators had to put in performances worthy of an “Emmy Award,” but they were not the only people involved in the scam.