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Deed Scam

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Our office recently became aware that a fraudulent deed was recorded last year into the Official Records of Indian River County. It came to us from a local title company. The deed appeared legitimate, containing everything that it needed to make it a statutorily recordable document, including a notary allegedly from the U.S. Embassy in Vietnam. Our staff had no reason to reject the document for recording and had no way of knowing that the deed was fraudulent.
Attorneys’ Title Insurance Fund, Inc., also known as The Fund, has released several alerts regarding the increase in the volume of fraud scams concerning vacant lots. You can read two of those alertshere and here. Most commonly in these scams, the property is vacant with no mortgage and is often owned by a seller whose address shows they live in a foreign country. The fraudster poses as the legitimate owner and forges a deed. In almost all situations, the seller’s documents were allegedly executed and notarized abroad at a U.S. Embassy and returned to the title company via Fed Ex or related postal service. 
Please pay special attention to documents received from out of the country. The Fund has identified the following “notaries” and locations as being potentially fraudulent:
Notary Name and Location of Acknowledgment
Alison Dilworth: Dubai
Ellen Wong: United Kingdom
Eric Guadiosi: Germany
Fabian Ikenna Aiogwu: South Africa
Fabio Saturni: South Africa
Joseph McCallum: South Africa
Marc Nelson: Sweden
Philip Reeker: United Kingdom
Robert Rowse: South Africa
Stephen Jacques: Vietnam
Stephen Thomson: South Africa
Virginia Blaser: South Africa
If the acknowledgement block on your insured deed includes any of the above listed notaries, please be on high alert as you may be dealing with a vacant lot identity theft scam.

Jury Duty Scam

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Clerk’s Office Warns of Scam

The Clerk’s Office has been made aware that Indian River County residents are receiving calls telling them they have missed jury duty and will be arrested if they do not pay a fine. Callers are posing as a member of a local law enforcement agency and the recipients of these calls are being threatened with arrest if they do not immediately make a payment using a pre-paid card. THESE CALLS ARE A SCAM! 
Please do not fall victim to this scam! Should you have any question about jury duty, please call our office.
                           
The “jury duty” call is one of many types of scams where the caller threatens to arrest you if a fine is not paid. The scammer pretends to be someone who has the authority to arrest you because you missed jury duty. The caller usually demands payment in the form of prepaid credit cards, iTunes cards, or something similar. You will be instructed to provide the caller with the numbers on the cards. At that point, your money will be gone. These forms of payment, along with certain types of wire and bank transfers, are often untraceable.
 
Should you be a recipient of a suspicious telephone call or email, please remember the following:
  • The Clerk’s Office and our county’s law enforcement agencies will NOT call you to discuss a failure to appear for jury duty, nor will a demand for payment over the phone be made in lieu of an arrest. Jury Summons are mailed to the address on file with the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. If a juror misses their assigned day, the Clerk’s Office will send a letter with the Clerk’s signature to the same address the Summons was sent using the United States Postal Service.
  • While the Clerk’s Office will make phone calls to discuss fines or fees due on court cases, the Clerk’s Office will NOT call regarding fines assessed for missing jury duty. Also, the Clerk’s Office will not accept a payment over the phone. Instead, residents wishing to make a payment over the phone will be directed to contact our payment processing vendor, nCourt, to make a payment. Residents would be able to pay nCourt over the phone or through their payment processing website at www.indianrivercotix.com. 
The Clerk’s Office is reminding every resident to remain vigilant. Scrutinize every call you receive. If you do not feel comfortable with a phone call you receive from someone claiming to be from the Clerk’s Office, please make note of the department that is calling you and call the Clerk’s Office directly to verify the information. The Indian River County Courthouse’s operator can be reached at 772-226-3100 and they can direct your call to the appropriate department.
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