How Scammers Are Using AI to Try to Steal Multimillion Dollar Properties

For one week in May 2024, Graceland—Elvis Presley’s mansion in Memphis—received the kind of persistent news coverage more frequently devoted to the owner’s of such storied residences rather than the homes themselves. In a series of ever-more-peculiar reports, news first broke that the estate had been foreclosed on and would be auctioned off by a company called Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC. Strangely, the company claimed that Lisa Marie Presley, Elvis’s daughter, had pledged the home as collateral on a loan before she passed away. Soon after, Riley Keough, Elvis’s granddaughter and Graceland’s owner, came forward claiming that her mother’s signature had been forged and the sale was illegal and illegitimate.

A judge agreed with Keough and halted the sale, and within a week, scammers who appeared to be based in Nigeria, emailed The New York Times claiming responsibility for the attempted theft. “We figure out how to steal,” an unnamed person wrote of the scam and the ensuing controversy. “That’s what we do.” In August, Lisa Jeanine Findley, a woman from Missouri, was charged in connection to the alleged scheme.

Though unsuccessful, Graceland’s ownership saga brought a threat often deemed rare to national news: deed fraud, sometimes called home title theft. Just this week, the FBI warned of a 500% increase in vacant land deed fraud over the past four years. According to legal and title experts, artificial intelligence and improved technology have made it easier for scammers to target unknowing victims.

The scheme varies case by case, but most generally involves a scammer filing forged deeds for land or property with the county clerk, then using the fake ownership document to illegally sell the home, take out home equity lines of credit, rent out the property to an unsuspecting tenant, or refinance the mortgage. “Ninety-nine percent of the time, the money is gone before anyone realizes,” Lauren Albrecht, president of Florida Title & Trust, which ensures the legality of real estate transactions, says of the scam when it’s successful.

Graceland is not the only high-profile residence to bring the occurrence to light. As the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports, Spelling Manor, a 120-room mansion in Los Angeles originally built by TV producer Aaron Spelling and his wife, Candy, is embroiled in what appears to be a similar legal battle. However, unlike the late King of Rock and Roll’s home, the LA manse is actually for sale, and untangling the ownership mess will likely take much longer than a few business days, halting any potential legitimate ownership transfer.

“Frustrated would be an understatement,” Benjamin Wagner, an attorney at Gibson Dunn who is representing Spelling Manor’s owners, told WSJ of his client’s reaction to the situation. The home is currently owned by a company, 594 Mapleton LLC (Wagner declined to share the owner’s names), which purchased the residence in 2019 from Petra Ecclestone, daughter of British billionaire Bernie Ecclestone. 594 Mapleton LLC put the home back on the market in 2022; however, a couple identified as Mirga Phipps White and Nicholas Phipps White claim the mansion is legally theirs. “We’re not the problem. They are the problem,” Migra told the WSJ of 594 Mapleton LLC.

According to the WSJ, the couple say that Nicholas sold a real estate project to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund in 2016 for $12.7 billion, but Donald Trump, at the time a presidential candidate, and Steven Mnuchin, the treasury secretary, misappropriated the funds. They claim the federal government settled with them for $27.8 billion, but the government’s lawyer, Thomas Girardi, then stole the funds. Girardi, who was married to Real Housewives of Beverly Hills cast member Erika Girardi, was recently found guilty of embezzling more than $15 million from his law firm’s clients. The couple seemingly did not expand on how they believed this happened.

The Whites claim the Girardi’s used some of the funds to buy Spelling Manor, which they believe make it theirs. A judge has already dismissed the lawsuit, describing it as “fantastical,” though Nicholas is appealing the ruling. The couple filed a deed for the property in June 2024, which 594 Mapleton LLC claims is falsified.

Many industry professionals believe that technology has made it easier for scammers to carry out the theft, as they do not have to speak with a person face-to-face. Further, artificial intelligence makes it simpler to forge documents, notary signatures, identification, and even create deep fakes.

Albrecht experienced this first-hand when her company was hired for a potential vacant land sale that ended up being fraudulent. The “owner” provided a deed with identification from West Virginia, but their bank account was based in the Bahamas. “That was the first red flag,” she says. Following the firm’s standard practices, she asked for a proof of life video, in which the seller joins a video call and shows two forms of ID on camera. After sending a Zoom link, “I was very shocked that somebody actually appeared,” she says. Though it looked like a real person, who did appear to match the photos of the provided West Virginia driver’s license, the face on the other side of the computer was eerily unresponsive. “It was just somebody sitting in front of a camera making small movements, and we quickly realized those movements were repetitive.”

Though Albrecht doesn’t know exactly what type of software was used, it was likely a deepfake AI-generated video using the likeness of a real person not involved in the scam. “We did a reverse image search of the ID image, and it was a photo from a missing person’s flyer in California,” Albrecht says. “It’s heartbreaking, because a family whose grandmother, sister, or mother is missing has to see their loved one’s image used in this way.”

Scammers most often target vacant properties or land rather than residences owners currently live in. According to the New York City Department of Finance, seniors, immigrants, and people of color are most at risk for these types of scams, though anyone who owns property could be a victim. Once a fake deed is filed, it’s up to the rightful owner to prove ownership in court, which can be an expensive and drawn-out process. If the home is unlawfully sold, it creates an additional mess for the new “owner,” who may have moved in, built infrastructure, or otherwise used the property.

“As licensees, we have the fiduciary obligation to confirm identities to the best of our abilities and confirm ownership of any property sale,” Albrecht says. Strictly written communication, the desire for a quick transaction, and asking for an all-cash sale are among the most common indicators of potential fraud, she adds.

From an ownership perspective, the NYC Department of Finance recommends purchasing title insurance, which can protect against financial losses should there be a defect in your title, in addition to a number of best practices including not leaving properties vacant for extended periods of time and making it clear who inherits your property when you pass away.

Albrecht also notes that unencumbered properties can be more at risk, since having another party involved such as a bank for a mortgage acts as an unofficial extra layer of protection. “I own my house fully, but my husband and I recorded a mortgage against our property for a company,” she says. “I don’t actually owe myself any money, but it protects the property because it can’t be sold unless that mortgage is satisfied.”