PONTIAC, Mich. – A Pontiac woman pleaded no contest to nine charges after allegedly scamming home buyers in a real estate fraud scheme.
Amanda Escalante-Lopez, 28, from Pontiac, allegedly made verbal agreements with prospective home buyers for land contracts and title to homes in Pontiac that she did not own.
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The victims gave her money, and she, in return, was to give the property to them. However, victims reported they did not receive keys, access or titles to the homes after putting down payments on the homes as agreed upon.
Escalante-Lopez was charged in October with three counts of false pretenses $20,000-$50,000, three counts of false pretenses $1,000-$20,000, one count of larceny by conversion $20,000 or more and three counts of larceny by conversion $1,000-$20,000.
According to court documents, Escalante-Lopez pleaded no contest to nine charges on April 16. She…
Identity theft is the “foundational” fraud upon which many other crimes are built. It involves the unauthorized acquisition and use of a person’s personal identifying information (PII), such as an ID number, Social Security number, or passport details.
- How it works: Fraudsters obtain PII through data breaches, mail theft, or “social engineering” (tricking people into revealing details). Once they have this data, they can open new bank accounts, apply for credit cards or loans, and even receive medical treatment under your name.
- Synthetic Identity Fraud: A sophisticated variation where criminals combine real and fabricated information to create a completely new, “synthetic” person. This is particularly difficult to detect because there is no single victim to report the suspicious activity initially.