In This Issue
Scam of the Week: The "We Can Save Your Home" Call
Red Flag Decoder: The $15.9B Number You Need to Know
Marketplace Alert: Fake Home Equity Buyers
Inbox Danger Zone: The Foreclosure Email That Isn't Real
What to do This Week: Summary
Scam of the Week : We Can Save Your Home
Your phone rings.
It's someone offering to lower your mortgage payment. They sound calm, official, even helpful. They say they can modify your loan, but they need a fee upfront to get started.
Here's what's actually happening: scammers are calling homeowners unexpectedly, promising to modify their mortgage or provide a way to avoid foreclosure, if they make a payment upfront.
And it's working. Americans lost a record $15.9 billion to scams in 2025, up from $12.5 billion in 2024, according to new FTC data released this week.
The mortgage relief version is especially cruel because it targets people who are already stressed.
It's illegal for companies to charge a fee before you get any services. Full stop. Anyone asking for money upfront before delivering results is breaking the law, and almost certainly stealing from you.
The rule: If someone calls out of nowhere offering to save your home, hang up. Call your lender directly using the number on your mortgage statement.
RED FLAG DECODER
🚩 The $15.9B Number
This just dropped, and it matters.
The FTC received more than 1 million reports about imposter scams in 2025, with consumers reporting more than $3.5 billion in losses. Text messages were the top contact method reported.
That's one category. One.
Here's the pattern every imposter scam shares, whether it's a mortgage call, a bank text, or a "government officer" on the phone:
Someone contacts you out of the blue.
They create urgency — your home, your account, your money is at risk.
They need something from you: a payment, a fee, your personal details.
Reported fraud losses remain just a fraction of actual losses, since not every consumer who lost money reported it to the FTC.
The real number is bigger. Much bigger.
The rule: Urgency is the weapon. When someone rushes you to act, on your home, your money, anything, that pressure is the scam.
MARKETPLACE SCAM ALERT
The Fake Home Equity Offer
This one shows up in the mail, not just on your phone.
You get a postcard or letter from a company offering to buy your home equity or help you unlock cash from your property. It looks official. It might even use language that mirrors real government housing programs.
Scammers say they're housing counselors, lawyers, or that they represent a law firm or are from the government, and they'll say they'll handle all the details of a deal with your lender.
Some go further. Scammers may try to convince you to transfer the deed to your home. If you transfer the deed, you're not likely to get it back.
The red flags:
Official-sounding name you've never heard of
Request to sign documents before anything is in writing from your actual lender
Any suggestion to stop communicating with your mortgage company
The rule: Your lender's number is on your mortgage statement. Use that. Don't trust a number from a mailer.
INBOX DANGER ZONE
"Your Home Is At Risk"
Here's an email circulating right now:
"URGENT: Your property at [your address] has been flagged for foreclosure review. To halt proceedings, verify your loan account and complete a hardship application within 48 hours."
It looks real. The address is right (scammers buy public property records). The logo might look like your bank's.
Even if you owe back taxes or have an account issue, know this: the first contact from any real government agency or lender will always come by mail, not by phone or email with a 48-hour deadline.
The red flags:
Specific address in the subject line (designed to feel personal)
48-hour deadline — urgency is always a tell
A link to "verify your loan" that takes you off your lender's official site
The rule: If you're worried it could be real, call your lender directly. Never click links in emails like this. Not once.
What to do this Week
If you get a call offering mortgage relief: Hang up. Call your lender using the number on your statement.
If you get a letter offering to buy your home equity: Research the company at the FTC's complaint database at ReportFraud.ftc.gov before engaging.
If you receive a foreclosure email: Don't click anything. Call your lender directly.
If a caller claims to be from a housing agency: Ask for their name, hang up, and call that agency back using a number from their official .gov website.
Forward suspicious emails or texts to [email protected] and get a Trust Signal back.
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💡 THE SCAMRANK TIP
These mortgage scams work because they hit you when you're already worried.
Scammers know that fear makes people move fast. And fast is exactly when mistakes happen.
The next time something lands in your inbox or on your phone that involves your home, your money, or your parents' finances — slow down for 60 seconds and check it first. That's it. Just 60 seconds.
ScamRank Plus gives you unlimited scans, full explanations, and saved history for $7/month — less than a cup of coffee a week. Forward any suspicious message to [email protected] and we'll send back a Trust Signal so you know exactly what you're dealing with.
Start your free 7-day trial at ScamRank.com.
Until next week,
The ScamBrief Team
ScamBrief is part of the Echo Safe family | Helping families stay ahead of scams | echosafe.co