Myth: remote buyers always get scammed - what is true

"Whoever buys without seeing it gets cheated." The sentence is common in forums and family conversations. This article looks at what is true in it, what is not, and what a buyer living in another country can do about it. It is informational and not legal advice.

The myth

The belief goes: if you are not on site, you cannot check anything, so a seller or an agent will take the money and disappear. People believe it for understandable reasons. Stories of fake listings and vanished deposits are widely shared, and a buyer in Warsaw or Berlin buying a flat in another country really does depend on other people for information.

What is actually true

Distance does not by itself cause fraud. What causes losses is a missing check at a specific step. A sale of property is a chain: the right to sell, the state of the property, the contract, the payment, the registration. A scheme needs one broken link, and a remote buyer who verifies each link independently is in a stronger position than a local buyer who trusts a friendly agent.

The practical conclusion is that safety is a method, not a place. A layered approach, where each layer covers a gap in the others, is what works.

• An independent lawyer, hired and paid by you, not recommended and paid by the seller or developer. The lawyer checks title, encumbrances and the contract, and can act for you under a power of attorney. See power of attorney for buying property abroad.
• An extract from the official property register that is current and obtained through your lawyer or directly. It shows the registered owner, mortgages, seizures and other charges.
• Payment through a notary, a lawyer's client account, or escrow, according to what the country uses, never to an unknown private account.
• A verified developer for new builds: licences, permits, the land title, previous projects, and the bank or escrow protection of buyers' money. See how to verify a developer abroad.
• Payment only to the account named in the contract and checked with the lawyer by a call to a number you found yourself, not one that arrived in the same email.
• A written offer and a written reservation agreement that state the price, the property, the deadlines and what happens to the deposit.

Where the myth comes from or is partly right

There is a true kernel. Remote buyers are a target for specific, well-known schemes: listings for properties that are not for sale, "owners" who are not owners, urgent deposits to "hold the price", changed bank details in the last email before payment. These are described in property scams abroad: the most common schemes. Another group of problems is legal rather than criminal: the same property sold twice or sold with hidden debts, covered in double sales and hidden debts on property abroad.

The honest part of the myth is that a buyer who relies on a single person, skips independent verification and pays quickly under pressure is exposed, on site or not. The dishonest part is the word "always".

Country examples

The tools differ by country. The examples below are high-level and should be confirmed with a local lawyer.

Spain. A notary executes the deed and the buyer can request a simple note (nota simple) from the property registry to see the owner and the charges. The notary identifies the parties and the payment means. Official notary information: Consejo General del Notariado.

Greece. Since 11 December 2023 the sale of real estate has, as reported, to be paid by bank transfer or other electronic means, and the notary records this in the deed. This closes one of the weakest points, a cash payment that nobody can trace.

Cyprus. Ownership is recorded in the Land Registry. A lawyer searches the title for mortgages and other charges, and the sale contract is deposited for registration. Check that the lawyer is yours and not shared with the developer.

Dubai. Sales are registered through the Dubai Land Department. For off-plan projects the law requires developers to keep buyers' payments in a regulated escrow account, as generally reported; ask for the project registration and the escrow account details and verify them on the official channels of the Dubai Land Department.

Thailand. For a condominium a foreign buyer must show that the funds came from abroad, and the title is registered at the Land Department. Check the title deed, the foreign ownership quota of the building and the developer's record with an independent Thai lawyer.

How to act safely

• Hire your own lawyer before you pay anything, and agree the scope and the fee in writing.
• Ask the lawyer to obtain a fresh register extract and to compare the seller's name with the passport or company documents.
• Do not pay a reservation deposit until the contract terms for the deposit are written down and the account belongs to the notary, lawyer, escrow agent or developer named in the documents.
• Check the account holder and IBAN by phoning a number you found independently. Treat any "we changed our bank" message as a warning sign.
• For off-plan: read the permits, the land title, the payment schedule and the guarantee, and check the developer's finished projects.
• Keep all communication and documents in writing, and keep copies on your side.
• Be suspicious of price far below the market, deadlines that expire "today", and requests for payment in cash or crypto.
• Use a power of attorney only with a narrow scope and a lawyer you chose. See buying property abroad remotely.

FAQ

Is it safe to buy property abroad without visiting? It can be, if every step is independently verified. Safety comes from the checks, not from presence, and a visit does not replace a lawyer's search of the register.

What is the single most important protection? An independent lawyer who works for you and holds no interest in the sale. Without one, the other layers are hard to apply.

Can I send a deposit to an agent to hold the property? Only if the contract says so and the account is a regulated one such as an escrow, notary or lawyer client account. Otherwise the deposit is a risk.

What if the developer is real but late? That is a different risk from fraud: delay. Check guarantees, penalties for delay and the stage of construction, and keep payment tied to milestones.

Does a video call count as a check? It shows that a person exists, not that the person owns the property. Ownership is shown only by the register.

How we help

We are a trilingual platform that finds properties and coordinates independent local lawyers and tax advisers for the buyer. We do not replace them. This text is informational and is not legal, tax or investment advice; rules change, so verify the current rules in the country concerned before you act.