Nigerian Hackers Sell Man's House

News of a scam in Australia hit the Web on Wednesday, and I have to say it's a doozy. A man allegedly had his home sold by Nigerian-based scammers, and he had no idea what was going on.

The house went for $485,000, and the scammers were in the process of selling the homeowner's second home when a neighbor alerted the homeowner to the sale. At the time, the original owner was living in South Africa. He likely has lost his house and won't ever see the proceeds of the sale.

The attack was apparently initiated after the scammers got a hold of the victim's e-mail address. Apparently they hacked an account that had been used by the owner to communicate with the property manager, who also was a real estate agent. In Australia, it's considered fairly normal for an agent to list a house without ever seeing the buyer or seller. The scammers, meanwhile, connected with the agent claiming the house needed to be sold because of financial hardship. From there, everything could be done online, as the rules in Austrailia currently allow little or no face-to-face interaction to be had during the closing process. It's also apparent that the certificate of title, a commodity that can be traded just like cash, was likely forged.

I'm not sure something like this could happen in the United States. But it is another example of the complexity of Internet cyber crimes, and how the information left in your e-mail account can be used against you. It's also a good lesson for why people might want to change their e-mail passwords regularly.