WATCH: Why is online real estate fraud the perfect crime?

Hiten Samtani and Konrad Putzier discuss the world of scams and schemes on the Internet

Real estate scams have existed since property started changing hands. The internet — and social media in particular — led to the proliferation of these schemes, as the ability to invest money became easier and more accessible to lay investors.

In January, The Real Deal exposed Bar Works as a Ponzi scheme and discovered that its mastermind was career-fraudster Renwick Haddow. That, however, was just the tip of the iceberg of these scams — so reporter Konrad Putzier went down the rabbit hole to investigate the increasing prevalence of online real estate fraud.

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The Real Deal’s Hiten Samtani sat down with Putzier to talk about how the story came together.

To see the full conversation, watch the video above.

For more videos, visit The Real Deal’s YouTube page.