This involves 20 acres of land along Olive Chapel Road in Apex, which has been in Bob Kelly's family since the 1800s.
"My grandmother was born (on the property) in 1887, so been there a long time in our name," Kelly said. Kelly no longer lives on the property as he and his wife moved to a retirement community in Pittsboro, but they've held onto the 20 acres.
Out of the blue, Kelly got a call from the man who lives next to the property asking him if he was really selling the land.
"You know I wouldn't sell my property," Kelly responded over the phone.
However, a for sale sign was sitting right there on Kelly's property. Kelly couldn't believe it.
He contacted the real estate agent whose name was on the for sale sign.
"'It's a beautiful piece of property. It's got 20 acres that are for sale,'" Kelly recalled the real estate agent telling him when he called about it. "Well, sir, let me tell you that property belongs to me and I have not authorized anyone to sell it and I'm headed there now to take your for sale signs down!"
Kelly said he also wanted answers as to how this real estate agent could list his property for sale. Kelly said the agent told him that a couple in Tennessee asked him to list the property but he never got ID from the alleged couple.
The listing was quickly taken down, but Kelly said he learned in the 24 hours his property was listed for sale, there were already five offers on his property.
"It is very scary. It is very scary," Kelly said.
He filed a complaint with the North Carolina Real Estate Commission and another real estate agent, the agent whose client made an offer on Kelly's property, also filed a complaint.
Troubleshooter Diane Wilson with our Raleigh sister station, ABC11, reached out to the real estate agent who listed the property and also the Real Estate Commission, but they did not get back to her.
The North Carolina Real Estate Commission did tell Kelly it investigated the complaint. The agency provided records to him, which include an email from the real estate agent in response to the investigation. That agent stated he's been an agent since 2007, with no history of complaints. He wrote in part, that a scammer impersonating the owners, created emails using the real owners' first and last names. When he had requested an in-person meeting they claimed to be in the hospital and were unable to meet. The real estate agent did have this signed listing agreement with the scammers. He also claims he did not send any offers to the scammer as they failed to provide two forms of a photo ID. He adds when he withdrew the listing from the MLS, they sent a falsified passport.
After investigating, the North Carolina Real Estate Commission did not pursue disciplinary action against the real estate agent, but in a letter they cautioned him to use greater care in the future when listing a property without face-to-face contact with the owners.
Kelly is speaking out to make sure others know they need to be vigilant if they own any property.
"One thing we're really doing now is at least once a month we're checking county tax records to see if there's any activity against our property," Kelly said.
Authorities are urging owners of vacant land to remain on guard and to check their property records. The FBI has reported a 500% increase in vacant land fraud over the last four years.