Fraudsters are targeting foreign-owned holiday homes on the Costa del Sol by impersonating their owners to sell the properties without their knowledge, a leading lawyer has warned.

Solicitors handling the cases warn that criminals are exploiting owners’ prolonged absences from Spain, using forged documents to pose as legitimate sellers.

‘It is the biggest fraud at the moment,’ Cecilio Sanchez, of Mercury Abogados, told Malaga Hoy.

Fellow lawyer Miguel Angel Escalante, of Escalante & Botello Abogados, said the problem stretches beyond Marbella into Malaga city, potentially leaving victims facing years of litigation.

‘In Marbella, there are transactions worth millions of euros,’ he told the newspaper.

One case being handled by his firm involves the owner of a plot in Estepona who allegedly discovered that someone had impersonated him and marketed his property while he was away.

The lawyer said investigators were examining a suspected network potentially involving around 15 people.

According to the lawyers, fraudsters obtain an owner’s personal details and forge identity documents, including passports.

They then find someone who resembles the owner to impersonate them before a notary and attempt to complete the sale.

Escalante also alleged that some cases involve complicity by notaries.

The consequences can become particularly complicated if the property is subsequently sold again.

Escalante warned that an innocent onward buyer may, if the relevant legal requirements are met, benefit from protection under Spain’s property registration system – potentially preventing the original owner from recovering the home.

That protection depends on the circumstances and is not automatic simply because a property has changed hands.

A separate case involves University of Malaga lecturer Francisco Rodriguez, who fears losing the Teatinos home where he has lived for more than 20 years.

He alleges that his personal details were used without permission in a property transaction worth more than €200,000.

‘I haven’t signed anything and I don’t know the buyers or the notary. I neither want nor intend to sell my flat,’ he told Malaga Hoy.

The transaction was due to proceed on Wednesday, October 21.

However, according to the report, the notary approached by the prospective buyers has assured Rodriguez and his lawyer that he will not sign the deed after learning of the complaint.

The lecturer is still seeking court measures to block a purchase option registered against his home.

The cases highlight how identity theft can extend beyond bank accounts and online scams, leaving property owners fighting to establish that they never authorised a transaction.

Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.