Foreign homeowners who spend long periods outside Spain are particularly vulnerable to property identity fraud, a leading lawyer has warned.

Miguel Angel Escalante Torre, from Escalante & Botello Abogados, is currently representing two clients who became caught up in an alleged €500,000 scam in Estepona.

Speaking to The Spanish Eye, Torre said his firm was encountering numerous similar cases and urged owners to monitor their property records.

The warning follows a British landowner’s claim that two plots were sold without his knowledge after someone impersonated him before a Malaga notary.

The firm clarified that it represents two people under investigation who helped translate during the transaction, rather than the owner.

It maintains that its clients were also deceived and did not know the sale allegedly involved fraud.

‘My firm represents the interests of two people under investigation who acted as intermediaries, carrying out translation work, and who, like the owner, were deceived,’ Torre said.

The case remains at the investigative stage and the person who allegedly impersonated the owner has not been identified.

According to Torre, the transaction was completed using a false passport and a person who resembled the legitimate British owner.

Precautionary measures have been requested to prevent the plots being sold again.

Torre warned that a subsequent sale to an innocent buyer could make recovering a property considerably harder.

‘That third party has land registry protection, and afterwards the original owner faces considerable difficulty recovering the property,’ he said.

Asked whether similar incidents were becoming more common, the lawyer said: ‘There are many similar cases occurring and, indeed, foreigners who spend long periods away are more vulnerable because they do not know what is happening with their property.’

He recommended regular checks of land registry records to identify unexpected changes, suggesting monthly monitoring.

Owners who spend substantial periods abroad could also consider appointing a lawyer with sufficient authority to take urgent action on their behalf, he said.

For anyone who discovers a suspected fraudulent transaction, his advice was to seek legal help immediately and request measures to prevent another sale.

The priority, he explained, is to stop the property reaching a subsequent buyer acting in good faith, which could make its recovery much more difficult.

Torre said: ‘Preventive measures exist. Primarily, the property’s land registry records can be monitored each month to check that no changes have occurred.

‘You should also always appoint a lawyer with sufficient power of attorney to bring any necessary action on your behalf in the event of potentially unlawful acts of this kind.

‘Always contact a lawyer who can report the facts on your behalf and request, as quickly as possible, that dealings with the property be blocked to prevent a second sale to a buyer acting in good faith, which would make recovering the property very difficult.’

The allegations surrounding the Estepona plots remain under investigation, and no finding of criminal responsibility has been established.

Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.