Des Plaines police support Cook County's Property Fraud Alert System

Des Plaines Police Chief William Kushner would like residents to familiarize themselves with the Property Fraud Alert System and a new hotline, 312-603-4000, established by the Cook County Recorder of Deeds Office, to report possible fraudulent deed and property activity.

Quoting from information issued by Cook County Recorder of Deeds Karen A. Yarbrough, "Property and recording fraud is one of the fastest growing white collar crimes. Fraudsters often target paid-for homes that have no mortgage, usually owned by an elderly person who may have no heirs and file forged ownership documents with a County Recorder."

Homeowners may sign up to monitor activity on their property by doing the following:

Get your Property Index Number (PIN) from your tax bill or from www.cookcountypropertyinfo.com (Note: The Cook County Recorder of Deeds does not guarantee accuracy of these records and an incorrect PIN will result in no alerts being sent.)

Visit www.CookRecorder.com and click on the FREE PROPERTY FRAUD ALERT logo.

Select the red CONTINUE button and read and accept the TERMS of Service. Enter your names and whether you want to receive alerts by phone or email, then enter your PIN (If you select email, make sure to check your Junk or Spam folder to authorize emails from PFA).To sign up by phone call 800-728-3858. To make sure your chain of title is clear visit www.CookRecorder.com . Fraudulent activity should be reported to the hotline at 312-603-4000.

"We encourage residents to take advantage of the Property Fraud Alert System, offered free through Cook County Recorder of Deeds Karen A. Yarbrough's Office, to assure that they do not become victims of property and recording fraud. Unfortunately, many seniors, who have homes that are paid for, are the targeted audience when it comes to this type of white collar crime," Des Plaines Police Chief Kushner said.