I have read of a gentleman who owned a so fine house in London, and when he went for months of summer to Switzerland and lock up his house, some burglar come and broke window at back and got in. Then he went and made open the shutters in front and walk out and in through the door, before the very eyes of the police. Then he have an auction in that house, and advertise it, and put up big notice. And when the day come he sell off by a great auctioneer all the goods of that other man who own them. Then he go to a builder, and he sell him that house, making an agreement that he pull it down and take all away within a certain time. And your police and other authority help him all they can. And when that owner come back from his holiday in Switzerland he find only an empty hole where his house had been.
I found this passage in Bram Stoker's Dracula, published in 1897. It reminded me of a scam I first heard of being used on Craigslist. Someone looking to rent a room in another town finds a nice place online, sends in a deposit, and then shows up to find that the owner of the house knows nothing about a room for rent. The poster, who is not the owner of the house, gets away with whatever deposit was paid. It looks like pretending to own some property and selling it off is not by any measure a new fraud!
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