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Louisiana woman is fighting to reclaim her family's property, which has been in their hands for centuries. DaNita Batiste inherited the residential lot in Lake Charles from her mother in 2020 but had little involvement with it until she discovered that fraudsters had impersonated her using a fake ID and sold the land for $45,000 cash to unsuspecting investors.

    The property was sold despite Batiste's repeated denials of selling it. She had hired someone to cut the grass twice a month and paid the property taxes each year but never intended to sell the land. When she went online to pay taxes in December, she discovered that the property had been transferred to a new corporate owner.

    Batiste quickly reported the matter to the police and the new owner, who had no idea that the person selling him the lot was not the real Batiste. Due to her quick action, the $45,000 paid for the parcel was frozen, but the title has yet to be returned to her name despite repeated appeals.

    The case is believed to be linked to an international crime ring, and investigators suspect that the fraudsters gained access to online records of property owners who don't live at their properties or are not in the same city. Batiste hopes that sharing her story will raise awareness about identity theft scams and protect others from similar situations.

    A real estate attorney notes that title insurance can help protect property owners from fraudulent sales, and some counties offer free title monitoring with automatic alerts for any updates to property records. Batiste's case highlights the importance of being vigilant and taking steps to prevent such scams, which can go undetected for years.