A Scottsdale homeowner came within a signature or two of losing his house to strangers who, police say, never owned it. The attempted deed scam ended with two arrests and a paper trail that shows how quickly criminals can weaponize public records and online listings. I want to walk through how the scheme unfolded, what warning signs surfaced, and how other owners can spot similar red flags before their own property is quietly sold out from under them.
How a Scottsdale home was nearly stolen on paper
According to Scottsdale Police, two women are accused of targeting a Valley man’s property and trying to sell the home even though they had no legal claim to it. Investigators say the house was listed for sale and moved through the early stages of a transaction while the actual owner went about his life, unaware that his biggest asset was being marketed behind his back, a scenario first described when a Valley man’s home was almost sold without his knowledge. The alleged scheme fits a pattern that real estate professionals in the Valley have started to recognize, where fraudsters pose as distant or distressed owners and push for a quick closing before anyone has time to verify the story.
Police say the suspects used forged paperwork to make it appear that the property’s title had legitimately changed hands, then tried to move forward as if they were the rightful sellers. In related coverage, authorities have linked the case to a broader deed fraud pattern in Scottsdale, where a home was listed for sale without the owner even knowing, a situation that local agents described as “incredible” given how routine listing checks usually are in the Valley real estate market. The core allegation is simple but devastating: by the time the real owner finds out, the paperwork can look so official that undoing the damage becomes a race against the clock.
The two women at the center of the alleged scheme
In the Scottsdale case, police say the attempted theft was not some faceless cybercrime but a hands-on operation involving two specific suspects. Reports identify one of the women by the name of Rachael Cossette, who is accused of presenting herself as the seller and using a forged deed to transfer ownership on paper, a detail laid out when When Rowan realized the real owner had never signed anything. Another account notes that the two women were arrested after trying to sell a Scottsdale home they did not own, underscoring how brazen the attempt was and how close it came to succeeding before anyone intervened.
Additional reporting connects Cossette to another woman, with investigators alleging that Cossette and Greer worked together in a fraud scheme that targeted homeowners through title and deed manipulation. One detailed breakdown of the case describes how the pair allegedly focused on properties where the owners were less likely to be physically present, such as second homes or investment properties, and then tried to rush the process before anyone could verify the signatures. Another national write-up on the arrests notes that 2 women arrested in Scottsdale are now part of a growing list of alleged deed thieves facing scrutiny across the country.
The realtor and the “something’s off” moment
What kept this case from ending in a completed sale was not a high-tech security system but human intuition. A Valley realtor working the transaction noticed that parts of the story did not add up, from the way the supposed seller communicated to inconsistencies in the paperwork, and decided to dig deeper. That quick judgment call not only helped save a Scottsdale homeowner from possibly losing his property, it also helped Scottsdale Police track down the alleged title fraudsters, as described in a report on how Quick thinking from a Valley realtor turned a suspicious listing into a criminal investigation…