20:
193:
Swampland scams still occur in
Florida. The Internet has brought about a resurgence via online auctions of Florida real estate. Scammers circumvent commercial registration requirements by making one-on-one sales. Over great distances some buyers can be convinced to pay before verifying claims. It
43:
in which a seller misrepresents unusable swampland as developable property. These types of unseen property scams became widely known in the United States in the 20th century, and the phrase is often used metaphorically for any scam that misrepresents what is being sold. Expressions like "If you
210:). The implication is that the target of the insult is not only more gullible than someone who would buy swampland in Florida, but also ignorant. Another variation of the phrase is "oceanfront property in Arizona", of which none exists because Arizona is a landlocked state. Country songwriter
121:
is worthless. Without development or some ability to develop it, it is not valuable for real estate purposes. There have been cases that swampland was purchased and turned into very valuable property, notably for the creation of
186:. The new owners came to find their land was underwater in a swamp or in some other way impossible to build upon. As the scam became widely known, California and New York legislators acted in 1963 to restrict this
609:
338:
170:
In the 1960s and 1970s, scammers used nationwide advertising to lure victims to buy
Florida real estate without visiting the properties first. This technique was used notably by the
206:, is also used for the same reasons. As Arizona is well known to have an arid climate, it is assumed that wetlands in that state are non-existent (though several exist within the
44:
believe that, then I have swampland in
Florida to sell you", suggests the recipient is gullible enough to fall for an obvious fraud. Similar phrases involve "selling" the
163:". Advertisements for the development made many false claims about the property. The project was shut down after the development headquarters were destroyed in a
468:
648:
232:. The lots are sold over the Internet, and are desert properties with no access to water, no sewer service, and in many cases, are not accessible by road.
1399:
534:
130:. Sometimes that is done by businesses to meet a development permit requirement to preserve some Florida land in order to build on other Florida land.
614:
454:
286:
about unscrupulous salesmen attempting to sell the titular plots of unbuildable
Florida swampland to unsuspecting clients. Later adapted into an
509:
493:
1475:
641:
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101:
Grant Oster points out that the practice of the unseen property scam predates the existence of the United States. He points to
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620:
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1288:
98:
Though the term originates in the United States, it is now also understood and used in other
English-speaking countries.
147:, a development in the Everglades that sold nearly 9,000 lots in 1925 and 1926 despite almost all of the property being
207:
95:" Those evolved in the 1960s and 1970s to include fraudulent sales of near-worthless swampland real estate in Florida.
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usually involves unbuildable swampland misrepresented as buildable to fraudulently inflate the sale price.
179:
560:
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190:. Florida also enacted the Installment Land Sales Act that year in an effort to restore its reputation.
182:, Florida (for which they were found guilty of fraud by the Florida Land Sales Board). It was a form of
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615:"Beyond Disney World: Florida's swamp land is something to be truly admired and explored"
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Recent land sale scams have been sale of inaccessible desert land in
Arizona and
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24:
91:. The phrase about gullibility referring to those events said, "
83:
would sell landmarks to which no one owns the title such as the
1283:
1143:
617:
at Poste
Restante online travel magazine (via Internet Archive)
679:
537:. Daytona Beach News-Journal. January 9, 2005. Archived from
118:
669:
40:
126:
and also to some extent including many developed lands in
471:. Charlotte (Florida) Sun. June 18, 2005. Archived from
202:
A similar phrase, which replaces the word
Florida with
455:"Gulf American Land Corp. Admits Guilt, Is Suspended"
430:
Liquid Land: A Journey
Through the Florida Everglades
79:
Similar terms came from the early 20th century where
581:
Pintail
Wetlands Nature Trail — USDA Forest Service
143:One of the earliest swampland scams in Florida was
93:
if you believe that, I've got a bridge to sell you.
1437:
596:, 9/26/2006, USA TODAY (accessed 26 Sept. 2016).
389:"Unseen Property Cons and Land Scams in History"
362:
360:
656:
72:. One of the original sellers of swampland was
16:Figure of speech referring to real estate scams
623:(archive) – land scams in Polk County, Florida
512:. USA Today. September 1, 2006. Archived from
642:
610:Florida Law Chapter 498: Land Sales Practices
457:. Sarasota Herald-Tribune. November 11, 1967.
357:
133:
499:, September 1, 2006 (Accessed 26 Sept. 2016_
112:
561:"Daisy chain of profits: Last one in loses"
469:"Watch out for swamp land sales on the Net"
117:The common usage of this term implies that
1400:Criminal enterprises, gangs and syndicates
649:
635:
395:January 2, 2014. (accessed 26 Sept. 2016).
138:
558:
404:
18:
594:"Old-fashioned land scams go high-tech"
197:
48:or nonexistent "oceanfront property in
1438:
494:"Psst . . . Wanna Buy Some Swampland?"
60:The phrase originates from the common
630:
426:
407:"Anyone got some swampland for sale?"
368:"...swampland in Florida to sell you"
336:
1299:High-yield investment program (HYIP)
223:
1289:Foundation for New Era Philanthropy
370:. phrases.org.uk. February 20, 2005
87:to newly arrived immigrants in the
13:
220:with this variation as its title.
208:Apache-Sitgreaves National Forests
14:
1492:
603:
1476:Real estate in the United States
510:"Brooklyn bridge buyers, beware"
409:. South Florida Business Journal
1354:Saradha Group financial scandal
586:
574:
559:Meinhardt, Jane (May 8, 2006).
552:
535:"Swampland sales back in style"
527:
502:
433:. University of Georgia Press.
486:
461:
447:
420:
405:Ostrowski, Jeff (1999-04-02).
398:
381:
330:
305:
247:Florida land boom of the 1920s
172:Gulf American Land Corporation
1:
708:1992 Indian stock market scam
337:Cohen, Gabriel (2005-11-27).
298:
983:Strip search phone call scam
798:Extraterrestrial real estate
563:. Tampa Bay Business Journal
267:Picayune Strand State Forest
109:, circa 982, as an example.
55:
7:
858:Intellectual property scams
848:Indian coal allocation scam
657:Scams and confidence tricks
583:Retrieved November 26, 2022
235:
105:'s sale of colonization of
10:
1497:
1461:Fraud in the United States
1344:Pyramid schemes in Albania
1304:Investors Overseas Service
1236:Website reputation ratings
134:Unseen property sale scams
1382:
1374:Welsh Thrasher faith scam
1319:Madoff investment scandal
1244:
1046:
813:Foreclosure rescue scheme
698:
662:
113:Actual value of swampland
64:scams of the 1920s, when
39:referring to real estate
1369:Stanford Financial Group
1174:Russian Business Network
963:Slavery reparations scam
1339:Petters Group Worldwide
139:Florida swampland scams
1446:English-language slang
1033:White van speaker scam
998:Technical support scam
973:SSA impersonation scam
928:Redemption/A4V schemes
853:IRS impersonation scam
818:Foreign exchange fraud
393:Hankering for History,
174:in the communities of
27:
23:A freshwater swamp in
833:Get-rich-quick scheme
823:Fortune telling fraud
339:"For You, Half Price"
292:film of the same name
257:Real estate economics
22:
1309:Kapa investment scam
1129:Internet vigilantism
1119:Email authentication
1094:Cryptocurrency scams
988:Swampland in Florida
217:Ocean Front Property
198:Swampland in Arizona
66:booming "land mania"
32:Swampland in Florida
1413:Film and television
1134:Lenny anti-scam bot
1038:Work-at-home scheme
1003:Telemarketing fraud
863:Kansas City Shuffle
788:Embarrassing cheque
475:on October 20, 2008
427:Levin, Ted (2004).
313:"In Ponzi We Trust"
275:Glengarry Glen Ross
180:Golden Gate Estates
1466:Symbols of Florida
1364:Scott W. Rothstein
1259:Aman Futures Group
778:Coin rolling scams
773:Coin-matching game
621:Florida Land Scams
262:Land banking scams
252:Real estate bubble
214:released an album
28:
1481:Confidence tricks
1471:Swamps of Florida
1433:
1432:
1395:Confidence tricks
1114:Domain name scams
1013:Thai zig zag scam
878:Miracle cars scam
701:confidence tricks
699:Notable scams and
440:978-0-8203-2672-6
282:-winning play by
224:Desert land scams
188:false advertising
124:Walt Disney World
1488:
1264:Bernard Cornfeld
1226:Stock Generation
1154:Referer spoofing
1018:Three-card monte
1008:Thai tailor scam
968:Spanish Prisoner
898:Overpayment scam
838:Green goods scam
738:Black money scam
723:Art student scam
718:Advance-fee scam
713:2G spectrum case
651:
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184:confidence trick
70:Great Depression
37:figure of speech
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1451:English phrases
1436:
1435:
1434:
1429:
1378:
1324:Make Money Fast
1294:Franchise fraud
1249:
1240:
1221:Spoofing attack
1204:Scammer Payback
1052:countermeasures
1051:
1042:
733:Bait-and-switch
700:
694:
658:
655:
606:
601:
600:
592:Haya El Nasser,
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242:Economic bubble
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85:Brooklyn Bridge
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46:Brooklyn Bridge
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1064:Pig Butchering
1061:
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1048:Internet scams
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933:Reloading scam
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868:Locksmith scam
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604:External links
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344:New York Times
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280:Pulitzer Prize
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1426:
1425:Ponzi schemes
1423:
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1410:
1409:In the media
1408:
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1398:
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1329:Matrix scheme
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1251:Ponzi schemes
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1159:Ripoff Report
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958:SIM swap scam
956:
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949:
946:
944:
941:
939:
936:
934:
931:
929:
926:
924:
923:Pump and dump
921:
919:
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911:
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908:Pig in a poke
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791:
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769:
766:
764:
763:Charity fraud
761:
759:
756:
754:
751:
749:
746:
744:
743:Blessing scam
741:
739:
736:
734:
731:
729:
726:
724:
721:
719:
716:
714:
711:
709:
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705:
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697:
691:
688:
686:
683:
681:
678:
676:
675:Error account
673:
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629:
622:
619:
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613:
611:
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607:
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582:
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555:
541:on 2009-04-12
540:
536:
530:
516:on 2008-02-01
515:
511:
505:
498:
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489:
474:
470:
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387:Grant Oster,
384:
369:
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346:
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318:
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293:
289:
288:Academy Award
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212:George Strait
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99:
96:
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90:
89:United States
86:
82:
77:
75:
74:Charles Ponzi
71:
68:preceded the
67:
63:
53:
51:
47:
42:
38:
34:
33:
26:
21:
1349:Reed Slatkin
1314:Kubus scheme
1194:Jim Browning
1189:419eater.com
1184:Scam baiting
1169:Romance scam
1139:Lottery scam
1084:Clickjacking
1028:Wash trading
1023:Trojan horse
987:
938:Return fraud
888:Mock auction
783:Drop swindle
748:Bogus escrow
588:
576:
565:. Retrieved
554:
543:. Retrieved
539:the original
529:
518:. Retrieved
514:the original
504:
496:
488:
477:. Retrieved
473:the original
463:
449:
429:
422:
411:. Retrieved
400:
392:
383:
372:. Retrieved
348:. Retrieved
342:
332:
320:. Retrieved
316:
307:
273:
227:
215:
201:
192:
169:
142:
116:
103:Erik the Red
100:
97:
78:
62:land banking
59:
31:
30:
29:
1390:Con artists
1274:Dona Branca
1216:Spoofed URL
1124:Email fraud
1104:CyberThrill
1079:Click fraud
993:Tarmac scam
918:Pork barrel
913:Pigeon drop
903:Patent safe
893:Moving scam
803:Fiddle game
753:Boiler room
728:Badger game
690:Sucker list
663:Terminology
492:Mark Pino,
317:Smithsonian
290:-nominated
284:David Mamet
157:crustaceans
1440:Categories
1418:Literature
1279:Earl Jones
1211:ShadowCrew
1164:Rock Phish
1109:DarkMarket
1099:Cybercrime
1074:Catfishing
948:Shell game
883:Mismarking
808:Fine print
768:Clip joint
758:Bride scam
567:2008-02-04
545:2008-02-04
520:2008-02-02
479:2008-02-04
413:2008-09-16
374:2008-02-02
350:2010-01-11
299:References
230:west Texas
176:Cape Coral
161:mosquitoes
153:Shangri-La
1456:Deception
1405:Impostors
1059:Avalanche
873:Long firm
793:Exit scam
278:, a 1983
165:hurricane
149:mangroves
145:Poinciana
119:swampland
107:Greenland
56:Etymology
1179:SaferNet
1149:Phishing
1089:Cramming
978:SSC Scam
843:Hustling
828:Gem scam
236:See also
1269:Caritas
1246:Pyramid
1199:Kitboga
1069:Carding
943:Salting
685:Shyster
322:22 July
204:Arizona
151:and a "
128:Florida
81:con-men
50:Arizona
25:Florida
1284:Ezubao
1144:PayPai
437:
1383:Lists
680:Shill
41:scams
35:is a
670:Scam
435:ISBN
324:2019
178:and
159:and
155:for
1334:MMM
1248:and
1050:and
52:".
1442::
391:,
359:^
341:.
315:.
167:.
76:.
650:e
643:t
636:v
570:.
548:.
523:.
482:.
443:.
416:.
377:.
353:.
326:.
294:.
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