BALTIMORE — A Baltimore homeowner fell behind on her mortgage payments after losing $700 to a fake check scam. And it was while she was trying to catch up that she got a call from someone pretending to be her lender offering her a way out of debt.

“He told me that there was a program, the COVID-19 loan modification, and that he could work with me and this is what I would have to do,” said Celestine Smith, who received a text from a man named Mark who claimed to be a representative with Dovenmuehle Mortgage.

Mark told Smith that her property had been listed on the defaulter’s list and if she wanted to qualify for the loan modification program, she’d need to replenish her escrow account then send three months of payments totaling more $5,000.

“Piecing together from my Social Security and my pension,” Smith said she was able to send over the payments in separate transactions. She also cut back on other bills.

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