Nice Oceanfront Property for Sale ... in Arizona?

Land scams are alive and well on the Internet.

Just as scam artists sold thousands of lots in phantom subdivisions decades ago, online wheeler-dealers are snookering a new generation of people who are looking for an inexpensive deal on a retirement home in a warm place.

Many of the lots being sold have never been developed because they're on swampland in Florida or isolated desert ranchland in Texas and Arizona. There is no road access, water, or power. The land might be developed someday, but county officials who are busy processing a surge in deed transfers are skeptical.

"If someone does buy one of these parcels thinking they're going to build their dream home on it now, that's really a problem," says Bart Medley, attorney for Texas' Jeff Davis County.

Texas officials say many of the lots have been sold two or three times to unsuspecting buyers who stop paying property taxes once they realize they own a worthless patch of dirt. The county takes possession, resells the lots in one chunk, then the new owner starts the process all over.

Web sites say they can’t take responsibility for buyer stupidity. They just provide the vehicle to list properties. "The actual transaction happens directly between the buyer and seller," says Catherine England, spokeswoman for eBay, which lists and auctions properties in its real estate section.