A niece’s alert ended an attempt to sell a dead relative’s Seattle home. A man with a forged power of attorney had accepted an offer on the house, and when the niece was alerted she intervened and reported it. Tyler Lee Berens, 36, of Carnation, Washington, was sentenced on October 5 to three years in federal prison for that attempt and for pandemic unemployment fraud.

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The forged document and the house

About two years after his pandemic benefit claims began, Berens went after the home and money of a deceased elderly Seattle resident, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington said in a release on the sentencing. He posed as the person’s authorized agent and sent a real estate agent a forged power of attorney, saying he could sell the home. He then accepted an offer on it. The release does not give the amount of the offer, the victim’s name or how Berens got the victim’s personal information.

In all, prosecutors say, Berens made multiple attempts to take more than $500,000 in assets. U.S. District Judge John H. Chun sentenced him in Seattle to three years, followed by three years of supervised release.

What a family can learn from the niece

Relatives of someone who has died face a question this case makes concrete: whose name, address and account details are still circulating, and who can use them? The release says Berens used the victim’s personal information, but not where he found it.

The living have the same exposure. A name tied to an address and a phone number is what data broker and people-search sites list for anyone to pull, and Incogni sends removal requests to those sites and keeps re-sending them for the person who signs up. It does not touch the estate of someone who has died; it applies to a reader’s own listings.

The bank and brokerage accounts

The house was one of three targets. Berens accessed the victim’s bank accounts to try to move money and obtained a debit card for the checking account. After fraud restrictions were placed on the accounts, he emailed the bank while impersonating the victim to try to get them lifted. At the brokerage, he took over the accounts, tried to transfer money to himself and tried to sell more than $235,000 in stock.

Fraud restrictions stopped the stock transactions and cut off his access, the release says, and he then impersonated the victim again to try to regain control. The $235,000-plus in stock is the amount he tried to sell, not an amount he got away with.

Pandemic claims in 19 states

Berens pleaded guilty in July 2026. His earlier scheme began in May 2020, when he filed false unemployment claims in 19 states, and he collected $148,206 from six of them: Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nevada, Rhode Island and Washington. He was approved for a $17,500 Paycheck Protection Program loan on a false application, but no money was paid out. The release does not say whether he used other people’s identities for the unemployment claims.

Judge Chun called the crimes “addiction-fueled” but serious, with wide-reaching effects on the government and on the victim. The case was charged as wire fraud, access device fraud and aggravated identity theft. FBI Seattle Special Agent in Charge W. Mike Herrington said the FBI and its partners “will carefully follow the money to pursue those who steal funds, and identities.” The investigation also involved the Social Security Administration’s and Labor Department’s inspectors general, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica M. Ly prosecuted.

Guarding a relative’s accounts and home after a death

The case shows where the stop came from: the niece, then the restrictions on the accounts. A family handling an estate can start with the institutions that hold the money and the deed, telling the bank and the brokerage about the death, asking what fraud restrictions they can place and asking for notice of any activity. The Washington release does not describe those steps beyond the fraud restrictions that blocked the stock sale, so the specifics belong to each institution.

The FTC’s identity theft guidance lists the steps for anyone whose own identity is misused: a free credit freeze at each of the three bureaus, a fraud alert with one bureau, a report at IdentityTheft.gov that produces a personal recovery plan, and a look through credit reports for accounts that are not recognized. Scams can be reported at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

In the Seattle case, a relative who stayed in touch with the estate was the one who noticed and made the report. The release credits the niece’s report, followed by the account restrictions, with stopping the losses.

The details behind a forged power of attorney

Berens had the victim’s personal information and used it to impersonate that person at a bank, a brokerage and a real estate office. Incogni files removal requests with data brokers and people-search sites for the person who signs up, then keeps filing them again as listings return. Less personal data on broker lists can mean fewer scam calls, texts and emails for the person who signs up.

Clear your name and address from people-search sites with Incogni →

This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.