Confidence games come and go. But some seem to go on forever. Con artists are apparently still selling building lots in Florida, sight unseen, that turn out to be underwater swampland.

But some real estate cons are worth remembering, if only because how successful they were.

For example, Darren Berg, a Seattle man dubbed the "Mini Madoff" -- after Bernie Madoff, who ran the largest Ponzi scheme in history -- is still at large after escaping prison in December 2017. Berg had been convicted of wire and bankruptcy fraud stemming from his own Ponzi scheme, which involved real estate contracts, mortgage-backed securities and other loans.

He bilked more than 800 investors out of $120 million -- small potatoes, compared to the $64.8 billion raked in by Madoff, who died in prison last year. Decades before these guys fleeced their flocks, though, the man for whom these ruses are named was indicted in Florida.

In 1926, Charles Ponzi was found guilty of fraudulently selling swampland. He was sentenced to a year in prison, but appealed and was freed on bond. He then tried to flee to Italy, but was captured and sent to Massachusetts -- to serve out his prison sentence for his other investment scam.

In that scheme, Ponzi took in an estimated $20 million by convincing thousands of people to invest in international postage stamps. He used the money from new clients to pay the existing ones, all while pocketing significant funds for himself. That's the basis for all Ponzi schemes: Pay the old guy with money from the new one.

But real estate cons go back even farther: Erik the Red, the murderous Viking explorer, pulled off one of the first, in the year 985, when he convinced several hundred of his fellow Icelanders to move with him to Greenland. He called the barely habitable island "Greenland" as a way of enticing settlers.

Back to the present day, real estate rip-offs are more prevalent than ever. According to the Detroit law firm of Maddin Hauser Roth & Heller, cybercriminals have "ramped up their attacks on the mortgage and real estate industries, taking advantage of the multiple entry points available in every transaction, the lack of coordinated security efforts among the parties, and the abundance of personal and financial information that awaits them after a successful breach."

The list is unending: mortgage fraud, title fraud, wire fraud, timeshare fraud, collection scams, foreclosure relief scams, credit fixing ruses and investment schemes. Earlier this year, Georgia realty agent Eric Hill was sentenced to 30 months in prison for his part in a scheme that netted $21 million in fake mortgages that ended up in default.

Here's how to avoid scammers:

-- The No. 1 rule in any transaction is simple: If it sounds too good to be true, it most likely is. So be skeptical -- very skeptical -- when someone is trying to separate you from your money.

Before you put your name on the dotted line, and definitely before handing over cash, thoroughly check out the person or company you are dealing with.

-- If you are being pressured to take advantage of a deal right away or it will evaporate, run, don't walk, to the nearest exit. Being pressed into acting immediately is a sure sign something's rotten in Denmark. If the deal is valid, it'll still be there tomorrow.

"Walk away from high-pressure sales tactics that don't allow you time to read a contract or get legal advice before signing," warns the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. "Also, don't fall for the sales pitch that says you need to pay immediately -- for example, by wiring the money or sending it by courier."

-- Don't deal with anyone who wants to be paid with gift cards. They're totally untraceable. Once you hand them over, they're gone. And don't deal with anyone who asks for more than what you will owe with the promise that they will send you back the difference. Don't take any money from someone who asks you to send your money back in exchange.

Don't wire any money without confirming the transaction with someone you trust. Better to use a credit card so you can cancel the transaction if you find out you've been had.

-- Once you've been presented with a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity, ask for something in writing. Then read it carefully to make sure it says what you've been promised. If it doesn't, keep your wallet closed. If you have any questions, run it by your lawyer first.

-- Write down the names and titles of everyone with whom you speak, as well as the time of the conversation and what is said. Next, verify their credentials and make sure they are who they say they are.

-- If you are conversing by email, never give anyone your bank account or credit card numbers. Ditto for your Social Security number.

There are a bunch of ways to get out of your contract if you get cold feet. But failing to show up at the scheduled closing is not one of them.

It's just wrong not to notify the seller, the closing attorney, the seller's agent and yours that you don't intend to go through with the sale. Ask yourself: How would you like to be on the other end of the transaction?

More importantly, you could open yourself up to lawsuits if you go into hiding on settlement day. The seller might ask the court to compel you to live up to the agreement, a concept known as "specific performance." And your agent could demand that you pay their rightfully earned commission.

At a minimum, you will probably be asked to pay the seller's and the agent's expenses, which could be significant. Even so, you may decide that's better than buying a house you've changed your mind about.

Fortunately, as Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman said on CNBC recently, "There are all sorts of ways to get out of a deal if you don't want to do it."

Maybe you lost your job, failed to secure financing or couldn't sell your current house. Or perhaps the home inspection turns up stuff that turns you off, or the seller doesn't uphold their end of the bargain.

Any of these can be used to terminate a purchase agreement, but they all come with restrictions. It all comes down to the fine print.

(Note: I am not an attorney, nor am I a real estate professional. None of what follows should be taken as legal advice; it is based solely on my experience reporting on real estate for more than half a century. Before taking any steps to end a contract, talk to your agent and seek legal advice.)

Use the contract as your road map, advises Luke Babich, CEO of Clever Real Estate, an agent-matching service. The purchase agreement will spell out all the contingencies, conditions and deadlines that have to be met. For example, you might have to apply for financing within a certain period or have the home inspection completed within so many days.

If you want out and the purchase is dependent on selling your current residence, simply stop trying to sell it. Or delay applying for a mortgage, thereby missing the deadline and voiding the contract. You might have to give up your deposit, though.

If you've already been approved for a loan, you can still sink the deal by doing something that will adversely affect your credit score, which your lender will check again just before closing. If something new appears on the report -- a recent big-ticket purchase, say, like a car -- the lender could deny funding.

But rather than spending money to scuttle the deal, consider applying for several new, high-limit credit cards. You don't have to use them. But if, all of a sudden, you have access to tens of thousands in available credit, it may make your lender think twice about lending you money.

Losing your job will affect your ability to repay a loan, too, though obviously you don't want to quit just to sabotage a sales contract. But your lender may back out if you change jobs -- especially if you go into a completely different field.

A better way to scrap a sale is to use the home inspection -- maybe even before it takes place. Most contracts set a deadline for completing the inspection. If the date hasn't passed, you can notify the seller in writing that you've changed your mind, and likely walk away with your deposit intact. You also can walk if the deadline has passed, but you may have to forfeit your money. Of course, you can take your time ordering the inspection, thus missing the deadline and voiding the deal, but again, you are putting your deposit in jeopardy.

Once the inspector has filed a report, you still have a few avenues. Hopefully, nothing major turns up. But if it does -- say the roof must be replaced, or lead paint was found -- you can use that as the reason for changing your mind.

Even if the inspector doesn't find much to complain about, you can use the report to back out. The contract likely calls for a "satisfactory" inspection, but it doesn't have to be acceptable to the seller -- just you. You are not required to turn over the report to the seller, either.

Another way to use the report is to demand that the seller repair everything that's noted, even the little stuff like a broken switch plate or a sticky doorknob. If the seller balks, you are out of the deal. If they agree, set a short time frame in which the work must be done. If the seller doesn't move fast enough, you're gone.

A low appraisal is another way out: If the appraisal doesn't measure up, you will need a larger down payment, which, of course, you don't have. Or use your review of the homeowner's association documents as your exit strategy. You don't need a reason -- only that you've read the rules, and you don't like them.

The mortgage market is in for another big shift in a few months. That's when a sizable increase -- roughly 12% or 13% -- in the conforming loan limit appears likely to be announced. If so, it will bring the ceiling to well over $1 million in places where houses are super expensive.

The loan limit is a key benchmark for both borrowers and lenders. It is the maximum dollar amount on mortgages that can be acquired by government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Anything under the limit that is sold by primary lenders to the GSEs must comply to their rules (thus the term "conforming"), while anything above the ceiling is considered a jumbo loan.

It's important for borrowers to understand that distinction because loans touched by Fannie and Freddie are usually priced cheaper than other loans. That's because the investors who buy loans through the GSEs believe, rightly or wrongly, that Fannie and Freddie will make good on them should they go into default.

The conforming loan limit is adjusted annually by the government. (It used to be handled by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, but now it's the responsibility of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.) The limit for this year is $647,200 in most places -- a whopping 18.5% higher than the 2021 limit of $548,250 -- and it's $970,000 in a handful of high-cost markets.

Any changes will be announced on Nov. 29, when third quarter prices are revealed, and will go into effect at the beginning of the new year.

House price increases have slowed lately because of higher mortgage rates and inflation fears, which have combined to send many wannabe buyers and sellers to the sidelines. But at least until the middle of the year, houses were still selling fast and furious and for top dollar.

The Case-Shiller Home Price Indices for June was up less than 1% from May. But year-over-year, it was up 18%. And the FHFA's quarterly index was up 17.7% for the same period. Consequently, it's highly probable that the loan limit will rise higher still.

If we use the latest figures from the FHFA, another double-digit jump in the loan limit appears to be in the offing. Based on second-quarter numbers, the ceiling would rise 12%, to nearly $725,000. In high-cost markets, it would fly past the million-dollar benchmark to roughly $1,087,500. If there was just a 3% year-over-year increase in the index in the third quarter, the baseline limit would still increase by 15%, to $745,000. If the bump in the index was 6%, the ceiling would rise by 18%, to $764,000.

All this is pure speculation, of course. There's still a long way to go until the third-quarter figures on which the limit is based are announced. But whatever the outcome, higher-end borrowers will be the beneficiaries, not the low- and moderate-income families Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were created to serve.

So expect to hear from lots of affordable housing advocates about how the secondary market, where the GSEs operate, is now totally out of whack.

In that regard, FHFA Director Sandra Thompson indicated a willingness to consider changes in the loan limit formula during a recent congressional hearing. In response to a question from Rep. Andy Barr of Kentucky, Thompson said, "We're happy to work with you all if you'd like to change it or tweak it."

At the same time, Thompson testified that her office is merely following a calculation that is a "statutory" requirement. But Paul Manchester, a former principal economist at the FHFA, told me that's not necessarily the case.

Manchester, who also spent 17 years at HUD, believes the director has the discretion to set limits lower, though he concedes that has never happened. He points out that any declines should be factored into the equation before any increases are made.

On the flip side, you won't hear any griping from struggling Main Street lenders who are trying to stay afloat as the mortgage sector has weakened. They would be eager to take another bite out of the jumbo loan market, where lenders who serve well-heeled borrowers are "making a ton of money," says Paul Muolo, executive editor of trade publication Inside Mortgage Finance.

For what it's worth, there's about a 30-day window between the new limits being announced and going into effect. During that time, many lenders jump the gun by raising their ceilings, but they hold on to their loans until they can sell them to the GSEs early next year. Some will even offer conforming loans at the higher ceiling prior to the November announcement based on their own assessments. In fact, Rocket Mortgage and United Wholesale Mortgage have already hiked the ceiling on their loans to $715,000 in anticipation of the coming adjustment.

Consequently, savvy buyers and refinancers who move quickly prior to Dec. 31 will be able to take advantage of a small, but still significant, price break before the increase actually takes effect.