The mechanics usually start away from the property itself: a fraudster builds a fake identity package using information gathered from public records, social media or a stolen document, then approaches a lawyer's office claiming to be the owner or claiming to hold a power of attorney for them.
Where it breaks down is the in-person, photo-ID verification a lawyer is required to perform before a transfer is registered, a harder barrier to fake than a mailed signature on a paper deed, and it is one reason the legal fees on a Saskatchewan closing, typically $800 to $1,500, buy real protection rather than just paperwork.
The properties that make it furthest through the process tend to be the ones where no one, neither the real owner nor a lawyer familiar with them, is present to say the person at the desk is not who they claim to be. Get your hand-reviewed valuation from Joel Dyck.