>

Out of the country for a year.  RTFA.
The article should be saying some poor folks thought they were buying a home only to find out they were being scammed by some impersonators, this article makes it sound like the actual owners no longer have their home and if that’s the case then that’s f-ed up, laws should exist to not let that be the case. >

Isn't this what title insurance is for? >

Do you mean the ‘buyers’ should have to give the house back, and might be compensated if they had title insurance?
Or that the original owners should need insurance against this sort of fraud, and that if they didn’t have insurance they should just lose their house? >

The buyers get screwed. Owners get their house back. >

Cue IASIP theme song 
The Gang Sells a House >

Whoever did it knows* them. Or knows someone who knew about their trip and how long they would be gone. >

Or found out over social media. >

It says the owners only realised after a few months, might have been a second home of theirs? >

So do they get their house back? Does the family that bought it have to move out? Who is out the hundreds of thousands of dollars? >

The "sellers" never actually owned the house they were selling and so it still belongs to the original owners. Just like with stolen goods the buyers are the ones that were screwed out of their money and the property must be returned to the rightful owners. >

Except often in the eyes of the law a title was transferred (the prime document of ownership) so it likely devolves to a civil suit to regain the property. >

That makes no sense - I mean the Eiffel tower have been sold twice - yet still didn't transfer to the new owners. >

That was the same guy both times, he tried to sell the contract to scrap & accept bribes from all willing merchants, plus he did not use identity theft to transfer the ownership.
A similar thing used to happen with cars in UK, where the DVLC record is the prime document.  Someone would impersonate the original owner to DVLC & record a change of ownership to a fictional identity. Then later steal the car, sell it on to an innocent buyer & transfer ownership again.
Legally the new buyer is the registered owner, the original owner frequently claims the loss through insurance, the thief walks off with the money & the buyer is denied insurance because the vehicle is blacklisted. >

The other day a family friend sold their house for $1.1 Million, wasn't even on the market two days and got a cash offer sight unseen. I'm surprised these scams aren't more prevalent given how insane the market is. >

It generally takes 60 days to sell a house. Where was this guy?