Sponsored by Safe Title
The fastest growing cybercrime in the United States is the theft of home purchase money that is wired to complete closing transactions. These are not the old Nigerian prince scams; these are sophisticated email theft operations. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been stolen from consumers who fall prey to this con.
We consulted the experts at Safe Title to learn how to identify and avoid wire fraud schemes. By raising awareness on how these scams are being carried out, we can work to shut down this devastating trend.
“There’s very little that can be done after wire fraud happens, so your best course of action is to protect yourself,” says Julie Ferris, founder and attorney at Safe Title in Baton Rouge. Here are some helpful tips to avoid wire fraud, whether you’re a homebuyer, seller or other partner in a real estate transaction.
Here’s how a real estate wire fraud scam works:
- Scammers identify and hack the email of a real estate agent, broker, buyer, seller title company, or even the lender.
- Next, they comb through their emails to find upcoming closing dates and possibly access a client’s confidential personal information.
- The homebuyer then receives an email with fraudulent wire transfer instructions from an address so convincingly close to the real one that they don’t recognize it’s a fake (escrow@amazingtittle.com instead of escrow@amazingtitle.com).
- When the homebuyer follows the phony instructions, the money is sent to the scammer’s account.
- The scammer quickly cleans out the buyer’s bank account, and the money is lost forever.
There’s very little that can be done after wire fraud happens, so your best course of action is to protect yourself. Here are some helpful tips to avoid wire fraud, whether you’re a homebuyer, seller or other partner in a real estate transaction.
1. Be skeptical.
- Know how to spot a scam. If an email seems off, trust your gut. Call your real estate agent or title company at the number from their business card or website—not from the email you received—to confirm they sent the correspondence.
- Never click links or open attachments from unverified emails. They could install malware on your system and make you more vulnerable to a hack.
- Always be suspicious of emails or phone calls from people asking you to verify personal or banking information.
- Never hit “reply.” Always forward and then write the contact’s email manually, so that you don’t accidentally reply to a scammer.
2. Tech security matters.
- Change your passwords regularly. Many hacks happen because the hacker just guessed the victim’s password.
- Never send sensitive information via email. Use encrypted email if you must.
- Never (ever) conduct business over unsecured Wi-Fi. Hackers can easily intercept information over unprotected public networks.
- Set up two-factor authentication requiring a code any time you enter your password on your email. Even if a fraudster guesses your password, they can’t access your account without having your physical phone or computer in their hands.
3. Communicate offline.
- Before any wire transfers take place, call your title company on a phone number you trust (not from an email you received) to validate all instructions.
- Bring your banking and personal information when meeting face-to-face, and make sure you receive signed wire transfer instructions in writing.
- You can always execute the wire transfer at your bank, then call the title company from its database and contact info, not the wire instructions you received via email.
- Communicate. Communicate. Communicate. Never, ever wire funds to anyone without personally speaking with the wire recipient first to verify the legitimacy of the wiring request.
Whether you are buying, selling, or refinancing, Julie and her team are prepared to handle your real estate transaction. (225) 490-3898 or safetitlellc.com
