Wire Fraud in Real Estate Transactions - avoid falling victim to a growing real estate scam!
Wire fraud is a criminal act that involves depriving another person of property or money through the use of electronic communications or telephone calls, fax, email, etc.
In real estate transactions, hackers are gaining access to e-mail accounts through captured passwords, and they’ll search inboxes for messages related to real estate transactions. Once they find a victim who’s in the process of buying a home, they’ll send a spoof e-mail that looks like it’s from their agent, title representative, and it will say there are “new” wiring instructions, which includes a fraudulent account. The home buyer will then unwittingly wire funds directly into the hacker’s account.
Email Fraud in Real Estate Transactions is on the Rise
How do you protect yourself from wire fraud in real estate?
1. Do NOT discuss personal financial information over e-mail.
2. Always CALL to verify statements and account information with your lender and title company.
3. If you are going to wire closing funds to the title company CALL them on the phone immediately prior to the transfer of funds so they know they’re sending money to the legitimate source.
4. Avoidfree Wi-Fi with no firewall to protect against hackers capturing an e-mail password or other sensitive information.
5. Always use strong passwords and change them regularly. Change your email password during your transaction process between important statements from your lender and when wire instructions are sent.
6. Never share passwords or login instructions via email.
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