Real Estate Wire Fraud Prevention Information
What is Wire Fraud?
Wire fraud is a type of financial fraud that uses email, phone calls, text messages, or other electronic communication to trick someone into sending money or sharing sensitive banking information. In real estate transactions, wire fraud often targets buyers, sellers, agents, lenders, and closing professionals.
How Does Wire Fraud Happen in a Real Estate Transaction?
Wire fraud can happen when a criminal impersonates a title company, attorney, real estate agent, lender, buyer, or seller and sends false wiring instructions or other fraudulent payment requests.
These messages are often designed to look legitimate and create urgency so funds are sent to the wrong account.
Precautions to Help Prevent Wire and ACH Fraud
- Do not share your online banking username, password, verification code, or login credentials with anyone.
- Only share account information when it is truly required for a legitimate part of the transaction.
- Do not access bank accounts or send sensitive financial information through public computers or unsecured public networks.
- Monitor your bank accounts regularly and report any unauthorized activity to your financial institution immediately.
- Be cautious of emails sent from free public email domains when the message involves money movement or sensitive transaction details.
- Watch for phishing emails, suspicious links, altered email addresses, and unusual wording even if the message appears to come from a trusted source.
- Use strong device and network security, including firewalls, security updates, and secure account protections.
- Treat any change in wiring instructions as suspicious until it has been independently verified.
- Always confirm wire or disbursement instructions by phone using a trusted, independently verified number, not the number listed in the suspicious email.
Don’t Become a Victim of Real Estate Wire Fraud!
Cybercriminals may try to pose as legitimate parties involved in a transaction, including title companies, attorneys, lenders, real estate agents, buyers, or sellers. Because of that, any message involving money movement, updated payment instructions, or urgent account changes should be reviewed carefully before action is taken.
- Be especially skeptical of any change in wiring instructions from us or any parties involved in the transaction. How often do people and businesses change their wire instructions? Specifically, if you receive an email or any other communication that appears to be generated from our office, containing new, revised or altered bank wire instructions, consider it suspect and call our office at a number you trust.
- Wire and other disbursement instructions received by email should be confirmed by telephone at a known or independentlyconfirmed number, NOT the telephone number at the bottom of the email you are trying to confirm.
- Confirm the account to which you are wiring is in the name of the party entitled to the funds; encourage buyers and sellers to do the same.
- Be suspicious of emails from free, public email domains that pertain to the movement of money, as these email accounts are often a source of risk.
- Consider what email account domain you use for any financial business. As stated above, the free, public email account domains are a target for cyber-thieves and, without additional levels of security, are particularly vulnerable to attack.
- Watch out for phishing emails with embedded links, even when they appear to come from a trusted source.