Wire Fraud
Cybercriminals are targeting the real estate industry with scams designed to intercept wire transfers to divert money to a bank account controlled by the criminal. Wire fraud is one of the most common forms of financial crime in the United States. In 2016, 3.2 million victims lost over 1.9 billion dollars to wire fraud scams.
How does this relate to you? Most commonly, this form of fraud is with phishing emails. Scammers will pose as your real estate agent/lender/title company and try to get you to send them sensitive information. Other scams involve last minute changes to wiring information which appear to be coming from the title company.
The best way to avoid this is to know everything about how the process of closing will work. Keep legitimate contact information saved and easily accessible, so you can check it against emails and phone numbers you might receive later in the process. Don’t call a number provided in an email or reply to an email asking for sensitive information until you confirm the number and/or email address from your trusted source.
Pay attention for any last minute changes. It is very rare that a title company would change banks or account information for wiring instructions, shortly before your closing. Always call to confirm if you’re ever asked to give out information or change the account of where your bank will send a wire. Please watch the short video for more information.