Wire Fraud. - It’s terrifying.
Last week Larry and I traveled to Wilmington, NC to take a wire fraud class (and get a little beach time at Carolina Beach).
It’s real and it’s terrifying. Unsuspecting buyers wire their money for a closing and it is redirected to someone else’s acct. we heard stories of over $300,000 being lost through wire fraud.
Some safeguards to this:
Your realtor should be using a secure email and should not be involved with wiring instructions. Beware of any professional using a yahoo or gmail account because those emails are absolutely not secure.
When closing day nears, the closing attorney may request from you a notarized form with wiring instructions. Although it may seem like a hassle, everyone in the transaction wants to protect you and your money.
If you are required to wire money to a closing attorney for closing, call the attorney’s office and ask them to send you wiring instructions via an encrypted email. Once you receive the encrypted email, call the attorney’s office back using a phone number that is independently confirmed and NOT just on the email you receive with the instructions. Have THEM read the wiring instructions back to you.
Always pay close attention to emails that are sent to you. It is highly unlikely that the closing attorney would have an issue with his bank requiring new wiring instructions. Also, pay close attention to the email. If the attorney’s email is usually Realestate@closing.com, you could easily mistake a fraudulent email if it reads Rea1estate@closing.com.
Never hesitate to call your Realtor or the closing attorney if you think anything fishy is going on. Better to be safe than sorry.
We hold high importance to your privacy and security.
If you are ready to buy or sell, contact us.
Tammy@bordeauxsmith.com.
It’s real and it’s terrifying. Unsuspecting buyers wire their money for a closing and it is redirected to someone else’s acct. we heard stories of over $300,000 being lost through wire fraud.
Some safeguards to this:
Your realtor should be using a secure email and should not be involved with wiring instructions. Beware of any professional using a yahoo or gmail account because those emails are absolutely not secure.
When closing day nears, the closing attorney may request from you a notarized form with wiring instructions. Although it may seem like a hassle, everyone in the transaction wants to protect you and your money.
If you are required to wire money to a closing attorney for closing, call the attorney’s office and ask them to send you wiring instructions via an encrypted email. Once you receive the encrypted email, call the attorney’s office back using a phone number that is independently confirmed and NOT just on the email you receive with the instructions. Have THEM read the wiring instructions back to you.
Always pay close attention to emails that are sent to you. It is highly unlikely that the closing attorney would have an issue with his bank requiring new wiring instructions. Also, pay close attention to the email. If the attorney’s email is usually Realestate@closing.com, you could easily mistake a fraudulent email if it reads Rea1estate@closing.com.
Never hesitate to call your Realtor or the closing attorney if you think anything fishy is going on. Better to be safe than sorry.
We hold high importance to your privacy and security.
If you are ready to buy or sell, contact us.
Tammy@bordeauxsmith.com.
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