02/29/2024
No one ever thinks that wire fraud will happen to them, but according to the American Land & Title Association, one in three real estate transactions are targeted by fraudsters. How can you protect yourself from becoming a statistic?
WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT WIRE FRAUD
Fraudsters impersonate someone you trust in the transaction, like the escrow officer, real estate attorney, or lender. Using various different hacking techniques, the hacker sends wire instructions that look real in order to divert your money to their bank account.
For example, you may receive an email that appears to be from your escrow closer with instructions to wire your purchase money for closing, when in fact the bank account information is the fraudster’s.
WIRE FRAUD SAFETY TIPS
North Mississippi Title & Closing, PLLC's wiring instructions WILL NOT CHANGE during your transaction.
Tip! Prior to sending a wire, always verify the wire instructions by calling the trusted number of your escrow closer. Do not use phone numbers listed in emails or from clicking on links in an email. After sending a wire, call your closing office to confirm receipt of the wire.
Beware of Spoofing! Hackers can disguise emails, telephone numbers, display names, email signatures, photos, corporate logos, websites, and domain names to make it appear legitimate. Hackers will send spoofed wire instructions to divert your money.
Tip! Emails from North Mississippi Title & Closing, PLLC will always end with .com.
Defend your email. Fraudsters gather information about transactions by watching email traffic and drop in at the right moment to divert your wire. Security measures such as connecting to a VPN (virtual private networks), using secure and private email providers, strong passwords, multi-factor authentication, spam filters, and keeping antivirus software updated can make it more difficult for hackers to scam you.
Tip! Wiring from your local branch is the most secure way to send funds.