10/20/2025
Real estate cybercrime—including wire fraud—is on the rise. Fraudsters remain persistent with their attacks and, if they succeed, the impact can be devastating. Luckily, knowing what to look out for can help reduce your risk. Here are some common red flags:
- Sender’s email address is different (even slightly) from a prior confirmed email address.
- Changes to wiring instructions, such as new routing or bank account numbers.
- Words indicating friendship or trust, such as "friend" or "pal", or that are overly thankful or complimentary.
- Urgent language that expresses a negative outcome, such as "concern," "don’t," "prevent," or "avoid."
- Font or type size that is different from the rest of the document.
- Unusual grammar, incorrect punctuation, odd spacing or capitalization may be an indication of someone trying to commit fraud.
- Last-minute closing changes and rushes.
